Councillors' remuneration and expenses: recommendations

Our Remit

The Committee was reconvened in April 2023 to undertake an independent review of councillor remuneration, having last reported in 2011.

In a joint statement^[1], published in February 2022, the Scottish Government and Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) recognised,

“… the need for a review of Councillor pay to ensure that terms and conditions truly reflect the responsibilities of a modern-day Councillor, and that remuneration does not act as a barrier to encouraging a diverse range of people to stand for elected office”.

SLARC has been reconvened to review the remuneration of councillors and to consider whether the present levels of remuneration for Councillors and Senior Councillors, are appropriate within the current context. In addition, the Committee has been tasked to assist the Scottish Government to review and amend the Councillors’ Remuneration: Remuneration, Allowances and Expenses – Guidance, which was last revised in April 2010. The Committee has also been asked to review whether the current methodology for determining the banding of councils is appropriate and, if so, if the current bands allocated to councils remains accurate.

SLARC was asked to consider four questions:

Q1. Has the workload and responsibilities of councillors increased and become more complex?

Q2. Has the use of email, social media and other digital platforms increased pressure on councillors and increased demands from their constituents, including expecting speedier responses?

Q3. Has there been an increase in formal committee meetings (and the duration of these meetings) and informal meetings, such as working groups within a council?

Q4. What is the breakdown of the average time spent by a councillor carrying out their day-to-day duties e.g., committee meetings, constituent queries etc?

In making recommendations, the committee considered:

• The workload of councillors, including whether the role of an ordinary councillor should now be considered as full time rather than part time. If still part time, which proportion of their time should be required to enable them to reasonably undertake their council duties and role as a local representative in their respective ward.
• The responsibilities of councillors, particularly those in senior positions, and whether the numbers who hold senior positions should be revised, and if so whether this should be across all or only for specific individual councils.
• Whether the mechanism introduced in 2017 to align councillors’ annual pay increase to the percentage increase in the median annual earnings of public sector workers in Scotland remains appropriate or consider what alternative arrangements should be adopted.

Recommendations from SLARC should:

• “Establish whether the role of a modern-day ordinary councillor is full time or part-time and what the commensurate pay for that work should be.
• seek to ensure that remuneration does not act as a barrier to encouraging people to stand for elected office.
• encourage a wider and more diverse range of people with varied lived experience from across our communities to stand for elected office; and
• be affordable on an ongoing basis.”

The term “Ordinary Councillor” is contained within the Committee’s remit. This is not terminology that the Committee has adopted as it does not adequately reflect the responsibilities of the role. Instead, the Committee has used the definitions set out in the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 (Remuneration) Regulations 2007.^[2]