![\"image_pdf\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1750468936_111_pdf.png\" "\\"View")
<\/a>![\"image_print\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1750468936_4_print.png\" "\\"Print")
<\/a><\/p>\nSenior Edinburgh councillors have backed giving themselves a pay hike, with only one member speaking out in opposition.<\/p>\n
In February, Edinburgh Council agreed to freeze pay for senior councillors \u2013 including political group leaders and committee conveners \u2013 at the previous year\u2019s levels.<\/p>\n
But at Thursday\u2019s meeting all political groups except the SNP voted in favour\u00a0of raising pay for senior councillors, with most getting an uplift of \u00a34,637 to their annual pay packets \u2013 an 11.6% jump.<\/p>\n
Council committee conveners, as well as the SNP, Conservative and Liberal Democrat group leaders, will all get \u00a34,637 added to their annual pay, bringing them to \u00a344,644 per year, up from \u00a340,027 from the previous year.<\/p>\n
And the depute council leader, Labour\u2019s Mandy Watt, will also get a \u00a34,637 pay hike, bringing her total compensation to \u00a352,669, up from \u00a348,032 before.<\/p>\n
A council spokesperson said the increase in pay for senior councillors was intended to match the pay hike given to non-senior councillors by the Scottish Government.<\/p>\n
While local authorities have the power to set the pay of senior councillors, the rates for all other councillors are set by the Scottish Government, including the council\u2019s leader and Lord Provost, based on the fidings of the\u00a0Scottish Local Authorities Remuneration Committee (SLARC).<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, it mandated that the salary for most councillors be raised to \u00a325,982 per year, up \u00a34,637 from their previous pay of \u00a321,345, which stood unchanged for several years.<\/p>\n
Labour councillor and council leader Jane Meagher is paid \u00a371,519 per year, while Lord Provost Robert Aldridge is paid \u00a353,640.<\/p>\n
Depute council leader, Labour councillor Mandy Watt, said: \u201cI sat down and read the guidance, and it does say that in your approach to this, you should be doing councillor remuneration from the bottom up, not the top down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI very much appreciate the support that I\u2019ve had [from officers] to get all this together.\u201d<\/p>\n
An SNP source said: \u201cCouncillors have been chronically underpaid for decades, and normally I\u2019d take the view that we remunerate the position held, rather than the individual holding it.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the current crop of administration conveners are so inept that we could not support them getting a pay hike.\u201d<\/p>\n
A council spokesperson said: \u201cWhile we don\u2019t set the rates of pay for non-senior councillor roles it\u2019s appropriate that we publish them and provide elected members with the opportunity to scrutinise rates for full transparency.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe increase in Senior Councillors\u2019 remuneration was agreed by Council yesterday, and now includes the increase to the Councillor basic pay set by the Scottish Government.\u201d<\/p>\n
Only one member, Labour councillor Katrina Faccenda, spoke out against the pay hikes.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cI think you should take note of which councillors are getting extra money, and you should work out whether you are getting value for money from those councillors.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince this is public money, and I don\u2019t think anyone in here would support the misuse of public money, I\u2019d ask the public to have a look at that, and work out if they think that in Edinburgh Council, the extra money they have to spend to subsidise councillors is being used in the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cllr Faccenda, who will not financially benefit from the pay increase for senior councillors, voted to support the hike.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, independent councillor Ross McKenzie voted with the SNP to oppose the pay hike.<\/p>\n
Green co-convener, councillor Chas Booth, said: \u201cGreens think it is right that people are paid appropriately for the work they do, and we welcomed the recommendations of the Scottish Local Authority Remuneration Committee around councillors\u2019 salaries.<\/p>\n
\u201cPay is a significant barrier to people from marginalised groups entering politics, and if we want to see more diversity in our councillors to reflect the rich diversity of the communities we serve, then we need to ensure people without independent income can become elected representatives.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, we acknowledge that while so many people in Edinburgh continue to face a cost-of-living crisis caused by years of austerity which is now being continued by the Labour government at Westminster, the Labour council administration doesn\u2019t feel that big increases in senior councillor pay were not appropriate.<\/p>\n
\u201cTherefore Green councillors were happy to support their proposals around this.\u201d<\/p>\n
By Joseph Sullivan Local Democracy Reporter<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n