Call for council staff to get £500 bonus
Extension of reward for key workers backed
Perth and Kinross councillors believe council frontline workers should get a £500 bonus just like NHS and social care staff.
Conservative leader Murray Lyle and the council’s leader of the Liberal Democrat Group Peter Barrett both want to see council employees honoured.
Last weekend COSLA called for the £500 bonus payments to be extended to local government workers.
Perth and Kinross council leader Lyle told the PA he would “absolutely support that.”
On November 30 first minister Nicola Sturgeon announced - at the SNP conference - a £500 bonus to all full-time NHS and social care workers employed since March 17, 2020 - including staff who were shielding or have since retired.
On Friday (December 11) Cllr Lyle attended a virtual COSLA meeting where he said council leaders unanimously backed a Labour amendment on an extension of the £500 policy.
While Scotland’s council leaders welcomed the £500 policy for health and social care staff they felt it missed thousands of key workers in local government.
Cllr Lyle told the Perthshire Advertiser of his misgivings about the SNP policy announced by Nicola Sturgeon on St Andrew’s Day.
He said: “All councils feel that their frontline staff have been challenged.
“It’s not gone down too well with some of our staff.”
The leader of PKC’s Liberal Democrat group Cllr Barrett would also like to see council staff rewarded for their efforts during the pandemic.
He told the PA: “Council staff performed heroically to keep essential services going throughout the pandemic. Their commitment to delivering essential frontline services kept people safe, preserved health and well-being, protected jobs and prevented hunger.
“Those workers do not deserve to be treated as the poor relations to their NHS counterparts by Nicola Sturgeon and the Scottish Government. Their efforts should be rewarded with the same £500 payment and not overlooked. We say reward all key workers.”
Last week Nicola Sturgeon was questioned about the COLSA proposal at the Scottish Government daily briefing.
She said a “whole host of other professions had had a really tough year.”
Ms Sturgeon said: “We can never thank them enough.”
She added: “Those on the frontline on the health service have had a particularly tough time and that £500 payment is meant to be a thank you for it. It is not meant in any way to downplay the contribution of others.”
Ms Sturgeon said the Scottish Government had a direct employment relationship with the NHS and it would be up to councils to reward their employees.
She said: “It would be up to them if they wanted to replicate the position of the Scottish Government.”
The first minister said the Scottish Government would continue to look at ways to show their appreciation for the contribution of different groups of workers.