£120,000 election bonus for councils’ top earners

Returning officers enjoy cash boon from flurry of ballots in Scotland

Highly-paid council bosses have been getting bumper top-ups to their salaries thanks to Scots heading to the polls five times in less than three years.

Returning officers in Tayside and Fife have pocketed at least £120,000 for running elections and referendums since the independence vote, according to figures obtained by The Courier.

A Holyrood committee has warned that handing extra cash to those who already command six-figure salaries risks undermining public confidence in the democratic process.

But returning officers have argued the cash reflects the importance of the tasks they are entrusted with and the personal responsibility they bear.

The biggest pay cheque for returning officer duties in Courier Country was at Fife Council, which is one of the largest authorities in the country.

Chief executive Steve Grimmond, whose current salary is £147,622, was entitled to £71,755 since 2014/15. A proportion of his election fees was shared with other staff, a Fife Council spokeswoman said.

Linda Bissett, head of democratic services at Fife Council, said: “All 32 of Scotland’s council chief executives act as returning officers for their areas and payment for these duties is made and decided by the government. In each case the payment is shared with the depute returning officer.”

Dundee’s returning officer has been handed £25,803 since the 2014 referendum. The £121,137 total for Fife, Dundee, Perth & Kinross and Angus will be higher because the latter two councils were not able to provide full figures.

John O’Connell, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said it is fair that returning officers are compensated, but said most are already well-paid for their council day jobs. “When budgets are tight across both local and central government, taxpayers will rightly question whether these deals really offer value for money,” he added.

In evidence to Holyrood earlier this year, council bosses said the payments are justified because their careers and reputations are on the line at every count. The Scottish Parliament’s local government committee produced a report earlier this year calling for an overhaul of the election payments system.

Bob Doris, the committee’s convener, said they want the current fees system scrapped and urged Scottish ministers to act as a “matter of urgency”.

“With the general election just around the corner, this has only added to public concerns over extremely high payments to already well-paid council bosses,” the SNP MSP said. The Scottish Government is carrying out a review of returning officers’ fees as part of a wider consultation on electoral reform.

Picture: Kim Cessford. Scots heading to the polls five times in less than three years has meant bumper top-ups for council bosses.