Glasgow - Pay and Grading System
Annemarie O'Donnell has sent out yet another update about the long, slow death of Glasgow's 'unfit for purpose' WPBR while again failing to mention that she fought for years to defend the cockamamy pay scheme, until its fate was finally sealed at the Court of Session, Scotland's highest civil court, in August 2017.
For some reason A4ES has been airbrushed out of history (again) in Annemarie's latest missive, but let me assure A4ES claimants that our very own Karl Bromley is involved in these discussions to replace the WPBR, and is working closely with GMB and Unison to deliver a new scheme which can command the support of the council's workforce.
Which is a good thing if you ask me, because Karl Bromley and A4ES have done more than the Council's chief executive to stand up for the interests of Glasgow's lowest paid workers - despite Annemarie's continued use of the phrase 'council family'.
Subject: Message from Annemarie O'Donnell: Future of the current pay and grading system
You may recall that I wrote to you last month to tell you that we had agreed with our trade unions to seek the council’s approval to replace the current workforce pay and benefits review scheme with a new job evaluation scheme and supporting pay and grading system, for all non-teaching staff.
A paper has now been prepared to ask the Council’s Administration Committee to approve this recommendation at the next meeting on 28 June. You can read the paper called the ‘future of current pay and grading system’ now on the council’s website under the public agenda here.
Following next week’s meeting I will let everyone know about the council’s decision on this important matter. You can also check the online minutes of this meeting on the council’s website to find this out.
To support a review a job evaluation work stream, made up of council officers and trade union representatives, has already been set up to consider what’s the most important criteria to look for in a new job evaluation scheme. If the recommendation is approved, then this group will work together over the next few months to review the choice of schemes available, based on the agreed criteria, and prepare future recommendations for the council to consider.
Once again, I want to say that I am committed to making sure that everyone in the council family is paid equally for equal work in the future. And that the council will continue to meet regularly with the representatives of equal pay claimants to negotiate settlements.
Regards,
Annemarie O’Donnell
Chief Executive
Are We Family?
Compare and contrast the 'second class' treatment of Glasgow's Cordia workers to the generosity extended to the City Council's outgoing director of finance - to allow Lynn Brown to access her pension early.
What do Glasgow's politicians - Councillors, MSPs and MPs - think about the City Council's behaviour?
Glasgow's Golden Goodbyes
Glasgow City Council is due to answer my FOI Request early this week regarding the £120,000 'gifted' to its outgoing director of finance, Lynn Brown, which allowed Lynn to access her pension early.
Now I don't begrudge anyone accessing their pension early, but I think it is reasonable to ask how this decision was made because clearly someone had to recommend such a highly generous use of public funds.
Especially, when Lynn Brown was already a highly paid senior council official whose salary in 2016/17 was in the region of £161,000 which makes me wonder if the same treatment would have been extended to a council Home Carer, Classroom Assistant or School Cleaner?
Yet again, the City Council failed to answer my original FOI Request which meant I had to submit a separate FOI Review Request which has wasted further time and effort for no good reason, and leads me to conclude that council officials are being deliberately obstructive and unhelpful.
If the Council does not respond with a straight answer on this occasion, I will raise an appeal with the independent Scottish Information Commissioner although this would make a mockery of the Council's policy of becoming a 'world leader' in terms of the openness and transparency of its decision-making procedures.
So we shall see what happens because it's difficult to believe that senior council officials are acting in 'good faith' when one of their colleagues is handed a £120,000 'gift', yet the City Council refuses to answer my FOI request about the role of senior officials in the WPBR - on the grounds that it would cost more than £600 to answer.
I plan to share this post with all Glasgow's Councillors, MSPs and MPs because if you ask me, it's high time the city's politicians took a more active interest in these matters and in the conduct of the Council's senior officials.
22 May 2018
Carole Forrest
Director of Governance and Solicitor to the Council
Glasgow City Council
By email to: FOIReviews@glasgow.gov.uk
Dear Ms Forrest
FoI Review Request
I refer to my FOISA Request to the Council's chief executive Annemarie O'Donnell dated 20 April 2018, a copy of which is attached for easy reference.
In view of the Council's failure to respond within the time limits laid down by FOISA I would now like to initiate a formal Review Request.
I look forward to your response to my Review Request and would be grateful if you could reply to me by email at: markirvine@compuserve.com
Kind regards
Mark Irvine
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Irvine <markirvine@compuserve.com>
To: annemarie.odonnell <annemarie.odonnell@ced.glasgow.gov.uk>; foi <foi@glasgow.gov.uk>
Sent: Fri, Apr 20, 2018 3:05 pm
Subject: Fwd: FOISA Request
20 April 2018
Annemarie O'Donnell
Chief Executive
Glasgow City Council
By email to - annemarie.odonnell@ced.glasgow.gov.uk
Dear Ms O'Donnell
FOISA Request
I refer to the letter below from John Dickson, Executive Compliance Officer, and would like to make the following request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.
1) Please provide me the name and job title of the Council official who recommended that Glasgow City Council should pay £120,079 to compensate the Local Government Pension Scheme for allowing the Council's former executive Director of Finance, Lynn Brown, to access her pension benefits early?
2) Please provide me with the written explanation for this recommendation and the process by which the expenditure of this large sum of public money approved?
3) Please confirm how long the former Executive Director of Finance would otherwise have had to wait to access her pension benefits, if it were not for this generous use of public funds?
I look forward to your reply and would be grateful if you could respond to me by e-mail at: markirvine@compuserve.com
Kind regards
Mark Irvine
