27 January 2006
Scottish councils have warned that they face a bill of up to £560m and council tax increases of more than £80 a year if they settle disputes over an equal pay agreement.
The estimate was given by leaders of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities to the Scottish Parliament's finance committee this week. The committee is conducting an inquiry into the single status deal agreed by councils in 1999.
Its estimates, it said, were based on 'high risk' compensation groups only and that the figures could considerably increase if all groups were included.
Cosla chief executive Rory Mair told the committee that although councils had reserves of around £1bn, only £250m was unallocated. He called on the Treasury to hand back a £200m 'windfall' it would receive if the £560m were paid in backdated wages.
However, a Treasury spokesman said: 'The local authorities have this tax bill now because they discriminated against staff. If they were let off, it would be unfair to the local authorities which were paying their staff fairly.'
PFjan2006
