Fury as council chief executives to pocket pay hikes of up to 23% after cuts to services

Council chief executives are in line for massive pay hikes of up to 23% despite huge pressure on local government funding. The average rise for bosses will be around £19,000 compared to workers who received a 4% boost to their pay packets . STUC General Secretary Roz Foyer said: “COSLA’s decision to award top bosses above inflation pay rises is deeply flawed and will quite rightly create a huge backlash from workers and the public they serve. “Staff and service users across the country are facing cuts to services, continued low pay and increasing cost of living pressures. It is simply rubbing salt into the wounds of ordinary workers who yet again can see that when it comes to pay it’s one rule for the bosses and another rule for everyone else.” Local authorities have called for extra funding from the SNP Government amid claims of tight settlements. Council tax also rose by an average 9.5% in order to help town halls deliver lifeline services. It has now emerged that council umbrella group COSLA has accepted the recommendations of an independent review into CEO pay. COSLA had asked an expert to rethink a pay structure critics claimed was out of date and damaging recruitment. The option backed by the review team, and endorsed by COSLA, would add around £611,113 to the chief executive pay bill. The review report estimated that the average salary rise for the 32 CEOs would be £19,097, amounting to an average hike of 12.47%. The report added that individual chief executives would receive salary rises of between £4,380 and £32,334, working out at percentage rises of between 2.01% and 23.44%. Chief executives, who are already on six figure salaries, will see their rise being phased in over two stages. Keir Greenaway, senior organiser at the GMB trade union, said: “Pay rises of this size for those at the very top are a slap in the face to our members after being repeatedly told budgets are stretched to breaking point. "It is only the latest example of one rule for the frontline workers actually delivering our public services and another for those who could not be further from the frontline. “Given the years of austerity and relentless cuts to council services, it is hard to see how money can be found to boost the highest wages while services are falling apart and rises for those delivering them pale in comparison.” Graham McNab, lead officer for local government trade union Unite, said: "There is something seriously wrong when low paid local government workers have to fight inch by inch to get a fair pay award every year from COSLA for the vital services they provide to the people of Scotland. “It's disgraceful that COSLA willingly offer eye-watering pay rises to council chief executives who are already on exorbitant salaries. COSLA are quick off the mark to say that low-ball offers to local government workers are fair every year, so how can they even begin to justify paying chief executives three times higher than what they gave nursery nurses, cleaners, school assistants and refuse workers? “It's utterly hypocritical and our members won't forget this when pay negotiations start again." A COSLA spokesperson said: “Across Scotland, council Chief Executives, as Heads of the Paid Service, are accountable for the delivery of hundreds of diverse and vital public services. Tens of thousands of citizens across local areas rely on these every single day – from education and childcare, housing, social work and care, to roads and transport, waste and recycling, and leisure and culture. “On 31st October, COSLA Leaders considered an independent report on Chief Executive remuneration. This was jointly commissioned by COSLA and the ALACE Trade Union in line with a collective agreement made in 2010 that a review would take place. “It was agreed that an updated pay framework will be implemented based on the independent recommendations. “The new pay framework will help Local Government attract and retain the leadership we require to deliver for Scotland's people and our communities, and meet the challenges we face now and into the future.” Tory MSP Craig Hoy said: “Scots who have been clobbered by huge hikes in their council tax bills will be appalled by the prospect of top bosses getting inflation-busting pay rises. “After years of suffering savage cuts from the SNP, councils should be doing everything they can to deliver value for the taxpayer and protecting vital services. “Rubber stamping these pay deals completely flies in the face of that.” To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here