Council / SIC chief executive salary set to rise £32k over two years after national review
Council spokesperson stressed decision not taken locally
THE SALARY of Shetland Islands Council’s (SIC) chief executive is set to rise by more than £30,000 over the next two years following a national review.
The review of chief executive salaries in Scotland was undertaken by local authority organisation COSLA.
This review means the salary for SIC chief executive Maggie Sandison will rise from £133,530 to £165,755 across the next two years.
The same change is happening in Orkney, Western Isles and Clackmannanshire.
A spokesperson for the SIC stressed that it is not a decision taken locally.
“The resulting salary increase will be built into the funding we receive from the Scottish Government and it does not impact directly on the funding of other council services,” they added.
The spokesperson added that a COSLA statement on chief executive salaries highlighted there has not been a full review of the chief executive pay structure in nearly 25 years.
In that period it said that chief executive pay has “not kept pace with comparator jobs leading to recruitment and retention challenges and that the existing pay structure did not reflect the significant demands of a chief executive role”.
“In terms of the COSLA decision, this only relates to chief executives’ pay so there are no direct implications for director or executive managers’ pay scales at this stage,” the spokesperson added.
“The chief executive’s pay sets the top of our salary structure and a review of the council’s salary scales is included in our HR service plan.
“This COSLA decision creates greater scope for potential change within that review than previously.”
Meanwhile figures show that the employee who received the most remuneration from the SIC in the last financial year was a marine pilot.
The figures, include in the SIC’s accounts for 2024/25, showed the marine pilot received £151,386 in total in salary, fees and allowances.
It is not the first time a marine pilot has topped the list.
The remuneration figures presented in the accounts include “ad-hoc elements” like call-out and standby allowances.
The second highest paid employee in 2024/25 was Sandison, who received £131,195.
In 2024/25 the remuneration for the SIC’s directors all surpassed £100,000, but were no greater than £110,000.
These are the directors for children’s services, corporate services, community health and social care, development and infrastructure.
Other high paid jobs within the council, in the £90,000 to £100,000 bracket, included managers of finance, governance and law and criminal justice.
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