Smoking Gun?

A reader from North Lanarkshire has been in touch to ask why the Council is being so stubborn about my recent FoI request and does this document represent some kind of 'smoking gun'?

Now the honest answer is that I don't know because I've yet to see the minute of the CMT (Corporate Management Team) meeting dated 11 August 2005. 

But there is a real suspicion that the Council deliberately manipulated the outcome of its Job Evaluation exercise back in 2005/06 because how else do you explain the fact that traditional male and female jobs were treated so differently?

So whether the document is a smoking gun or not remains to be seen although I can say, hand on heart, that this is the only FoI request I've made to North Lanarkshire which the Council hasn't responded to properly and within the time limits laid down in the legislation.

I wonder why?

Freedom of Information (12 August 2014)

I've had to submit an FoI 'Review Request' to North Lanarkshire Council because of the Council's failure to respond to my original request within working 20 days as required by the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Now I'm quite surprised about this I have to say because up until now North Lanarkshire has behaved quite well in relation to my FoI requests, unlike some other nearby councils I could mention.

So why has NLC come over all coy about releasing a copy of a report to the Council's Corporate Management Team meeting held on 11 August 2005 which dealt with the costs and other issues regarding North Lanarkshire's Job Evaluation Scheme (JES)?

I suspect there is something quite damning contained in this report, but one way or the other  I'm confident that the information will come into the public domain where it belongs because all this secrecy and keeping things hidden form the workforce is quite shameful, if you ask me.

Gavin Whitefield

Chief Executive

North Lanarkshire Council

Dear Mr Whitefield

FoI Review Request

I refer to my letter dated 20 June 2014 and would now like to submit an FoI Review Request given North Lanarkshire Council's failure to respond to me within the time limits laid down by the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Please note that if the Council fails to respond to my FoI Review Request in a satisfactory manner, I plan to register an immediate appeal with the Scottish Information Commissioner (SIC).

Kind regards

Mark Irvine

-----Original Message-----
From: Whitefield Gavin <WhitefieldG@northlan.gcsx.gov.uk>
To: 'markirvine@compuserve.com' <markirvine@compuserve.com>
Sent: Mon, Jun 23, 2014 10:47 am
Subject: RE: FoI Request

Mr Irvine

I acknowledge receipt of your email regarding the above and would advise that I have forwarded it to the Executive Director of Corporate Services to process as a Freedom of Information enquiry.

Gavin Whitefield Chief Executive Tel: 01698 302452

From: markirvine@compuserve.com [mailto:markirvine@compuserve.com]
Sent: 20 June 2014 11:14
To: Whitefield Gavin
Subject: FoI Request

Flat 8/1

90 London Road

Glasgow

G1 5DE

20 June 2014

Gavin Whitefield

Chief Executive

North Lanarkshire Council

BY E-MAIL TO: whitefieldg@northlan.gov.uk

Dear Mr Whitefield

FOISA Request 

I would like to make the following request under the Freedom of Information Scotland Act 2002.

1 Please provide me with a copy of the report to the Council's Corporate Management Team (CMT) meeting held 11 August 2005 which dealt with the costs and related issues regarding North Lanarkshire's Job Evaluation Scheme (JES)?

2 Please include copies of all of the relevant Appendices which were attached to this report from the Director of Administration? 

I look forward to your reply and would be grateful if you could respond to me by e-mail to: markirvine@compuserve.com

    

Kind regards

Mark Irvine

Snakes and Ladders (23 June 2014)

North Lanarkshire Council has responded to my recent Freedom of Information (FoI) request by providing the following details on the hourly rates of traditional male council jobs.

Now these jobs were all in receipt of 'bonuses' worth up to 60% of basic pay, but these extra payments were never extended to women's jobs despite the Council's obligations under equality legislation and the requirements of the 1999 Single Status (Equal Pay) Agreement.

In addition, the declared pay scale of these jobs may not reflect accurately what the men were actually paid compared to the women because 'pay protection' may have resulted in the men being paid above the official pay scale.

Another practice which is gradually coming to light is that the male jobs all seem to have been assimilated at the top of the pay scale while the women's jobs went to the bottom of the scale. 

In a bizarre version of snakes and ladders, but one in which only the women's jobs landing on the pay equivalent of a snake.

What's amazing is that before the Council's introduced a new Job Evaluation Scheme (JES) in 2006 a Home Support Worker was on a higher old grade (Manual Worker Grade 5) than all of the male jobs on the list. 

I wonder what odds you would get on that?

Job Title	Minimum Hourly Rate	Maximum Hourly Rate
Road Sweeper Grade - NLC02	£6.8341	£8.3967
Refuse Collector Grade - NLC03	£7.2923	£9.1269
Gardener 1 Grade - NLC04	£8.6093	£9.7269
Gardener 2 Grade – NLC04	£8.6093	£9.7269
Gardener 3 Grade – NLC05	£8.9637	£10.2330
Refuse Driver/Gravedigger/ Gardener 4/Driver 2 Grade – NLC06	£9.5440	£11.0769
Driver 1 Grade – NLC04	£8.6093	£9.7269
Labourer/Store man Grade – NLC 02	£6.8341	£8.3967