Bosses of smallest councils to get huge pay rises

The chief executives of Scotland's four smallest councils are in line to get pay rises of as much as 24% after a review of local authority heads' pay.

The bosses of the councils in Orkney, Shetland, the Western Isles and Clackmannanshire will see their salary increase by more than £30,000 as a result of the review seen by BBC News.

The new pay framework agreed by council umbrella body Cosla and the group that represents bosses, Alace, has set salaries of between £165,755 and £230,620 based on council size.

This means the chief executive of Orkney - which has a population of just 22,000 - will see his pay jump £32,000 by this time next year but the boss of Glasgow, which is almost 30 times as large, will get a rise of £4,000.

Under the new pay framework, Oliver Reid from Orkney will see his pay leap from £133,530 to £165,755 by November 2026 - and that's before any annual pay rise awarded by the council.

Malcolm Burr, who is stepping down as the chief executive of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles council) after 20 years, is to be replaced by a successor who will be offered a starting salary of £136,389.

That will increase to £165,755 next year under the new agreement, a hike of £29,366.

Under the new deal, the average pay rise across all Scotland's 32 local authority chiefs is almost £20,000.

The 12% across-the-board increase compares to 4% for frontline staff this year and comes after an average 9.5% rise in council tax bills.

The chief executive of Moray Council, which serves 95,000 people, would see her salary rise from £140,136 to £173,217 - up £33,000.

The boss of Midlothian would get a rise of £30,000 and Stirling would get £24,000.

Inverclyde Council, which serves 79,000 people, would see the chief executive salary rise from £153,365 to £169,445 - more than £16,000.

At the other end of the scale, the chief executives of the largest councils - Glasgow, Edinburgh, Fife, North and South Lanarkshire - get the lowest increases.

The full amount of the pay rise will be applied by 1 November 2026.

In addition to the new pay framework, all local government staff will have a nationally-negotiated pay settlement which applies from April.

Cosla said it was appropriate to review salaries periodically to ensure remuneration reflected the demands of the role.

Cosla's resources spokesperson Katie Hagmann said the pay of chief executives had not been reviewed for 25 years.

She said there had been "significant slippage" compared to other public sector posts with similar responsibility.

She added: "Competitive salaries which adequately reflect the responsibilities and demands of the job are critical to enable councils to attract and retain high quality chief executives, who can provide the leadership required for effective delivery of key public services, particularly in the challenging context we currently face.

"It should be noted that the leaders of many similarly sized organisations are paid considerably more."

The STUC said Cosla's decision to award council bosses above-inflation pay rises was "deeply flawed".

General secretary Roz Foyer said: "It will quite rightly create a huge backlash from workers and the public they serve.

"Staff and service users across the country are facing cuts to services, continued low pay and an increasing cost of living.

"It is simply rubbing salt into the wounds of ordinary workers who, yet again, can see that when it come to pay it's one rule for the bosses and another rule for everyone else."