Councillors get 'golden goodbye'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/scotland/6358807.stm

Version 0 of 1.

More than a third of Scotland's councillors have applied for payouts of between £10,000 and £20,000 to stand down at the May elections.

A total of 434 have expressed an interest in quitting when voting changes to proportional representation.

The payments could cost the Scottish Executive more than £7m.

In the Western Isles 19 out of 31 plan to quit, with around half of those in the Highlands, Orkney, Inverclyde, and East Renfrewshire expected to retire.

<a class="bodl" href="/1/hi/scotland/6359251.stm">See how many are considering going in your council</a>

Uptake appears to be lowest in East Ayrshire, where all but four of the 32 councillors plan to stand again.

The 434 names represent 35% of Scotland's 1,222 councillors, who will receive £10,000, £15,000 or £20,000 depending on their length of service.

Almost half - 43% - of those planning to retire are from the Labour party with 11% from the Liberal Democrats and the same figure from the SNP. Only 8% are Conservatives.

'Right to know'

Though a list of the names of councillors in line for the payouts has been released, the executive did not say how much each would receive.

Many will be Labour councillors who have served for years but stand little chance of re-election under the new system of proportional representation.

Derek Brownlee MSP, Scottish Conservative finance spokesman, claimed that the failure to give out further detail about payments was "unforgivable".

"If taxpayers don't have a right to say no to these payments, they should have a right to know how much they are," he said.

This is a disgrace, this is public money that is paying for this scheme and yet we are not allowed to know how much these councillors are going to get Tommy Sheridan MSP

"This is just another cover up from a Lib-Lab Pact that used to boast about openness and clearly another case of pre-election cowardice."

Solidarity MSP Tommy Sheridan also condemned the executive for not releasing the payment amounts.

"This is a disgrace, this is public money that is paying for this scheme and yet we are not allowed to know how much these councillors are going to get," he said.

"I can only conclude that the executive are attempting to cover up how many Labour members are engaging in this indulgence or gerrymandering bribe."

The list published by the executive shows that in Dundee eight councillors are quitting at an estimated cost of £135,000. Among those to go are Labour veteran Charles Farquhar with 42 years service and Tory Bruce Mackie, who leaves after 41 years as a councillor.

Years of service

In Aberdeen husband and wife, June and James Lamond, both Labour, are quitting the council after 46 years' service between them. The total cost of the 10 departures is expected to be £170,000.

In Glasgow, 24 of the city's councillors - who are all Labour and include former provosts Susan Baird and Alex Mosson - are taking the severance deals at an anticipated cost of more than £400,000.

Fife will see of 35 its 78 councillors leaving in May as they take the payments, with 24 of those from the Labour party.

A spokesman for local authority group Cosla said the executive had met its commitment to publish the news of those deciding to stand down.

"It is an operational matter for individual councils if they wish to give out any more details on their own elected members," he added.

An executive spokesman said that it would be "more appropriate" for the local authorities to release more detailed information.