A row erupted at the first meeting of Angus Council over the omission of a senior councillor payment for the leader of the opposition SNP group.
It is up to councils to decide which members should be classed as senior councillors, which carry an additional payment.
However, in the national guidance on how this should be approached, it specifically mentions the leader of an opposition group as an example of a senior councillor.
The guidance states a senior councillor is a “councillor who holds a significant position of responsibility in the council’s political management structure, for example, a convener of a major committee, the leader of a significant opposition group, etc.”
In the remuneration proposed by administration leader Bob Myles a total of 12 councillors, in addition to the leader and provost, were to be classed as senior, but not SNP group leader Lynne Devine.
There was no similar payment made when the SNP led the last council when the non-administration councillors consisted of eight independents, four Conservatives, one Labour and one Liberal Democrats. There was no opposition leader.
SNP councillor Alex King said: “An omission is the provision of a senior councillor’s allowance for the leader of the main opposition group. That is not shown. It always has been before. It may not have been in the last administration but it should be included.”
Following an adjournment for legal advice to be given by the council’s head of legal Sheona Hunter, Mr Myles said he still wanted to proceed with the proposed remuneration structure but the payments would be looked at again before the next council meeting.
SNP councillor Bill Duff suggested the salaries for conveners should be reduced slightly to enable an additional payment to the SNP leader.
He said: “My proposal is that you pay the leader of the opposition the same remuneration as a convener which reflects the role and find the money by reducing slightly the conveners’ remunerations.”
When it went to the vote the nine SNP councillors and Independent Brian Boyd were defeated by 16 administration votes. The two Liberal Democrats councillors did not vote.
Mr King proposed a second amendment that all councillors should be paid the basic councillor salary until a new proposal could be bought to the next meeting, with outstanding additional payments then made in arrears.
This was defeated by 14 votes to 10, with Lois Speed and Tommy Stewart joining the Lib Dems in casting no vote.
The leader of the council’s salary is set at £33,857 and ‘basic’ councillors have to be paid £16,927 each.
The council can choose to pay a civic head up to three-quarters of the leader salary. New Provost Ronnie Proctor will be paid £25,393.
In addition to the leader and provost, the council can choose to classify up to 13 councillors as senior with a spending cap of £275,000 on their salaries.
Under the new payment structure 12 councillors will be classified as senior.
Depute leader David Fairweather has declined any payment in addition to the basic councillor salary as he will receive an additional payment from the NHS Board of £8,169 as council representative.
Six councillors will be paid £22,853 each – convener of children and learning Mark Salmond, convener of communities / convener of civic licencing Craig Fotheringham, convener of development standards David Lumgair, convener of scrutiny and audit Alex King, finance spokesperson Angus Macmillan Douglas and transformation and growth spokesperson Ron Sturrock.
Depute provost Colin Brown and five committee vice conveners – Derek Wann, Richard Moore, Lois Speed, Gavin Nicol and Bill Duff – will be paid £19,890 each.
Other external payments will be made to David Cheape (£4,233) from Tayside Joint Valuation Board in his role as convener and Ian McLaren (£7,394) as the council rep on Cairngorms National Park Authority Board.