Glasgow City Council and Freedom of Information
I asked Glasgow City Council (GCC) to explain the breakdown of salaries paid to senior elected councillors.
Senior councillors are paid on a full-time basis - for example, the council leader Cllr Susan Aitken is paid a salary of £58,719.
Backbench councillors are paid a part-time £19,571 salary equivalent to a 24 hour working week.
Now this information ought to be readily and freely available, but here is GCC's response to my Freedom of Information (FoI) request.
Response
Notice that information is not held by the Council
On inspecting our records, it would appear that the Council does not hold the
information which you have requested. Neither does anyone else hold it on our behalf.
Accordingly, we are unable to comply with your request, in terms of section 17(1)(b)
of the Act.
By way of advice and assistance we can advise that the Special Responsibility Allowance (SRA) Scheme for councillors in Scotland came to an end in 2007. This was replaced by a Members Remuneration, Allowances and Expenses package with each local authority banded within four groups bands A, B, C and D (set by the Scottish Government based on population of council area) for the purposes of payment of remuneration to Councillors.
All Councillors who do not hold the position of Leader, Civic Head or Senior Councillor will receive a basic annual salary which is set nationally in the regulations. With effect from 1 April 2022, the basic remuneration for Councillors in Scotland is £19,571 per annum.
As with the basic salary, the remuneration level for Leaders have also been fixed nationally. The salary level for the Leader of Glasgow City Council is £58,719 with effect from 1 April 2022 which is the band D rate.
Each local authority may have one Civic Head post and will have scope to determine the level of remuneration paid to that Civic Head up to a maximum of 75 per cent of the remuneration paid to the Council Leader.
In addition to the Leader and Civic Head, each local authority may have up to a maximum of 24 “Senior Councillors” and have the flexibility to determine which positions should be considered as Senior Councillors meriting higher salaries. The maximum number for Glasgow City Council is based on the banding system with no Senior Councillor being paid more than 75 per cent of the salary paid to the Leader.
All councils must publish information on councillors’ salaries, allowances and expenses in respect of the previous financial year on their website by 1 June each year. This data will include salaries, allowances and expenses as well as a description of any senior position held by individual councillors and can be found at: https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=17107
Glasgow City Council publishes its information on a quarterly basis with the first quarter of the current financial year (April 2022 to June 22) due to be published in early August and will be available from the above link.
If you would like further details on the current remuneration arrangements for Councillors in Scotland, this can be found using the following link:
https://www.gov.scot/policies/local-government/councillors-roles-conduct-pay/
Now this bureaucratic response is intended to be unhelpful and obscure what is actually going on behind the scenes, but never fear - more details will follow soon.
Who's In Whose Pocket In Glasgow? (May 05, 2022)
Here's an updated version of my post about 'Who's In Whose Pocket In Glasgow?'
I think it's fair to say that The City Council's 'Register of Interests' is far from being a model of transparency - for a start councillors are not required to register their council salaries, full or part-time.
Instead councillor salaries are shown as being paid, quarter by quarter, and the latest entries are for the 3rd quarter of 2021/22 - from which visitors to the GCC web site must extrapolate full annual amounts to gain a clear picture.
The position in Glasgow is that lots of councillors have 2nd and sometimes 3rd jobs - even those who have full-time senior roles in the council who are paid full-time council salaries, upwards of £27,000+ a year.
In effect this suggests the councillors involved enjoy earnings of over £40,000+ a year although it's difficult to be precise because there is generally no explanation of the salary or time commitment of their 2nd and 3rd jobs.
So as things stand the public is entitled to know what salary a councillor is paid from the public purse - but not what salary a councillor is paid from the public purse via an MSP (Scottish Minister) or an MP.
Nicola Sturgeon and John Swinney say this is just fine and dandy - I say this is a scandal and that after 15 years in power the SNP can't tell right from wrong.
1) Cllr Alexander Belic
https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/councillorsandcommittees/interests.asp?id=2398&name=Alexander+Belic
Cllr Belic is still employed as a Caseworker by the SNP MP Alison Thewliss, but his entry on the Council's Register of Interests does not explain the time commitment or salary involved.
Cllr Belic's entry does not refer to his £18,604 councillor salary which is paid an hourly rate of around £15.00 an hour.
Backbench councillors across Scotland are paid a part-time salary of £18,604 which is set at two-thirds of full-time hours - a notional full-time salary of £28,000.
Alison Thewliss MP
2) Cllr Eva Bolander
Cllr Bolander registers two self-employed jobs and two previous paid roles with Carol Monaghan MP and Sandra White MSP - but there are no details of the time commitment or salary involved.
Cllr Bolander's entry does not refer to her £18,604 councillor salary which is paid an hourly rate of around £15.00 an hour.
Backbench councillors across Scotland are paid a part-time salary of £18,604 which is set at two-thirds of full-time hours - a notional full-time salary of £28,000.
Carol Monaghan MP
Sandra White MSP (now retired)
3) Cllr Graham Campbell
https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/councillorsandcommittees/interests.asp?id=2413&name=Graham+Campbell
Cllr Campbell has no new entries on the registers, but records his previous employment with Anne McLaughlin the SNP MP - no details are provided to explain the time commitment or salary involved.
Cllr Campbell's entry does not refer to his £18,604 councillor salary which is paid an hourly rate of around £15.00 an hour.
Backbench councillors across Scotland are paid a part-time salary of £18,604 which is set at two-thirds of full-time hours - a notional full-time salary of £28,000.
Anne McLaughlin MP
4) Cllr Christina Cannon
https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/councillorsandcommittees/interests.asp?id=2414&name=Christina+Cannon
Cllr Cannon has no new entries on the register, but records various posts with SNP MPs and MSPs Kirsten Oswald, Anne McLaughlin, Ivan McKee (Scottish Minister) and Humza Yousaf (Scottish Minister)
No details are provided about of the time commitment or salaries involved in these various posts.
Cllr Cannon does not register her councillor salary which is in excess of £27,000 a year, as a full-time senior councillor.
Humza Yousaf MSP and Scottish Minister
Anne McLaughlin MP
Ivan McKee MSP and Scottish Minister
Kirsten Oswald MSP
5) Cllr Allan Casey
https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/councillorsandcommittees/interests.asp?id=2425&name=Allan+Casey
Cllr Casey has no new entries on the register, but records two paid posts with SNP MP Anne McLaughlin (ended Dec 2020) and SNP MSP Ivan McKee (Scottish Minister).
No details are provided about of the time commitment or salaries involved in these posts.
Cllr Casey does not register his councillor salary which is in excess of £35,000 a year, as a full-time senior councillor.
Ivan McKee MSP and Scottish Minister
Anne McLaughlin MP
6) Cllr Annette Christie
https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/councillorsandcommittees/interests.asp?id=2416&name=Annette+Christie
Cllr Christie has no new entries on the register, but records two paid posts with SNP MP Anne McLaughlin (ended Sept 2017 and March 2020) and another with SNP MSP Ivan McKee (Scottish Minister).
No details are provided about of the time commitment or salaries involved in these posts.
Cllr Christie does not register her councillor salary which is in excess of £27,000 a year, as a full-time senior councillor.
Anne McLaughlin MP
Ivan McKee MSP and Scottish Minister
7) Cllr Laura Doherty
https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/councillorsandcommittees/interests.asp?id=2417&name=Laura+Doherty
Cllr Doherty has no new entries on the register, but records her paid post with SNP MP Margaret Ferrier which commenced in January 2020.
No details are provided about of the time commitment or salary involved in any of these posts.
Cllr Doherty's entry does not refer to her £18,604 councillor salary which is paid an hourly rate of around £15.00 an hour.
Backbench councillors across Scotland are paid a part-time salary of £18,604 which is set at two-thirds of full-time hours - a notional full-time salary of £28,000.
Margaret Ferrier MP
8) Michelle Ferns (now ALBA)
https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/councillorsandcommittees/interests.asp?id=2418&name=Michelle+Ferns
Cllr Ferns has no new entries on the register, but records two paid posts with SNP MP Natalie McGarry which ended in 2017 and another with SNP David Linden for 16 hours a week which ended in February 2018.
No details are provided about the salaries for these posts or the time commitment involved in the McGarry post.
Cllr Ferns' entry does not refer to her £18,604 councillor salary which is paid an hourly rate of around £15.00 an hour.
Backbench councillors across Scotland are paid a part-time salary of £18,604 which is set at two-thirds of full-time hours - a notional full-time salary of £28,000.
Natalie McGarry MP
David Linden MP
9) Cllr Mhairi Hunter
https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/councillorsandcommittees/interests.asp?id=1302&name=Mhairi+Hunter
Cllr Ferns has no new entries on the register, but records two additional paid jobs - one as a Board Member of Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS for which receives a salary of around £9,000 for a time commitment of 1 day per week.
The other paid job is as an Office Assistant for Nicola Sturgeon - no salary details are provided for this post nor is there any indication of the time commitment involved
Cllr Hunter does not register her councillor salary which is in excess of £27,000 a year, as a full-time senior councillor.
10) Cllr Ruari Kelly
https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/councillorsandcommittees/interests.asp?id=2422&name=Ruairi+Kelly
Cllr Kelly has no new entries on the register, but records an additional paid job as the Communications Officer for Anne McLaughlin, the SNP MP.
No salary details are provided for the Communications Officer post nor is there any indication of the time commitment involved.
Cllr Kelly does not register her councillor salary which is in excess of £27,000 a year, as a full-time senior councillor.
Anne McLaughlin MP
11) Cllr Jennifer Layden
https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/councillorsandcommittees/interests.asp?id=2400&name=Jennifer+Layden
Cllr Layden records two additional paid job on the register - one as a caseworker for Margaret Ferrier the SNP MP which ended in October 2020 and another as a Caseworker for Humza Yousaf MSP and Scottish Minister.
No salary details are provided for these posts nor is there any indication of the time commitment involved.
Cllr Layden's job with Humza Yousaf ceased in August 2021 after started writing about these issues on my blog in May 2021.
Cllr Layden does not register her councillor salary which is in excess of £35,000 a year, as a full-time senior councillor.
Margaret Ferrier MP
Humza Yousaf MSP and Scottish Minister
12) Cllr David Turner
https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/councillorsandcommittees/member.asp?id=30&t=Councillor+David+Turner
Cllr Turner has no new entries on the register, but records two additional paid jobs - one as a Support Officer for David Linden the SNP MP and another in the same role for Stewart McDonald the SNP MP
No salary details are provided for these two Support Officer role nor is there any indication of the time commitment involved.
Cllr Turner's entry does not refer to his £18,604 councillor salary which is paid an hourly rate of around £15.00 an hour.
Backbench councillors across Scotland are paid a part-time salary of £18,604 which is set at two-thirds of full-time hours - a notional full-time salary of £28,000.
David Linden MP
Stewart McDonald MP
13) Cllr Alex Wilson
https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/councillorsandcommittees/interests.asp?id=2118&name=Alex+Wilson
Cllr Wilson records two additional paid job on the register - one as an Appeals Officer for the Department for Work and Pensions and another for the South West Arts and Music Project.
No salary details are provided for these two jobs nor is there any indication of the time commitment involved.
Cllr Wilson does not register his councillor salary which is in excess of £27,000 a year, as a full-time senior councillor.
