Cooking the Books and Showing Contempt for Council Staff

Scottish Ministers and council bosses are accused of cooking the books and showing contempt for council workers - including those who kept essential services going throughout the Covid pandemic.

  

Dear Mr Swinney

Councillors' Pay, Preferential Treatment and Conflicts of Interest

I refer to the letter from Tony Romain dated 3 December 2021 - a copy of which is attached below for easy reference.

I would be grateful if Scottish Ministers can explain the reasoning behind their decision to link councillors' pay with the percentage increase in the median annual earnings of all public sector workers in Scotland?

As you know, this is a complete departure from previous practice whereby SLARC (Scottish Local Authorities Remuneration Committee) recommended pay increases for specific and justified reasons which were backed up by persuasive evidence, or on some occasions SLARC recommended a 'cost of living' increase in line with the annual pay rise awarded to other Scottish council employees.

The problem with Ministers' decision to link councillors pay to the 'percentage increase in median annual earnings for all public sector workers in Scotland' is that the policy provides an unjustified and artificial boost to the pay of elected council leaders.

For example, the Leader of Glasgow City Council (GCC) received a pay rise of 4.2% in 2021/2022 while GCC employees in the same pay bracket were restricted to an increase of 1%. 

The cost of living is the same for everyone so how can Scottish Ministers justify this extraordinary decision?   

I did warn the former Finance Secretary, Derek Mackay, of the likely consequences of abolishing SLARC, as you know, and hope you now agree that this ScotGov decision has proved to be a ghastly and costly mistake.

Because there is no doubt Scottish Ministers are providing senior councillors and other elected members with special, preferential treatment which shows real contempt for the rest of the local government workforce.

I look forward to your reply

Mark Irvine

DIRECTORATE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNITIES
DLGC : Local Government and Analytical Services Division

Mark Irvine markirvine@compuserve.com

Our Reference: 202100259997 3 December 2021

Dear Mr Irvine,

Thank you for your emails of 15 November and 30 November to the Deputy First Minister, John Swinney MSP, regarding your concerns about councillors having second jobs working for Glasgow MSPs. I have been asked to respond.

MSPs are employers in their own right and are responsible for the recruitment of their own staff. The examples you have cited in Glasgow and Clackmannanshire are permitted under current rules of recruitment and there is nothing in those rules which prevents councillors, including those in receipt of Special Responsibility Allowances, from having second jobs.

However, it is important to note that councillors are required to declare any remunerated employment in their ‘Register of Interests’. Further information on this can be found in the Councillors’ Code of Conduct. In the event that you believe a councillor has failed to disclose this employment then you should raise a complaint with the Ethical Standards Commissioner (ESC), who investigate complaints about the behaviour of MSPs and councillors. Further information is available on the ESC website.

In terms of councillors’ salaries, the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 (Remuneration) Regulations 2007 set out the framework for paying a salary to councillors. Since May 2017, the pay of councillors has been linked to the pay of Scottish public sector workers. This information is published annually by the Office of National Statistics in the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE). This was done in response to a request by the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities for the creation of an objective mechanism to determine councillors’ remuneration.

I hope this reply is helpful. 

Yours sincerely

Tony Romain

LGAS : Local Government Policy and Relationships Unit