Councillors' remuneration and expenses recommendations: SG response

Cabinet Secretary Foreword

I am grateful to the Committee members for their report and the time they have committed to consider Councillor remuneration. I also thank the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) officers for the support they provided to the Committee while it was considering this issue.

Councillors are a key part of Scotland’s democratic governance. I and my Ministerial colleagues recognise the valuable role Councillors play and their key input to local decision making. I would like to thank all serving - and previous - Councillors for their contributions.

Both the Scottish Government and COSLA recognised the need for a review of Councillor pay to ensure that terms and conditions truly reflected 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.

After careful consideration I am pleased to set out the Scottish Government's response to the Committee’s recommendations which were published in February 2024. A key factor in considering the recommendations has been the timing of implementation. The SLARC report was published after both Local Government and Scottish Government had set and agreed their budgets for 2024-25. Taking this into account, I am proposing implementation of the recommendations with a financial implication from 1 April 2025.

I recognise that this is a year after the Committee’s suggested date for implementation but believe this to be the most sensible strategy. We will account for this delay when setting the salaries to be paid from 1 April 2025. We will also work closely with COSLA on the other recommendations to support their delivery.

Shona Robison
Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government