Highland councillors set to get inflation busting 21% pay hike adding around £500k to the wage bill after recommendations from the Scottish Local Authorities Remuneration Committee
Highland councillors are set to get a pay rise of at least 21 per cent - adding £490,000 to the wage bill - following recommendations by the Scottish Local Authorities Remuneration Committee (SLARC).
The proposals are due to be decided at the full council meeting on Thursday and are the result of SLARC being reconvened after a decade when councillor pay was largely unchanged.
Former councillor Richard Laird warned back in 2019 when he resigned that if something was not done about local government, including pay, then soon only the “the mad, the bad, and the sad” would consider doing the job.
Despite that, the move is likely to attract the ire of the public - and even some council staff - who are often sceptical about the performance of local members, sometimes with good reason.
In bare terms, that means the 22 per cent rise will apply to the council leader who will go from £49,810 to £60,791 and the convener from £37,360 to £45,594; while councillors get a 21.7 per cent rise and so go £21,345 to £25,982.
While for the others: the leader of the opposition goes from £32,720 to £39,828; a senior strategic chair from £32,720 to £39,828; strategic chair £30,539 to £37,173; strategic vice-chair £23,449 to £28,544; audit chair £27,267 to £33,190; and the Inverness leader from £27,267 to £33,190.
