A row has broken out over the amount to be paid to senior West Lothian councillors, after a bid by the SNP to delay a decision on salaries for further scrutiny was defeated.
West Lothian’s SNP group had called for a deferred decision on a report to the council to implement pay scales of almost £30,000 to the 12 senior councillors elected to chair main committees on the council.
That move was defeated however, meaning Labour and Conservative councillors elected as committee heads will each receive a salary of £29,361, under a national scheme approved by all councillors in March.
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After the decision the SNP hit out at the agreed salaries, with local SNP Leader Councillor Janet Campbell saying it was "adding insult to injury" after seeing Labour seize control of the council despite the SNP being the biggest party
But Labour hit back, slating the SNP for "nonsensical rhetoric" - and pointing out that the salary levels has been agreed by all councillors earlier in the year.
All councillor remuneration payments have increased. The new provost Cathy Muldoon will receive a salary of £29,361. Leader Lawrence Fitzpatrick £39,148. The basic payment to a councillor, who holds no office is, £19,751
The vote on Tuesday night came at the end of a 10-hour meeting with a paper from the council’s Governance Manager James Millar.
The report said: “There are four grades of councillor payments for internal council positions. Those are Civic Head (Provost), Leader of the Council, Senior Councillor and others. Members can only be paid in one of those categories.”
The relevant amounts from 1 April 2022 are:- Leader - £39,148 Provost - £29,361 Senior Councillor – variable, subject to a maximum of £29,361 Other councillors - £19,571.
The Scheme of Elected Members Remuneration, Allowances and Reimbursement of Expenses is based on the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 (Remuneration) Regulations 2007 and the Local Government (Allowances and Expenses) (Scotland) Regulations 2007.
While the Scheme is a national framework, individual authorities have the flexibility to determine which positions should be considered Senior Councillor, meriting a higher level of pay.
Elected members who do not hold the position, for remuneration purposes, of Leader, Civic Head or Senior Councillor will receive remuneration set at the basic level.
And whatever the pay on offer, a councillor does not need to take it. Mr Millar’s report explained: “Any elected member, regardless of level of payment, will be able to renounce receipt of all or any part of his/her salary if he/she wishes to do so.”
Writing on Twitter councillor Moira McKee Shemilt said: “Last thing ‘Scottish Labour@ScotTories did today, after a 10hr meeting where some had to leave, was bring forward a motion not on the agenda that awarded 12 of them salaries of up to nearly £30,000 a year.
"SNP request to defer for proper scrutiny refused.”
Asked for comment by the Local Democracy Reporting Service: The SNP group leader, Councillor Janet Campbell said the vote “added insult to injury”.
Councillor Campbell said: “At the very end of the meeting which lasted almost 10 hours Tory and Labour Councillors voted together to award themselves hefty remuneration packages. The SNP called for this decision to be deferred to the appropriate committee in order for proper scrutiny to take place but were defeated by the very people who had just awarded themselves large pay increases.”
In response Council leader Lawrence Fitzpatrick told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “This is the standard nonsensical rhetoric from the SNP group.
"SNP councillors, including their Group Leader approved the revised Scheme of Elected Members Remuneration, Allowances and Reimbursement of Expenses for 2022/23 at the Council Executive in March of this year”
“Elected members remuneration is set by the Scottish Government and is based on the size of the local authority”
“The Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 (Remuneration) Amendment Regulations 2022 were laid before the Scottish Parliament on 24 January 2022. The scope for determining levels of remuneration for Elected Members is set out in the regulations”
“I think it is important to point out that the SNP group received payments via the same regulations when they were in power ten years ago”
“The Council is required to adopt a Scheme of Elected Members Remuneration, Allowances and Reimbursement of Expenses and unanimously approved the revised scheme earlier this year.”
