COUNCIL CHIEF EXECUTIVES GIVE UP PAY INCREASE

9th March 2010

Tom Aitchison, Chief Executive of the City of Edinburgh Council and Chair of the Association of Local Authority Chief Executives (ALACE) in Scotland and Councillor Michael Cook, COSLA's Human Resources Management Spokesperson, have today (Monday) announced that Council Chief Executives have agreed to forego a salary increase in 2010/11.

In recognition of the colossal financial pressures facing public spending in Scotland, Scotland's 32 Council Chief Executives have joined Scotland's Council Leaders in not accepting a pay increase for the coming financial year. That means that the final year of a deal agreed in 2008 which would have given Chief Executives a 2.5% pay increase from April 2010 will no longer take place.

Today's announcement reflects a growing consensus across local government that the financial challenges ahead will call for tough measures to minimise the threat to jobs and services. This latest move mirrors a commitment already made by Council Leaders to give up any pay increase for the year ahead.

COSLA's Councillor Michael Cook welcomed the decision: "The testing times both now and which lie ahead are such that leadership counts and Chief Executives have shown genuine leadership which we trust will set an example to others.

"It mirrors the decision of Council Leaders to agree to their pay being frozen in the coming year. It is significant that the political and executive leadership of councils have recognised the unprecedented challenges which lie ahead."

Tom Aitchison added: "Council Chief Executives in Scotland recognise that the financial situation is very challenging at present and accept that there should be no salary increase in 2010/11."

The move was agreed on Monday 8 March 2010 through the Chief Executive's trade union organisation ALACE and Employers' Organisation COSLA.