Tag: democracy

Small steps towards citizen say in council budget planning

Joint commitment to 1% participatory budgeting target

People across Scotland are to have a say in how  £100 million of council funds will be used in their communities. Council leaders have agreed that at least 1% of local government budgets will be subject to participatory budgeting by the end of 2021, giving communities more influence than ever to make decisions on how  funding is spent in their localities.  Continue reading Small steps towards citizen say in council budget planning

Edinburgh’s Rally for Europe to call for Brexit rethink

A ‘Rally for Europe’ in Edinburgh to be held on Saturday 14th October will urge the UK Government to ‘Think Again’ on Brexit and for Scotland’s Cities to sign up to an Open Declaration. This will speak out against the damaging impact of Brexit and show leadership from Cities in working to mitigate its negative impact on Scotland. Continue reading Edinburgh’s Rally for Europe to call for Brexit rethink

MSPs expenses published

Latest details of all MSPs parliamentary expenses have been published. Quarter 4’s expenses from the financial year 2016/17 are now available online via the Parliament’s searchable database facility.

A briefing paper setting out end year total expenditure figures is also available (see below).

The end year total for the 2016/17 financial year is £15,832,096, which is an increase of £3,061,172 on 2015-16.

The figures reflect the change to the Member’s staff salary provision which came into effect at the start of the fifth parliamentary session (2016-2017).

From May 2016 staff salary provision increased from £62,300 to £85,000 enabling each Member to employ up to three staff, where previously two staff would have been typical.

This increase in support staff reflected the increased demands on MSPs and the impending arrival of significant new tax and welfare powers for the Scottish Parliament. The capped allowance also ensures all support staff can be paid the living wage.

For the first time, total staff costs paid by each member during the financial year are published on the web (link below). Examples of the pay scales and job roles typical in a Member’s office are also available on the website.

A Scottish Parliament spokesperson said: “The increase in support staff provision came into effect in May 2016. It reflects the increasing demands being made on MSPs and their staff as the Parliament assumes significant new powers over tax and welfare.

“To be clear, this is funding to enable MSPs to employ up to three full time staff, instead of two, so they can better meet the needs of constituents, scrutinise the Parliament’s new powers effectively and continue to hold the Government to account.”

members_expenditure_publication_info_2016-17

 

Council budget spending priorities to be scrutinised by Holyrood committee

The way in which local governments plan and spend their budgets is to be scrutinised by a Holyrood Committee. The Scottish Parliament’s Local Government and Communities Committee has today announced its review into local government spending ahead of its scrutiny of the Scottish Government’s draft budget 2018/19, which should be revealed towards the end of this year. Continue reading Council budget spending priorities to be scrutinised by Holyrood committee