West Lothian councillors will receive pay rises of up to £1,500

West Lothian Councillors will receive pay rises of between £750 and £1,500 in April, it has been confirmed.

Pay rise: West Lothian council leader Lawrence Fitzpatrick

The new pay agreement will see leader of the council, Lawrence Fitzpatrick’s pay rise by £1,500, from £35,713 to 37,213 . The salary of the Provost, Tom Kerr, will rise by £1,125 from £26,785 to £27,910.

The council’s executive agreed the pay package on Tuesday.

The agreement means that annual salary for councillors rises from £17,854 to £18,604 and for the 12 senior councillors, from £26,039 to £27,133.

Committee Conveners see their salaries increase from £22,320 to £23,257. A rise of £937, and vice conveners from £21,204 to £22,095. A rise of £891.

A report to the executive said: “Elected members remuneration is set by the Scottish government. The Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 (Remuneration) Amendment Regulations 2021 (the 2021 Regulations), were laid before the Scottish Parliament on 18 January 2021 and are due to come into force on 1st April 2021. They substitute increased annual amounts of local authority remuneration to members. The changes will come into effect from 1 April 2021.”

Conservative group leader councillor Damian Doran-Timson asked what would happen to rises where councillors refused to accept them.

Julie Whitelaw, Head of Corporate Service, said the pay rises were set by regulation and any monies refused would not accrue to council funds ,though for senior councillors there is a pot of funding where any pay rise could be allotted.

The current rules date from the introduction of multi-member wards, but any member could opt not to take remuneration, for instance on being elected as an MP or MSP.

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