SNP-run Glasgow council will sell Kelvingrove Art Gallery and the City Chambers to meet outstanding equal pay claims.
The plan, which could rake in over £200m, involves selling the iconic properties to a publicly-owned spin off firm and leasing them back.
Lib Dem MP Christine Jardine MP said: “This is absolutely horrendous. The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and the City Chambers are a deeply important part of the city and to sell them off would be devastating.
“Due to years of an SNP government slashing local authority budgets, this is now a possibility.”
An equal pay deal worth around £500m was agreed by Glasgow council in 2019 for thousands of predominantly female workers.
The settlement involved a council-owned company borrowing the money which it then used for a ‘sale and leaseback’ scheme for local authority buildings.
However, the scheme only covered part of the equal pay liability and council chiefs have been discussing how to resolve the outstanding claims.
A new paper revealed that a 2019-style solution will be used to ensure workers receive their money.
The list of assets are Kelvingrove, which is a haven for tourists, Kelvin Hall, the Gallery of Modern Art, Sighthill School Campus and Gowanbank School Campus.
The City Chambers, one of the city’s most imposing structures, is also part of the deal. The iconic building in George Square is where council business takes place.
The paper stated: “The sale and leaseback capital receipts will significantly contribute to the overall funding available for the settlement of the remaining equal pay liability."
“Together with existing reserves, the total funding available to settle our equal pay liabilities (including all costs) will be circa £270million.”
It added: "All operational activity carried out at these establishments will continue as normal and will not be affected by the sale and leaseback proposals."
A council committee approved the strategy this morning.
SNP Council leader Susan Aitken said: “I’m determined to deliver pay justice for thousands of women in our workforce.
“After a decade going round in circles in the courts, we made this a priority in the last council term and, in twelve months, reached a fair settlement through open and honest negotiations.
“This update is about putting the building blocks in place to finish that job. We are, again, making this a priority early in the council term and seeking to put right a wrong that has damaged the council, its workforce and the city for too long.”
She added: “Raising these kinds of sums is exceptionally challenging – and the high-profile properties involved, particularly in this second tranche, illustrates that.
“However, the city’s historic failures on equal pay come at a price – and releasing the potential of our property, while keeping it in the city’s ownership, at least protects services and the future of these valued assets.”
George Redmond, Labour’s group leader on the council, said: “Settling Equal Pay is the right thing to do. Despite the war of words, every decision on Equal Pay has been a unanimous one. Today is no exception - even when it comes to mortgaging the family silver.
“All of the facilities that will be mortgaged are highly valued by Glasgwegians, especially the City Chambers. But this is what happens after a decade of Tory austerity that is turbocharged by the SNP. We exhausted all other options to fund this deal. The family silver is all that’s left, and I’m worried that it’s not enough.
“Glasgow is struggling to make ends meet - and it’s because of decisions taken by the SNP at Holyrood.”
Scottish Tory MSP Annie Wells: “Glaswegians will be stunned and dismayed that some of the city’s crown jewels are set to be sold off by the city’s SNP-led council.
“While it’s right that equal pay claims continue to be settled, the bigger factor at play here is the SNP’s savage cuts year after year to local authority budgets.
“That has left councils like Glasgow cash-strapped and backed into a corner over taking decisions on how to desperately boost their coffers.
“SNP ministers need to finally deliver a fair funding deal for our local authorities, otherwise other iconic assets could well be lost.”
Sean Baillie of the GMB trade union, which represents some of the women owed money, said:
“This is a consequence of the council’s chronic sex discrimination of low-paid women workers and there will be highly paid unelected officials sitting uncomfortably in the city chambers today.
“Let’s also be clear this plan is to generate funding to support negotiations for interim equal pay settlements and not full and final settlements, which can only be achieved when the council has finally replaced its discriminatory job evaluation system.
“We would like the public to understand that our members are fighting for the return of money stolen from them by their employer – this is a long and hard battle, and their expectations are the council will honour its liabilities.
“That’s the very least these workers deserve for the discrimination they have suffered and continue to endure.”
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