Scotland's Councillors Are Not Low Paid - £19,571 = £15.70 An Hour

Scotland's councillors are not remotely 'low paid' as some vested interests like to suggest.

The new minimum salary for a part-time, backbench councillor is £19,571 for the equivalent of a 24 hour week - or two third of full-time hours. 

So £19,571 divided by 52 = £376 and £376 divided by 24 = £15.70 an hour which is more than most other council workers in Scotland earn.

Senior councillors, of course, are paid even more than £19,571 because of their full-time duties and greater  responsibilities of their jobs - up to £59,000 for council leaders in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Scotland's Councillors Are Not Low Paid! (May 09, 2022)

 

I need to revisit this post in light of the astonishing news that Scotland's council bosses have received a 9.4% pay increase in the space of just 12 months

But the underlying figures are still correct although the hourly rate of pay for councillors has now risen to nearer £16 an hour, as a result of the latest bumper pay rise.

Lots of councillors have 2nd jobs, of course - some even have 3rd jobs and some have 2nd (or 3rd jobs) on top of what is classified as a full-time salaried position with their local council.

So it sounds to me as if there should again be independent oversight of councillors pay in Scotland (abolished by the SNP in 2013) - and by 'independent' I don't mean COSLA or SNP ministers. 

Scotland's Councillors Are Not Low Paid (May 08, 2022)

I think it's a good thing that Scotland's local councillors enjoy a minimum and decent rate of pay of £15 an hour.

But if that's what a backbench local politician is worth, then surely Home Carers, Cooks, Classroom Assistants and similar council jobs can't be worth any less.

Some councillors earn a lot more of course than the minimum, of course - £30,000, £40,000, £50,000 and beyond.

And that's OK by me too although I do think a councillor who receives a full-time public salary should not allowed to moonlight and take on other significant paid employment.

Council Workers, Elected Councillors and Low Pay (May 11, 2021)

Another post from the blog archive which explains that while lots of council workers in Glasgow (and elsewhere) are very low paid - the same cannot be said of their local councillors who receive a minimum hourly rate of around £15 an hour.