Row as councils run up 634,000 hours of overtime

Nov 3 2011 Hamilton Advertiser

LANARKSHIRE council staff were this week praised by bosses after an MSP criticised the huge amount of overtime they had run up.

Figures obtained under a Freedom of Information request showed that staff in certain North and South Lanarkshire Council departments accumulated more that 634,000 hours’ overtime over the last five financial years.

South Lanarkshire Council’s overtime tally during that period was 43,471 hours – a figure dwarfed by the North Lanarkshire total which amounted to a massive 590,910.

North Lanarkshire Council’s total was the highest among Scotland’s local authorities.

At the other end of the scale, Dumfries and Galloway Council stumped up for only 2026 hours’ overtime over the five-year period.

Central Scotland Conservative Margaret Mitchell MSP, who obtained the figures, said they were “extraordinarily high”.

They comprised payments at either double or triple-time rate for environmental, land and enterprise services.

In many cases, the departments have responsibility for waste management, roads, street cleaning and management of parks and golf courses.

Mrs Mitchell said: “Whilst some of the hours will be accounted for by public holidays and also extra hours attributed to services related to severe winter weather and other emergencies, this does not account for all the expenditure.

“It is, therefore, up to councils like North and South Lanarkshire to account for exactly why they decided this double-time or triple-time should be paid and to assure the public that these overtime payments were necessary, justifiable and represented value for money.”

However, South Lanarkshire Council Leader Eddie McAvoy said the figures reflected a dedicated workforce prepared to go the extra mile.

“Yes, some were paid for working long, hard hours through some of the most appalling weather the country has experienced in two harsh winters,” he added.

“Employees worked non-stop in some cases for 24 hours with few breaks to make sure vulnerable people were safe.

“Staff slept on floors in care homes during the heavy snow to ensure they would be there at the start of their morning shift for vulnerable clients who rely on them.

“The council always give value for money and we are proud of our workforce, who deserve to be paid for a job well done.

A spokesman for North Lanarkshire Council said the figures for them showed that they had reduced overtime costs within one of their largest departments by more than a third during the past five years.

He was not convinced that the figures compared like with like and added: “It is disappointing for Mrs Mitchell to attack additional earning opportunities among our lowest-paid workers, whose wages average around £15,000-a-year, according to her figures.”

HIGH COST: overtime hours ‘extraordinarily high’ says MSP Margaret Mitchell.

DEDICATED WORKERS: double-time and triple-time payments ‘value for money’ says council leader Eddie McAvoy.