STEWART PATERSON

Political Correspondent

THE system which saw Glasgow City Council chief executive pocket £75,000 for overseeing elections should be scrapped MSPs have said.

As returning Officer, Annmarie O’Donnell, received the cash on top of her £160,000 salary for the Scottish Parliament election and the EU referendum.

Holyrood’s Local Government committee investigated the payments made to the head of all Scotland’s 32 councils and decided they didn’t match the amount of work carried out.

The committee carried out a short inquiry into the payments after there was some public concern about the size of the payments which averaged £34,000 between 2014 and 2016 with three elections and two referenda.

It found there was a lack of transparency and could affect the public confidence in the integrity of elections.

The MSPs recommended the Scottish Government looks into the payments as part of a review of how elections are carried out.

Bob Doris, committee convenor, said: “There is a lack of transparency around the value of these payments and how they are allocated, however we heard that payments can range from £2,500 in Orkney and Shetland to over £16,000 in Edinburgh and may reportedly be worth as much £1m in total.

“We believe that all costs associated with elections should be processed around the principles of openness and transparency if the public are to have confidence in how our elections are run.”

The committee said the review should ensure that all staff involved in elections are remunerated appropriately.

At a hearing of the Committee, Ms O’Donnell said she made a number of “personal sacrifices” to ensure elections were carried out properly.

When asked if she shared her fee with other staff, she said:“I always say I won’t disclose what I do with my fee but a number of people and organisations benefit from the returning officer fee.”