Technical Notes 2023, Issue 61 - Increased Councillors Remuneration

1. The purpose of this Technical Note is to update Members in relation to the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 (Remuneration) Amendment Regulations 2023 which come into effect from 1st April 2023.  

2. Members are advised that Scottish Ministers have, via a Scottish Statutory Instrument, approved an increase in remuneration for Scottish Councillors amounting to an uplift of 2.70%. 

3. As Members will be aware, for the purposes of remuneration and allowances,  local authorities are “banded” in terms of size and this Council has been placed within Band B.  This banding effects the levels of certain allowances and determines an overall maximum budget for councillors allowances of £527,642.

4. From 1st April under the new rules, four levels of payment are available, depending on the responsibilities of a councillor:-

​​​​​Council Leader                   £40,205
Civic Head (Provost)          £30,154
Senior Councillors              £20,100 up to £30,154
Councillors                         £20,099

5. The Council may appoint up to eleven Senior Councillors and has flexibility to determine which positions should be designated “Senior Councillors”, thereby meriting a higher allowance.  The Council can also decide the level of allowance to be paid to each of the Senior Councillors, within an overall budget limit of £276,392.  Senior Councillors should be paid according to the level of responsibility held and this may result in differing levels of allowance.  However, no individual Senior Councillor allowance can exceed £30,154.

6. Members should note that only one enhanced allowance is payable to an individual Councillor (whether from an internal or external source) e.g. where a councillor is a Convener and a main opposition group leader then that Member may only receive an additional allowance in respect of one of those roles.  All councillors who do not hold the position of Leader, Civic Head or Senior Councillor will receive a basic remuneration of £20,099 per annum.  This figure is set by the regulations and cannot be varied by the Council.

7. Officers have applied the uprated amounts to the previously approved list of Senior Councillors [Report No EPB-058-22, Council meeting 22/06/22] which are listed in the table below.

Total – £517,810
Total Senior Councillors (11) - £266,560