Breaking News - Glasgow 'Council Family' Update
Glasgow's top official, Annemarie O'Donnell, is fond of referring to the 'Council Family' and is always inviting family members to ask her questions about equal pay.
So here's one that an enterprising claimant put to Annemarie just the other day - a very fair question, if you ask me, about whether or not the Council's chief executive agrees (with senior elected councillors and the Court of Session) that Glasgow's WPBR pay scheme is 'unfit for purpose'.
Dear Annemarie
Thank you for your email dated 28 August 2018.
I note the points you have made which go lots of detail without answering directly the question I raised which was:
Do you as the Council's chief executive accept the judgement of the Court of Session that the WPBR is 'unfit for purpose' and that the scheme discriminates against the Council's largely female workforce?
I think that Home Carers and other staff are entitled to a straight answer to a straight question.
Yours sincerely
Frances S
I will be interested to read Annemarie's reply and like everyone else I hope this will result in a 'straight answer to a straight question'.
Who Speaks for Glasgow? (29/08/18)
A number of readers have been in touch to say they have received an identical answer from both Annemarie O'Donnell and Susan Aitken in response to enquiries about the Council's 'unfit for purpose' WPBR pay scheme.
Now I believe that people have been asking broadly the same question along the following lines:
"Can you please confirm that Glasgow City Council accepts the judgment of the Court of Session that the WPBR is 'unfit for purpose' and that the scheme discriminates against the Council's largely female workforce?"
Here's an example of the answer that's come back in Annemarie O'Donnell's name, but I understand that an identical, or at least very similar, response is being sent out in Susan Aitken's name as well.
Dear XXXXX
Thank you for contacting me in relation to equal pay.
I want to start at the outset by saying that the City Government, and Cllr Susan Aitken as the Leader, remain 100 per cent committed to delivering justice for equal pay claimants who have been waiting for over a decade for this long-running issue to end.
We are currently in negotiations with claimants representatives and are seeking to have a settlement figure agreed with them by the end of 2018. No-one from either side has ever been under any illusion this process would be quick and easy. These negotiations have at times been difficult and the entrenchment of the competing positions which has been the case for over a decade cannot be undone overnight.
Nonetheless significant progress, backed by the democratic process of the council, has been made. This progress includes, ending the legal challenge, putting political oversight in place, holding fortnightly formal negotiating meetings, bringing Cordia - where most of the affected staff are employed - back into the Council and harmonising their terms and conditions, and mostly recently the decision taken to replace the council’s entire pay and grading structure.
All of the above have been asks of the claimant’s representatives and illustrate the continuing commitment that has been shown since the election to dealing with the long-standing work force issues which have underpinned this inequality.
Furthermore, the process of sourcing how the council will fund the final settlement is now underway.
The SNP group have always been clear that they don’t believe the council has been paying men and women equally for the work they do. We need to compensate women for years of underpaying them, and we need a new pay and grading system that rewards everyone fairly – that work is underway.
I know the claimants’ representatives are frustrated by the difficulties this process regularly throws up, and can understand this. But the City Government remain committed, and will continue to ensure the good faith which has facilitated the massive strides we have collectively made continues, and that this long-running and complex matter is resolved as quickly as possible to the year-long timetable all parties agreed to at the beginning of the year.
I hope this is useful in setting out our on-going commitment to settle equal pay.
Regards
Annemarie O'Donnell
Chief Executive Glasgow City Council
So the obvious and very important point to make is that despite all the warm words the Council's most senior official fails to answer the point - instead she ducks the question entirely which speaks volumes about what is really going on.
Because after 8 long months of unproductive settlement negotiations the Council has failed to 'negotiate' on the crucial issues, e.g the Pay Gap and Male Comparators, and continues to defend key aspects of the WPBR even though the scheme has been judged to be 'unfit for purpose' by the Court of Session, Scotland's highest civil court.
Not only that, but the Council is now pursuing its own settlement proposals 'behind closed doors' and not in collaboration with the Claimants' representatives (A4ES, GMB and Unison) which is going back on what was agreed just a few short months ago.
Which explains why all the outstanding cases are heading back to the Employment Tribunals and also why the trade unions (GMB and Unison) are balloting members on strike action.
Who Speaks for Glasgow? (28/08/18)
Here's an interesting statement that just might have a significant impact on the fight for equal pay in Glasgow City Council.
"The whole issue arose out of the fact that the (WPBR) pay and grading scheme the Council has, has been found to discriminate against women, and we completely accept that it does."
Now these words were spoken by Cllr Mhairi Hunter whom I have met previously to discuss Glasgow's equal pay dispute and who has accompanied Council Leader, Susan Aitken, to an equal pay meeting or two at the Dixon Halls in Govanhill.
I think I'm correct in saying that Mhairi also has a role as office manager in Nicola Sturgeon's parliamentary office which is located in the First Minister's Glasgow Southside constituency.
So back to what Mhairi said on Sunday about the Council's 'unfit for purpose' WPBR pay scheme via a local Glasgow TV programme, Full Scottish.
Mhairi's words are unequivocal and unambiguous- the City Council completely accepts that its WPBR pay scheme is discriminatory, a view which helpfully chimes with that of the Court of Session, the highest civil court in Scotland.
The only problem is that this is not the stance that has been adopted by the council's senior officials in 8 months of equal pay settlement 'negotiations' which have been taking place since the start of 2018.
Nor it it likely to the the position of the Council when all the outstanding equal pay cases go back to the Glasgow Employment Tribunal on 25 September, if 8 long months of unproductive settlement 'negotiations' are anything to go by.
So who has got it right - who is speaking plainly and who is speaking with a forked tongue?
What is Glasgow City Council's position when it comes to the WPBR - does the Council accept unequivocally that the scheme is discriminatory?
I think that claimants are entitled to ask this question of the Council Leader, Susan Aitken, and for the avoidance of doubt the Council's chief executive, Annemarie O'Donnell, as well.
If you'd like to email a question along the following lines to Susan Aitken and Annemarie O'Donnell, their respective email addresses are shown below.
Dear Susan/ Dear Annemarie
Glasgow's WPBR Pay Scheme
Can you please confirm that Glasgow City Council accepts the judgment of the Court of Session that the WPBR is 'unfit for purpose' and that the scheme discriminates against the Council's largely female workforce?"
Yours sincerely
A Glasgow Equal Pay Claimant
Susan Aitken's email address
Susan.Aitken@glasgow.gov.uk
Annemarie O'Donnell's email address:
annemarie.odonnell@ced.glasgow.gov.uk
By the way, Mhairi Hunter's full interview can be viewed via the link below to the Full Scottish and her comments on equal pay are about 6 minutes in.
Glasgow 'Council Family' Bollix (28/05/18)
A kind reader sent me the latest edition of 'Insider' the in-house journal of Glasgow City Council which contains the following message from the Council's chief executive Annemarie O'Donnell.
Now Annemarie has nothing to say about equal pay and chooses instead to focus on recent structural changes within the Council including the decision to wind-up Cordia as an ALEO - Arm's Length External Organisation.
If you ask me this is a lot of old guff and weasel words about the 'Glasgow Family' which completely avoids the reason Cordia was set up in the first place or Cordia's behaviour in treating its largely female workforce as second class citizens for years.
So to even things up and set the record straight I have included a couple of post from the blog site archive which tell the real story about Cordia and why it was really created - to help the Council wriggle out of its obligations over equal pay.
If I remember correctly, there are some Cordia 'all staff' meetings coming up in the next few weeks to discuss its return to direct council control .
I'll be interested to hear from people who go along - in complete confidence, of course.
MESSAGE FROM ANNEMARIE O’DONNELL
KEEPING YOU INFORMED
KEEPING YOU INFORMED
Any organisation as big and diverse as the council family experiences a great deal of change.
These changes are often strategic and planned – but, occasionally, they are driven by outside events and test our ability to adapt and respond to new challenges.
However they come about, these changes are all part and parcel of the role we play in the daily life of the city.
Over recent months, we have seen a number of planned changes in how we organise ourselves in order to ensure we continue to deliver efficient and effective services for the city.
The shape of the Glasgow family has continued to evolve – our City Marketing Bureau is now embedded within Glasgow Life; City Building has become a joint venture with the Wheatley Group, and Corporate Services has been merged across Financial Services and my own team.
The scheduled end of the ACCESS joint venture has seen the creation of a new corporate landlord, within DRS, with ICT services being carried out by a new contractor, CGI – working with experienced staff seconded from the council.
We have created a new Community Empowerment and Equalities team, headed up by its own Director and working across the council family, Community Planning partners, governments, business, academia and the third sector.
And, within the last few weeks, members have agreed further changes; perhaps the most significant of which will mean the services currently delivered by our colleagues at Cordia – and many of those delivered by Community Safety Glasgow – being relocated.
You can read more about these changes on page three of this month’s edition of Insider, but it is important that everyone is clear that vital jobs that staff do won’t change.
The hard work that staff do to support their fellow Glaswegians and our neighbourhoods will continue and I want to thank them all for their dedication, commitment and focus right through this process.
I also want to make sure we all understand how these and other changes reflect and help deliver the council’s Strategic Plan and Glasgow’s Community Plan.
These changes are often strategic and planned – but, occasionally, they are driven by outside events and test our ability to adapt and respond to new challenges.
However they come about, these changes are all part and parcel of the role we play in the daily life of the city.
Over recent months, we have seen a number of planned changes in how we organise ourselves in order to ensure we continue to deliver efficient and effective services for the city.
The shape of the Glasgow family has continued to evolve – our City Marketing Bureau is now embedded within Glasgow Life; City Building has become a joint venture with the Wheatley Group, and Corporate Services has been merged across Financial Services and my own team.
The scheduled end of the ACCESS joint venture has seen the creation of a new corporate landlord, within DRS, with ICT services being carried out by a new contractor, CGI – working with experienced staff seconded from the council.
We have created a new Community Empowerment and Equalities team, headed up by its own Director and working across the council family, Community Planning partners, governments, business, academia and the third sector.
And, within the last few weeks, members have agreed further changes; perhaps the most significant of which will mean the services currently delivered by our colleagues at Cordia – and many of those delivered by Community Safety Glasgow – being relocated.
You can read more about these changes on page three of this month’s edition of Insider, but it is important that everyone is clear that vital jobs that staff do won’t change.
The hard work that staff do to support their fellow Glaswegians and our neighbourhoods will continue and I want to thank them all for their dedication, commitment and focus right through this process.
I also want to make sure we all understand how these and other changes reflect and help deliver the council’s Strategic Plan and Glasgow’s Community Plan.
Hopefully you know that the latter, developed by Glasgow Community Planning Partnership, sets out a vision for a world class city, with thriving and resilient communities where everyone can flourish and benefit from the city’s success.
Partners have now developed an action plan for the next two years, which starts to detail what will be required to meet that goal – with a particular focus on transport and childcare.
You can find out more by visiting Glasgow CPP at www.glasgowcpp. org.uk/communityplan
If you use social media, you can also follow the Glasgow Community Planning Partnership at @GlasgowCPP and www.facebook.com/GlasgowCPP/
As always, I’m happy to hear your ideas and suggestions. You can contact me by email.
Here's an astonishing email which has been sent to the 'Council Family' at Glasgow City Council by the council's chief executive Annemarie O'Donnell.
Now I'm not part of the 'Council Family' but if I were, I'd be absolutely furious at the way the council's top boss has quietly glossed over her own role in creating Glasgow's ALEOs back in 2007 - and the fact that one of the main purposes for these arm's length companies was to try and assist the City Council to wriggle out of its obligations over equal pay.
Here's a little reminder that the appalling decision to set up Glasgow's ALEOs (Arms Length External Organisations) was headed up by the City Council's current chief executive Annemarie O'Donnell - see article below from Holyrood Magazine.
Following a two year secondment as deputy director of social work services, she returned to corporate services in 2007, serving as assistant director and head of external governance as the council established its ALEOs.
Now since the real reason for setting up ALEOs in the first place was a shameful attempt to circumvent the Glasgow City Council's obligations over equal pay, surely it's time close these organisations down.
Yet again the Court of Session sent Glasgow City Council packing and if you ask me, the politicians and officials behind this crazy scheme owe the workforce an apology.
Here's an interesting article from 'Holyrood Magazine' which was published back in 2014 just as Annemarie O'Donnell's was appointed as the new and first woman chief executive of Glasgow City Council.
Regular readers will know that Carole Forrest succeeded Annemarie as executive director of corporate services (which deals with Freedom of Information requests) and that Glasgow now has a woman Lord Provost (Eva Bolander) and a woman council leader (Susan Aitken).
The political changes at the top of the City Council are relatively recent, of course, but isn't it remarkable that the battle over equal pay has been so fierce in Glasgow - even with women officials in the most senior positions.
New chief executive for Glasgow City Council
Partners have now developed an action plan for the next two years, which starts to detail what will be required to meet that goal – with a particular focus on transport and childcare.
You can find out more by visiting Glasgow CPP at www.glasgowcpp. org.uk/communityplan
If you use social media, you can also follow the Glasgow Community Planning Partnership at @GlasgowCPP and www.facebook.com/GlasgowCPP/
As always, I’m happy to hear your ideas and suggestions. You can contact me by email.
Glasgow's Shame Over ALEOs
Here's an astonishing email which has been sent to the 'Council Family' at Glasgow City Council by the council's chief executive Annemarie O'Donnell.
Now I'm not part of the 'Council Family' but if I were, I'd be absolutely furious at the way the council's top boss has quietly glossed over her own role in creating Glasgow's ALEOs back in 2007 - and the fact that one of the main purposes for these arm's length companies was to try and assist the City Council to wriggle out of its obligations over equal pay.
Once the ALEOs were in place, senior and very highly paid officials argued that they were completely independent and separate employers from Glasgow City Council.
So, in their eyes of these senior officials, equal pay claimants could no longer compare their earnings with the much higher pay of Council employees outside of their own ALEO, Cordia being the prime example.
And if council officials had succeeded with this ploy, the perfectly valid equal pay claims of thousands of Home Care workers and other low paid Cordia staff would now be 'dead in the water'.
After all this time, Annemarie O'Donnell is having to eat her own words by dismantling these 'arm's length' companies which have proved very costly to the public purse and to Cordia staff who are employed on much less favourable conditions than the rest of the council workforce.
If you ask me, the City Council has made the right decision in making this policy U-turn, but the political leaders of the council should be telling the chief executive it's time to move on and find a new challenege elsewhere.
Because Annemarie O'Donnell has played a crucial role throughout this shameful ALEO episode, both in terms of establishing these arm's length bodies and in presiding over pay arrangements which treated Cordia's largely female workforce as second class citizens.
So, in their eyes of these senior officials, equal pay claimants could no longer compare their earnings with the much higher pay of Council employees outside of their own ALEO, Cordia being the prime example.
And if council officials had succeeded with this ploy, the perfectly valid equal pay claims of thousands of Home Care workers and other low paid Cordia staff would now be 'dead in the water'.
After all this time, Annemarie O'Donnell is having to eat her own words by dismantling these 'arm's length' companies which have proved very costly to the public purse and to Cordia staff who are employed on much less favourable conditions than the rest of the council workforce.
If you ask me, the City Council has made the right decision in making this policy U-turn, but the political leaders of the council should be telling the chief executive it's time to move on and find a new challenege elsewhere.
Because Annemarie O'Donnell has played a crucial role throughout this shameful ALEO episode, both in terms of establishing these arm's length bodies and in presiding over pay arrangements which treated Cordia's largely female workforce as second class citizens.
Subject: Council Family Review Update: message from Annemarie O'Donnell Chief Executive
I want to keep you up to date about proposed changes to the council family structure as a result of the ongoing council family review, which aims to make sure we have the most efficient and effective operating model to deliver best value services for the city.
A report is going to the council’s City Administration Committee for a decision on 19 April about the future of Cordia and the services delivered by Community Safety Glasgow on our behalf.
Cordia
We have reviewed the services that Cordia deliver and we are recommending that these vital services for citizens can be delivered more efficiently under other council services, as outlined below, and Cordia LLPs can be wound up, although the brand name of Cordia and Encore could be retained. This will allow us to remove duplication and streamline services to make them more efficient. Cordia staff would also transfer to the council services below.
* Homecare and associated care services including operational support and contact services to be transferred to Social Work Services under the direction of the Health and Social Care partnership.
* Facilities Management services including catering to be transferred to Property and Land Services, Development and Regeneration Services.
* Remaining support staff would transfer to an appropriate functional area in the council including: human resources, finance, communications, procurement and business administration.
Community Safety Glasgow
We have also reviewed the services that Community Safety Glasgow (CSG) deliver on our behalf and are recommending that these services can be more efficiently delivered under the management of the Executive Director for Neighbourhoods and Sustainability. CSG support staff would also transfer to an appropriate functional area in the council including: human resources, finance, communications, business administration and facilities.
Best value services for the city
The council has an ongoing responsibility to review its structures and the delivery of its services to make sure that we continue to meet legislative changes, avoid duplication and deliver best value efficient and effective services for the city. We also need to consider that the shape of the council family has changed since the ALEOs were established and new legislative partnerships have been formed, including the Health and Social Care partnership with the NHS and the more recent Glasgow Community Planning Partnership.
With all this in mind, the recommendations in the report are a result of more detailed business cases with input from all affected areas of the council family to achieve the best operating model for council services.
Next Steps
All affected staff will receive a communication about how these proposals could affect them from the directors of the organisation they work for. If the proposals in the report are approved, an implementation plan will be developed with a view to staff transfers taking place no later than 30 September 2018 for Cordia and 31 March 2019 for CSG.
I will communicate the decision of the committee after this has been taken on 19 April. The full report will be published in the public meeting agenda on Friday 13 April on council’s website here<http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/councillorsandcommittees/latestMeetings.asp?sort=2&page=1>
Regards,
Annemarie O’Donnell
Chief Executive
I want to keep you up to date about proposed changes to the council family structure as a result of the ongoing council family review, which aims to make sure we have the most efficient and effective operating model to deliver best value services for the city.
A report is going to the council’s City Administration Committee for a decision on 19 April about the future of Cordia and the services delivered by Community Safety Glasgow on our behalf.
Cordia
We have reviewed the services that Cordia deliver and we are recommending that these vital services for citizens can be delivered more efficiently under other council services, as outlined below, and Cordia LLPs can be wound up, although the brand name of Cordia and Encore could be retained. This will allow us to remove duplication and streamline services to make them more efficient. Cordia staff would also transfer to the council services below.
* Homecare and associated care services including operational support and contact services to be transferred to Social Work Services under the direction of the Health and Social Care partnership.
* Facilities Management services including catering to be transferred to Property and Land Services, Development and Regeneration Services.
* Remaining support staff would transfer to an appropriate functional area in the council including: human resources, finance, communications, procurement and business administration.
Community Safety Glasgow
We have also reviewed the services that Community Safety Glasgow (CSG) deliver on our behalf and are recommending that these services can be more efficiently delivered under the management of the Executive Director for Neighbourhoods and Sustainability. CSG support staff would also transfer to an appropriate functional area in the council including: human resources, finance, communications, business administration and facilities.
Best value services for the city
The council has an ongoing responsibility to review its structures and the delivery of its services to make sure that we continue to meet legislative changes, avoid duplication and deliver best value efficient and effective services for the city. We also need to consider that the shape of the council family has changed since the ALEOs were established and new legislative partnerships have been formed, including the Health and Social Care partnership with the NHS and the more recent Glasgow Community Planning Partnership.
With all this in mind, the recommendations in the report are a result of more detailed business cases with input from all affected areas of the council family to achieve the best operating model for council services.
Next Steps
All affected staff will receive a communication about how these proposals could affect them from the directors of the organisation they work for. If the proposals in the report are approved, an implementation plan will be developed with a view to staff transfers taking place no later than 30 September 2018 for Cordia and 31 March 2019 for CSG.
I will communicate the decision of the committee after this has been taken on 19 April. The full report will be published in the public meeting agenda on Friday 13 April on council’s website here<http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/councillorsandcommittees/latestMeetings.asp?sort=2&page=1>
Regards,
Annemarie O’Donnell
Chief Executive
Glasgow's Shame Over ALEOs (17/02/18)
Here's a little reminder that the appalling decision to set up Glasgow's ALEOs (Arms Length External Organisations) was headed up by the City Council's current chief executive Annemarie O'Donnell - see article below from Holyrood Magazine.
Following a two year secondment as deputy director of social work services, she returned to corporate services in 2007, serving as assistant director and head of external governance as the council established its ALEOs.
Now since the real reason for setting up ALEOs in the first place was a shameful attempt to circumvent the Glasgow City Council's obligations over equal pay, surely it's time close these organisations down.
Yet again the Court of Session sent Glasgow City Council packing and if you ask me, the politicians and officials behind this crazy scheme owe the workforce an apology.
Glasgow - Equal Pay Update (09/01/18)
Here's an interesting article from 'Holyrood Magazine' which was published back in 2014 just as Annemarie O'Donnell's was appointed as the new and first woman chief executive of Glasgow City Council.
The upshot is that Annemarie has been in a variety of senior positions within the council for a very long time - through the Christmas 2005 'capped' settlement offers, the introduction of the WPBR in 2007 and the establishment of Glasgow's ALEOs - before succeeding Ian Drummond as executive director of corporate services and then George Black as CEO.
What puzzles me though is why there has been such a long and hard fight for equal pay in Glasgow when the City Council has such powerful women in its senior ranks?
Regular readers will know that Carole Forrest succeeded Annemarie as executive director of corporate services (which deals with Freedom of Information requests) and that Glasgow now has a woman Lord Provost (Eva Bolander) and a woman council leader (Susan Aitken).
The political changes at the top of the City Council are relatively recent, of course, but isn't it remarkable that the battle over equal pay has been so fierce in Glasgow - even with women officials in the most senior positions.
Written by Kate Shannon on 12 November 2014 in News
Glasgow City Council has appointed a new chief executive to replace George Black, who retires next month.
Annemarie O’Donnell, who has been the council’s executive director of corporate services since 2011, was chosen for the role last week.
Black announced his retirement in August and will leave the council on 11 December.
Councillor Gordon Matheson, leader of Glasgow City Council, said: “The quality of candidates was exceptionally high but Annemarie brings a wealth of experience, passion and vision to the role and was the unanimous choice of the interview panel.
"There has never been a more exciting time to work in Glasgow, with the city in the spotlight like never before following the best ever Commonwealth Games and the signing of Scotland’s first city deal. I am in no doubt that Annemarie is the best possible choice to lead our dedicated and talented staff through the next chapter in our city’s long and proud history.
“I also want to take this opportunity to thank George Black for his exceptional work on behalf of the city and wish him every happiness and success in the future.”
I believe we have the energy, the ideas and, crucially, the best people to meet those challenges
O’Donnell, 49, is a qualified solicitor and a member of the Law Society of Scotland. She has two adult children and her husband is a lawyer specialising in criminal law.
After joining Glasgow District Council from a legal practice in the east end of Glasgow in 1991, she worked as a solicitor and then senior solicitor in a team focusing on construction, housing and planning.
Following local government reorganisation in 1996, she was promoted to chief solicitor, leading the council’s work on commercial contracts, procurement, planning and environmental law.
In 2003, O’Donnell was appointed assistant head of legal and administrative services, a new post that saw her take responsibility for the running of elections for the first time – along with committee services, registrars, litigation, licensing and corporate law.
Following a two year secondment as deputy director of social work services, she returned to corporate services in 2007, serving as assistant director and head of external governance as the council established its ALEOs.
She said: “I am delighted and humbled to have been appointed. This is a really exciting time for Glasgow. There is no doubt the next few years will be challenging for everyone in local government. But I believe we have the energy, the ideas and, crucially, the best people to meet those challenges.”
Read Holyrood’s full interview with George Black here.
Glasgow City Council has appointed a new chief executive to replace George Black, who retires next month.
Annemarie O’Donnell, who has been the council’s executive director of corporate services since 2011, was chosen for the role last week.
Black announced his retirement in August and will leave the council on 11 December.
Councillor Gordon Matheson, leader of Glasgow City Council, said: “The quality of candidates was exceptionally high but Annemarie brings a wealth of experience, passion and vision to the role and was the unanimous choice of the interview panel.
"There has never been a more exciting time to work in Glasgow, with the city in the spotlight like never before following the best ever Commonwealth Games and the signing of Scotland’s first city deal. I am in no doubt that Annemarie is the best possible choice to lead our dedicated and talented staff through the next chapter in our city’s long and proud history.
“I also want to take this opportunity to thank George Black for his exceptional work on behalf of the city and wish him every happiness and success in the future.”
I believe we have the energy, the ideas and, crucially, the best people to meet those challenges
O’Donnell, 49, is a qualified solicitor and a member of the Law Society of Scotland. She has two adult children and her husband is a lawyer specialising in criminal law.
After joining Glasgow District Council from a legal practice in the east end of Glasgow in 1991, she worked as a solicitor and then senior solicitor in a team focusing on construction, housing and planning.
Following local government reorganisation in 1996, she was promoted to chief solicitor, leading the council’s work on commercial contracts, procurement, planning and environmental law.
In 2003, O’Donnell was appointed assistant head of legal and administrative services, a new post that saw her take responsibility for the running of elections for the first time – along with committee services, registrars, litigation, licensing and corporate law.
Following a two year secondment as deputy director of social work services, she returned to corporate services in 2007, serving as assistant director and head of external governance as the council established its ALEOs.
She said: “I am delighted and humbled to have been appointed. This is a really exciting time for Glasgow. There is no doubt the next few years will be challenging for everyone in local government. But I believe we have the energy, the ideas and, crucially, the best people to meet those challenges.”
Read Holyrood’s full interview with George Black here.
