Falkirk town hall bucks wages trend

Phased restructing has allowed the council to reduce the number of senior management posts it needs

At a time when hard up local authorities are threatening to ignore the Scottish Government’s council tax freeze and hike rates to protect services and jobs, a report shows the number of senior officers in Scotland’s town halls pocketing pay and pension packages worth over £100,000 a year – and funded by taxpayers – has soared by nearly 20 per cent.

A probe by watchdog group The TaxPayers’ Alliance reveals that in 2013-14 over 250 bosses earned over six figures – up from 213 in 2012-13 and from 205 in 2011-12.

While Glasgow City Council topped the ‘fat cat’ list with 30, and a now retired principal librarian at East Lothian had earnings of £214,935 a year, Falkirk’s next door neighbour, Stirling Council, paid one employee £293,935 and 16 others more than £100,000.

In stark contrast, at the Municipal Buildings in West Bridge Street only four senior staff, chief executive Mary Pitcaithly and three directors, earn more than £100,000.

A council spokesman said: “Since 1996 there have been significant changes in the structure of the council with regard to the number of services each with their own directorate.

“When Falkirk Council was formally established then it operated through 12 separate departments. Restructuring in 1998 reduced that to nine and a review in 2000 to seven.

“By 2008 the council was operating with six substantive services and in 2010 that was reduced to four with the creation of Falkirk Community Trust.”