£55million payouts for disgruntled council staff
Taxpayers’ cash settles disputes
SCOTLAND’S councils have made £55million worth of payouts to disgruntled employees over the past five years.
Between non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), employment settlements and equal pay claims, the taxpayer has been left with an average bill of more than £900,000 a month.
Fife Council alone has spent £48million settling equal pay claims, while Glasgow City Council has spent more than half-a-million pounds on settlement agreements.
These payouts by local authorities are to settle actual or potential employment tribunal claims.
Between 2015 and 2020 Fife Council faced 1,873 equal pay claims.
Sharon McKenzie, head of HR at Fife Council, said: ‘These payments relate to equal pay agreements reached in 2015 with claimants represented by several parties.
‘We’re the third largest local authority in Scotland. When taken in context, these figures aren’t surprising given that two of the other largest authorities settled before us and another settled after. Since this period, we haven’t made any significant payouts.’
Bills for NDAs have cost Highland Council and Clackmannanshire more than £1million each since 2015.
NDAs are considered controversial for public bodies to use as they mean the employee who agrees to the terms can never speak about their issue publicly. Some see them as a way to avoid scrutiny at a cost to the taxpayer.
High-profile employers have also been understood to use NDAs to avoid negative publicity, including retailer Sir Philip Green, former president Donald Trump and disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein.
Meanwhile, between 2015 and 2020, 41 settlements have been made by Glasgow City Council, costing the authority more than £530,000. In 2016 East Renfrewshire paid out £369,000 alone on equal pay claims.
Stirling Council has been involved in 43 NDAs between 2016 and 2020 – costing the authority more than £740,000.
Notably, Aberdeen City Council claimed it was exempt from releasing the information under Freedom of Information legislation – saying such matters were ‘confidential’.
North Ayrshire said it does not use NDAs but settlement agreements are used for current or former employees when needed. The bill for the local authority was more than £600,000 for settlement claims between 2016 and 2020.
Scottish Conservative local government spokesman Annie Wells said: ‘The SNP has ruthlessly raided Scottish council budgets. In real terms, this adds up to almost £1billion in cuts over the past eight years, so these revelations are deeply worrying.
‘While lifeline local services are being pared to the bone, it’s dismaying to discover that councils are paying out eyewatering sums of taxpayers’ money to settle legal disputes. People want councils to empty the bins and keep the streets clean, not use their council tax to enrich the legal profession.’
Miss Wells added: ‘I am also deeply concerned about the increasing prevalence of NDAs by some local authorities. When it comes to public money, there should be maximum transparency.
‘We will keep making the argument that council funding must be protected from the SNP administration.’
A spokesman for watchdog the Accounts Commission said: ‘Equal pay is both an incredibly important issue and a legal duty for Scotland’s councils, to eliminate decades of inequality for female employees. In recent years, Scotland’s councils have made significant progress in resolving cases and making compensation payments. ’
Council umbrella group Cosla declined to comment.
‘Services pared to the bone’