Question reference: S5W-08830
- Asked by: James Dornan, MSP for Glasgow Cathcart, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 18 April 2017
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Current status: Answered by Angela Constance on 2 May 2017
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to ensure that local authorities meet their moral and legal obligations in settling equal pay claims, and what discussions it has had with Glasgow City Council regarding this.
Answer
Local authorities as employers are responsible for dealing with equal pay claims and Ministers have no legal powers to intervene. However the Scottish Government has consistently made it clear that any delays by local authorities in settling outstanding equal pay claims are unacceptable, and has called on local authorities to deal with outstanding claims as quickly as possible.
I wrote to all Scottish local authorities in October last year reiterating the Scottish Government's concerns about delays in settling equal pay claims and asking for information about the number of outstanding claims. The reply from Glasgow City Council said that it did not have any claims that had been determined in favour of the claimants but not yet settled. The Council also advised that over 9,000 claims were on hold pending a decision by the Court of Session in an appeal against decisions in favour of the Council by the Employment Tribunal that had been upheld by the Employment Appeals Tribunal. I understand that this Court of Session decision is still awaited.