Moray Council leader talks pay rises for councillors
Moray Council’s Leader has admitted her 40 per cent pay rise “looks like a huge increase”, but said the new Scottish Government rules were now “much fairer”.
Speaking to The Northern Scot, Councillor Kathleen Robertson (Forres, Conservative) opened up about the increase to her own and other councillors’ wages.
She explained that her £15,000 pay rise was a Scottish Government decision, rather than Moray Council one.
Council Leaders’ wages are set by law, based on the size of each council, in line with an independent report.
Moray Council was previously within the lowest pay bracket, Band A, but the most recent report has abolished this.
As a result Moray, along with nine other councils, has seen pay levels go “up a gear”, Cllr Robertson added.
The council leader also discussed the importance of increasing the “incredibly low” level of pay received by basic councillors.
Under the new Scottish Government rules, councillors will now receive £25,982 up from £21,345.
She added that, given the job’s low wage, at least one previous member of Moray Council had been forced to claim Universal Credit.
Also agreed in the meeting were plans to increase the salaries for the “senior councillors” who chair prominent committees.
Moray Council decides how many of these councillors to appoint, and at what salary level.
In the meeting, councillors voted to give eight senior councillors a pay rise of £5000, from £26,686 to £31,764.
This was “at the lower end” of the suggested pay scale, Cllr Robertson said.
Two amendments seeking to cut the number of senior councillors were outvoted.
