Council fails to close staff salary loophole

a cOUNcIL is still paying hundreds of employees for hours they did not work, despite raising tax in a bid to plug a £40million financial black hole.

In 2016, we revealed that, for a decade, Falkirk council had been paying some workers for 37 hours a week, even though they had been working only 35 – costing taxpayers £1.4million a year.

The bizarre arrangement with the sNPrun council was a legacy from a 2006 pay deal for administrative and clerical staff.

But the council has faced union resistance as it tries to scrap the perk.

It has now emerged it is still in place, despite the local authority cutting jobs and increasing council tax by 3 per cent.

scottish Tory local government spokesman alexander stewart said: ‘While this might seem a small glitch, it’s cost council tax payers a fortune.

‘When times are tight, people expect their local authority to be fiscally responsible. considering council tax bills are increasing, people in Falkirk will be particularly annoyed this is taking so long to address.’

More than 1,400 employees are paid for 37 hours despite working only 35. They were urged to agree to work the extra two hours or have their pay reduced accordingly.

But union protests mean negotiations are still going on to solve the dispute.

Yet the council website says it is facing an ‘estimated budget gap of around £40million over the next two years (2018/19-2019/20)’. It adds: ‘significant savings have already been made, including reducing the workforce by 7 per cent.

‘This means there are no easy savings options left and every area of our work has been looked at very closely.’

Falkirk council has said it implemented a national single status agreement in 2006 ‘which involved the harmonisation of terms and conditions of service’ for administrative, professional, technical and clerical and manual employees. The reforms were introduced to ensure women were paid as much as men doing similar work, with councils obliged to make sure staff employed in similar jobs enjoyed equal pay.

In some cases during the equal pay process, staff whose jobs were changed or who lost perks were offered a trade-off, for example, protected pay.

a union insider said that this sometimes involved offering ‘sweeteners’ and it ‘looks like this is what has happened at Falkirk’.

asked if the arrangement was still in place, a Falkirk council spokesman said: ‘Negotiations on this continue to be held, including the involvement of the advisory, conciliation and arbitration service, with the aim of finding a resolution.’

chloe Westley of the TaxPayers’ alliance said: ‘council tax is one of the biggest costs for families and it’s both shocking and disappointing when their hard-earned money is wasted due to incompetence.

‘It can’t be that difficult for council staff to perform basic administrative tasks such as payroll. People in Falkirk deserve better.’