Remuneration
The annual salary of a Scottish elected Councillor is set nationally by a committee of the Scottish Parliament. Local Councillors are also eligible to join the Local Government Pension Scheme, and are entitled to reimbursement of receipted travel and subsistence expenses incurred while undertaking Council duties.
The Local Government (Allowances and Expenses) (Scotland) Regulations 2007 as amended, require us to keep a record of all payments made to elected councillors and to publish the information for the preceding financial year.
Declaration of Interests
The Councillors' Code of Conduct is enforced by the Standards Commission and is a statutory document which applies to all Local Authority Councillors in Scotland. It sets out clearly the standards Councillors must apply when undertaking their Council duties.
The Code of Conduct requires elected Councillors to declare publicly all financial interests and important non-financial interests.
Procedure for dealing with complaints against a Councillor
Midlothian Council has established a local procedure for dealing with complaints against its Councillors. This covers complaints that can potentially be resolved locally and fall short of the need for formal intervention by the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland and/or the Standards Commission.
This procedure aims to rectify problems quickly and locally.
Under the local procedure, complaints can be made by members of the public, council staff or Councillors.
However, nothing in the procedure affects a person's right to make a complaint directly to the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland.
Making a complaint to the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland
The procedure recognises that in the event of a complaint also being submitted to the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland by either the Complainer or the Chief Executive/Monitoring Officer, then the local procedure will not apply, thus leaving the complaint to be determined by the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland and/or the Standards Commission, as appropriate.