Glasgow - Equal Pay Update

I met with one of my local councillors the other day - Cllr Robert Connelly who is one of four local councillors in my ward of Glasgow Calton.

Now Cllr Connelly was much younger than I expected (or more likely I'm just getting older), but he was perfectly friendly and keen to listen to what I had to say about the long fight for equal pay in Glasgow City Council.

Most of Glasgow's Conservative councillors (including Robert) were elected for the first time in 2017 and are not 'steeped in' the history of equal pay, so we discussed:

• The 1999 Single Status (Equal Pay) Agreement 
• The 2000 McCrone Agreement which set aside £800 million a year for teachers' pay
• The arrival of Action 4 Equality Scotland in 2005
• The behaviour of Glasgow City Council 
• The £9,000 'buy-outs' of claims - GCC having denied GCC its equal pay problems 
• The much better settlements achieved by A4ES
• The introduction of Glasgow's WPBR - instead of using the recommend JE Scheme
• The long legal battle and Court of Session's 'unfit for purpose' judgment
• The ongoing settlement discussions and the role being played by senior officials
• The importance GGC agreeing to replace the WPBR

I encouraged Robert and his councillor colleagues to focus on the role of Glasgow's senior officials and the 'governance issues' surrounding the introduction of the WPBR.

In my view this is a really big story, a scandal no less, which is still waiting to be told over the procurement of the WPBR, the costs of the scheme and the 'design' instructions from  Glasgow's senior officials.

Senior council officials in Glasgow are desperate to keep the truth of what happened under wraps whereas elected councillors should be demanding answers for the good name of the city and in the interests of council taxpayers.


Cllr Robert Connelly