Councillors Severance Pay : A Message to Rayleen

Rayleen decided to publish my last post, but she isn't happy about it. She says that it doesn't deserve a response and that is always a prelude to censorship, so just in case I will post a copy of my response below :-

Rayleen—I can’t think why my comments should not deserve a response but think of these questions
First . At about 18 years of service the severance would be as follows :-

‘The Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 (Severance Payments) Regulations 2006
Section 5 . 1 . (c) £20,000 for a member of a local authority who shall, at the date of the next ordinary election, have served for a period of 15 complete years or more.’

I invite you again to ask your constituents if they believe that the retiring councillors deserve this amount of money

Second The remuneration committee looked at the question of pensions and decided as follows :-

‘Scottish Local Authorities Remuneration Committee

Current arrangements

4.1 There are no arrangements currently in place to allow councillors to be part of an occupational pension scheme. Councillors who wish to make pension provision must make private arrangements, using part of their basic and special responsibility allowances’

So the pension was built into the allowances and councillors were expected to make provision themselves.

Third The payment is not a thank you for service to the community, it is a direct bribe for dead wood time-servers to go away and stop preventing innovative people from advancing better ideas and programmes. They must leave government totally (if they go into the Scottish Parliament then they will not be eligible) and the reasons are in this BBC report which says

‘Critics are likely to portray the severance scheme as a way of placating Labour councillors in the central belt likely to lose their seats under the new electoral system.

The executive argued, however, that it would be a one-off move that would provide some incentive for long-standing councillors to stand down and make way for fresh blood in Scotland's town halls.’

It could hardly be clearer without being downright insulting.

Finally, I am also grateful to the councillors for retiring, because they let the problems in our communities flourish for so long. I am not on the sidelines sniping, I am and have been actively trying to remove them (in line with your own policy) for some length of time. I only regret that I couldn’t embarrass them into going sooner and without a large wedge of public money that they scarcely deserve.

Rayleen's Fantasy World of Dinosaur Councillors

I've tried before to publish to Rayleen Kelly's site and been censored, I don't know if its because I'm anonymous or because of what I say, but I've left this comment on her piece about retiring councillors.


Rayleen—I really can’t let you away with this one. Six retiring councillors with 110 years service between them means an average of about 18 years each.
Look at the changes in Paisley in the last 18 years and we will see their legacy.

Traffic flow is monstrous. The town centre is like a graveyard for old unused shops with many of the major retailers who are left wanting away. Local taxation is higher than it has ever been and services are in decline. There is no major industry to speak of. Drugs and crime are rampant in the housing schemes, and councillors are arranging congratulatory dinners in the midst of a child poverty crisis (let them eat cake). It’s sick.

As for the severance awards (pay-offs) which these people are being awarded, ask the people at your surgeries what they think those councillors deserve. I’m sure the answer won’t surprise you.

Just to clarify, because you either don’t or won’t understand. These pay-offs were not for work done. These people were overpaid every year for that. These pay-off were not needed as a pension; millions of people are expected to get by on the state pension unless they buy an extra one for themselves, and if the state pension isn’t enough whose fault is that! These were ‘get lost’ payments to dinosaur councillors, paid out only on condition that they go away from local government and never come back. If we can get back to a situation where councillors serve the community instead of their own egos then it might have been worth it, but I doubt that will happen under this present lot, and you shouldn’t mislead people.

I don't know if she will publish it because Renfrewshire Council knows no shame. Even the Paisley town hall clock has a red face.