Glasgow - Rewarding Failure

I thought I'd share this post from the blog site archive as another example of just how well Glasgow City Council's senior officials have been treated during the lifetime of the WPBR.

During this period the City Council has spent the best part of £30 million on its senior management team, but despite such a major investment Glasgow still managed to make a terrible mess of equal pay.

So does this represent 'good value for money' or 'rewarding failure' - you tell me? 

  

Glasgow - Rewarding Failure (16/04/18)

Since the WPBR was introduced in 2007 the small group of senior officials in Glasgow City Council have paid themselves a small fortune - around £27 million by my calculation, i.e. 12 x £2,250,368 = £27,004,416.

No wonder Scotland's public spending watchdog, the Accounts Commission, last year described the handling of equal pay as a 'decade long failure of local and central government'.

Glasgow's wage bill for senior officials salaries in 2017 came to £2,250,368 - the same year in which the Court of Session, Scotland's highest civil court, condemned the WPBR pay arrangements in Scotland's largest council as 'unfit for purpose'. 

The figures are taken from Glasgow's Annual Accounts for 2016/17 and include basic salary, election duty fees and the employer's pension contributions.

Annemarie O'Donnell - Chief Executive
£167,853 plus Election Duty Fees of £46,663 = £214,515 + £38,345 =£252,860

Carole Forrest - Director of Corporate Services and Solicitor to the Council

£122,853 plus Election Duty Fees of £4,000 = £116,524 + £21,717 = £138,241

Lynn Brown - Executive Director of Financial Services (from 1 April to 30 September)

£72,893 plus Election Duty Fees of £2,000 = £74,893 + £134,147 = £209,040

Richard Brown - Executive Director of Development and Regeneration 

£135,372 + £26,127 = £161,499

Maureen McKenna - Executive Director of Education Services

£135,372 + £26,127 = £161,499

Brian Devlin - Executive Director of Land and Environmental Services (1 April to 31 December 2016)

£143,182 (includes 12 weeks pay in lieu of notice and unused annual leave) + £20,600 = £163,782

Susanne Millar - Chief Social Work Officer

£100,603 + £19,416 = £120,019

Anne Connolly - Strategic Adviser to the Chief Executive

£82,348 + £15,893 = £98,241

Chris Starrs - Executive Communications Manager (from 1 April to 28 January 2017)

£57,674 plus Election Duty Fees of £2,150 = £59,824 + £11,131 =£70,955

Morag Johnston - Action Executive Director of Financial Services (from 3 October 2016)  

£56,412 (Full Year Equivalent £122,562) + £21,825 = £78,237

George Gillespie - Acting Director of Land and Environmental Services (from 1 January 2017)

£25,959 (Full Year Equivalent £122,562) + £20,298 = £46,257

Glasgow's ALEOs

City Building - £137,477 (Graham Paterson) + £26,533 = £164,010

Glasgow Life -£135,209 (Bridget McConnell) + £23,256 = £158,465

Cordia - £105,091 (Andy Clark) + £20,426 = £125,517

City Parking - £71,980 (William Taggart) + £13,892 = £85,872

City Property - £102,521 (Pauline Barclay) + £19,787 = £122,308

Jobs and Business - £80,398 (Calum Graham) + £13,168 = £93,566

  

Glasgow - Rewarding Failure (11/04/18)

A little reminder from the blog site archive of the remuneration package Glasgow City Council paid its chief executive, Annemarie O'Donnell, in 2017 - the year in which the Court of Session, Scotland highest civil court, judged Glasgow's WPBR pay scheme to be 'unfit for purpose'.

Later today I'll be sharing a post on Glasgow ALEOs including Cordia which are being dismantled as 'arm's length' companies and returned to direct council control - a very good thing if you ask me!  

But Annemarie O'Donnell who is now overseeing the dismantling of these discredited organisations is the same Annmarie O'Donnell who played a key role in their creation in the first place - back in 2007/08.

So it will be interesting to see what, if anything, Annemarie has to say about this latest 'about-turn' in council policy! 

  

Glasgow - Rewarding Failure (23/03/18)

I plan to publish the salaries paid to all of Glasgow City Council's senior officials on the blog site over the next few days, but to kick things off here is the remuneration package for the Council's Chief Executive, Annemarie O'Donnell, for the year to 31 March 2017.

Basic Salary - £167,853

Election Duty Fees - £46,662

Employer's Pension Contribution - £38,345  

Total Remuneration - £252,860

Now 2017 was the year in which the scandal of equal pay in Glasgow City Council finally came under the spotlight as the Court of Session, Scotland's highest civil court, handed down its damning and unanimous judgement - that the pay arrangements of Scotland's largest council are 'unfit for purpose'.

To add insult to injury, Glasgow City Council now claims to have no proper records to clarify how its controversial WPBR pay scheme was put in place back in 2005/06/07  and senior officials are either unwilling or unable to explain:

• the WPBR's Terms of Reference
• the WPBR's procurement arrangements
• the cost of the WPBR to the public purse 

I don't know about anyone else, but this seems to me like a classic case of 'rewarding failure' with an eye-watering salary package which dwarfs that of the Prime Minister, Theresa May, and Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.

It really is a disgrace when Glasgow City Council is in such a scandalous mess over equal pay.