Council bosses get poll bonuses of up to £100k
FAT cat council chiefs are in line for bumper ‘summer bonuses’ following the decision to call a snap General Election.
Chief executives of Scottish councils become returning officers on polling days, with the responsibility of overseeing a fair and free election.
But the practice of handing them five-figure bonuses for the role has been subject to intense criticism and a Scottish parliamentary inquiry.
With council elections in May and June’s General Election, the town hall mandarins will pocket multiple payments.
The Scottish Mail on Sunday can disclose that the £25,000 Glasgow City Council chief executive Annemarie O’Donnell can expect on June 8 will take her election earnings close to £100,000 since she took up her post in 2014.
The council boss earns £166,512 annually – £17,000 more than Theresa May. Her earnings for the May 4 election will add £4,500 to her pot.
Cosla says the average salary of a Scottish local government employee is £23,000.
Ms O’Donnell defended the bonuses to a Scottish Parliamentary inquiry last year, saying: ‘We have to deliver elections with precision and accuracy. If we fail to do that, our reputations and careers are jeopardised.’
The committee called on the Scottish Government to scrap the payouts but this has yet to be done.
Scottish Conservative local government spokesman Graham Simpson said: ‘These payments should be scrapped.
‘For someone to get a sixfigure bonus for doing what is part of their job is obscene.
‘These extra payments amount to eye-watering sums, which cannot be justified in the current climate.
‘The Scottish parliament should have decided on the recommendations it was given instead of trying to fudge the issue.’
In Edinburgh, chief executive Andrew Kerr will add to his £165,810 annual salary by picking up around £16,500 for declaring five seats at the General Election and £3,378 for the local government vote.
A spokesman for the council said: ‘The costs of parliamentary elections are covered by the Government concerned.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Scottish ministers are grateful to the Local Government and Communities Committee for its detailed work into the issues around payments to returning officers.
‘We had already announced, as part of our Programme for Government, plans for a consultation on what electoral reforms the people of Scotland want to see. Fees for returning officers in Scottish parliament elections will form part of that consultation.’