Anger as broke castle quango gives bosses a historic pay rise
Taxpayer-funded agency’s wage boost
A taxpayer- funded heritage agency given a £ 21million rescue package has been criticised for handing manag ement an inflation- busting pay rise.
Westmins t er gave the Scottish Government £97million to support the sector earlier this year.
Historic buildings quango Historic Environment Scotland (HES) – which runs Edinburgh Castle – has awarded senior f igures a 15 per cent wage increase, new accounts reveal. UK inflation rate for 2019 was 1.74 per cent.
The organisation, which also manages Stirling Castle among its 300 sites, placed about 900 of its 1500 staff on the furlough scheme at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
New figures reveal that 10 employees in HES’s senior management team cost £970,000 in salaries – up from £ 843,000 in 2018/19.
Chief executive Alex Paterson, a former boss at Highlands and Islands Enterprise, saw his total package go up from between £165,000£ 170,000 to between £170,000-£175,000.
Directors Barbara C ummi n s and Stephen Duncan also saw their salary and pension package increase from £95,000-£100,000 to £100,000-£105,000. Meanwhi le , di rector of corporate services Gary Love saw his pay go up from £ 80,000£ 85,000 to £100,000-£105,000. Despite big increases for senior staff, the median wage for the HES workforce – the mid point between highest and lowest earners – dropped from £22,787 to £22,537.
HES shut its sites for t he summer lockdown but reopened threequarters of it s at t ract ions in August after the Scottish Government announced it would receive a £ 21.3million rescue package. It said the money would be used to protect jobs and support its reopening plans.
At the same time, the First Minister said a £15million rescue package would be given to a range of businesses, including nightclubs and comedy venues. Many of them are still waiting.
Tony Cochrane, who runs a host of nightclubs in Scotland, said: “It ’ s gal l ing that an organisation like HES was given the money immediately and we are still waiting to find out.
“We’ve had to significantly reduce our wage bill and have had pay cuts across the business.”
Paul Smith, who runs the CLG group, which owns venues in central Scotland, said: “I’ve been shocked sho by the amount am of money given giv to HES. If, at the same time, they are awarding themselves selv a large pay rise, far higher than inf lation, they should consider giving it back. Many businesses, like mine, would use this funding as a lifeline.”
Deputy leader of Scottish Labour Jackie Baillie said: “For any government agency to grow the pay bill of senior managers when people are experiencing pay cuts or, in some cases, losing their jobs is incredible. This is the wrong signal to be sending to workers who are struggling.”
Scottish Conservative culture spokesman Maurice Golden said: “Now it’s even more important that every pound of public money spent on the arts secures as many jobs as possible.”
A spokesman for HES said the wage increase for senior staff was in compliance with the Scottish Public Sector Pay Policy. He said the cost had also gone up because it now had more senior staff.
HES said that, on top of the £21.3million, it was to get another £15.8million this year, which included funding for grants and conservation work.
I’ve been by shocked of amount the to cash given HES