North Lanarkshire News



My sources within North Lanarkshire Council (NLC) tell me that there is great tension between senior officials and the politicians over the terrible mess the Council finds itself in over equal pay.

A blame game seems to have started over who exactly is responsible for implementing new pay arrangements which essentially left the old 'gender pay gap' still in place, despite a new (2006) job evaluation scheme that was supposed to deliver equal pay.

Apparently, some of the Council's top brass are seeking early retirement, presumably to get out of harm's way before the shit hits the fan which is bound to happen if you ask me, because if NLC were a private company I think there is little doubt that decisive action would have been taken long before now.

For example, how is it possible that Scotland's 4th largest council has not kept on top of and planned for its potential liabilities over equal pay?

North Lanarkshire Council has a team of internal auditors who are responsible for ensuring the Council's financial health; the auditors report directly to the Council's Corporate Management Team (CMT) which is responsible for managing (competently) all the risks facing the Council on an ongoing basis, financial and otherwise.

As an aside, this is why senior officials are paid such high salaries.  

North Lanarkshire is also externally audited by the supposedly independent Audit Scotland which reports to the local government watchdog, the Accounts Commission for Scotland. 

So the big question is how can North Lanarkshire have dug such a big hole for itself offer equal pay and why hasn't anyone stepped in to call time on the people who have been running the Council for the past 10 years?

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