31 March 2006
Scottish backbench councillors are to be paid a basic salary of £15,452 a year – but leaders will receive less than that recommended by an independent committee.
Finance Minister Tom McCabe's decision on the basic salary is in line with the findings of the Scottish Local Authorities Remuneration Committee, set up by the Executive to investigate pay and allowances for councillors.
However, McCabe has reduced the figures for council leaders. They will receive up to £46,357 in the biggest councils, including Glasgow and Edinburgh. This is about £4,000 less than the figure recommended by the committee, which was headed by former health board and development agency chair Ian Livingstone.
Severance payments, aimed at encouraging older councillors to make way for younger candidates, will be set at a maximum of £20,000, £10,000 less than the recommended figure. The Executive is consulting the Inland Revenue on whether the payment will be taxed. A pension scheme for councillors will also be introduced.
McCabe said the adjustments would cost around £750,000 less than the proposals, while still delivering on the Executive's aim of reforming councillors' allowances and renewing local democracy. He stressed that ministers had said that they would have to consider the 'affordability and public acceptability' of the proposals.
The leader of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, Pat Watters, said the Executive's proposals failed to deliver on the aspirations behind the committee's recommendations.
He added: 'What is the point of an independent committee if you choose to ignore its main recommendations, especially when they were not too over the top in the first place.'
PFmar2006
