Scottish council chiefs agree to forgo 2.5% pay rise

Chief executives at 32 local authorities in Scotland have agreed to forgo a 2.5 per cent increase in their salaries for 2010-11, it has been announced.

The move follows negotiations between the executives' representative body the Association of Local Authority Chief Executives and the employers' organisation the Confederation of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA).

COSLA said the decision, which follows a move by council leaders to waive their pay increases for next year, was made in recognition of the "colossal financial pressures" facing public sector spending budgets in Scotland.

The organisation's strategic human resource management spokesman, councillor Michael Cook, said: "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."

In related news, Audit Scotland recently published a report showing public bodies in Scotland cut spending by 3.1 per cent in 2008-09 against a target of two per cent.

However, the country's deputy auditor general, Caroline Gardner, warned that councils will need new approaches to increase efficiency, as meeting the target each year will not be enough to bridge the gap in spending and funding over the next few years.