Still no tram track – but workers have £1m bonuses paid on time

Published on Monday 27 April 2009 22:52

ALMOST £1 million in bonuses has been paid to staff working on Edinburgh's controversial tram project, it emerged yesterday.

Officials at the city council firm charged with masterminding the scheme were given the payments on top of their salaries for more than three years.

Politicians branded the bonuses, paid before a single tram track was laid, a "disgrace".

It is understood bonus payments were made to the vast majority of TIE's 200 workers, and not just senior managers.

The 970,000 total for bonuses does not include any payments made in the last year, when the bulk of construction work has got under way.

The figures, revealed under Freedom of Information legislation, have emerged days after council leaders admitted the proposed route would have to be dramatically scaled back.

Funding problems have led to the shelving of a link between Granton and Roseburn, leaving a swathe of the city's waterfront without a tram link.

Willie Gallagher, the previous boss of tram firm TIE, quit the post months after it emerged he was in line to rake in 340,000 of bonuses if the project was completed on time in 2011.

His successor, Richard Jeffrey, former managing director of Edinburgh Airport, who was appointed earlier this month on a 140,000 basic salary, is understood to be on a similar deal.

The company yesterday defended the bonus payments, insisting they were normal business practice.

However, SNP MSP Shirley-Anne Somerville, an arch-critic of the tram project, said taxpayers affected by disruption caused by the tram project would find news of the bonuses a "bitter pill to swallow".

Ms Somerville, who uncovered the figures, said: "It's an absolute disgrace TIE staff have had almost a million pounds in bonuses from the public purse before a track is laid.

"Bonuses are supposed to be awarded on the basis of jobs well done – what has been achieved so far apart from delays, disruption and cost overruns?

"It's time they stopped rewarding failure and started producing results."

David McLetchie, Tory MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands, said: "I'm astonished people are being paid bonuses for a project that is over budget and not on schedule. They should not be paying bonuses until the job is done."

Gordon Burgess, of the Leith Business Association, said: "If TIE thinks these are justified for a job well done, it beggars belief."

A spokesman for TIE said: "Staff bonus schemes are part of modern HR strategies for the recruitment and retention of staff. This especially applies to projects of this type where there is a clear end date."

RIGHT TRACK

MORE than 300 people flocked to see a mock-up tram which went on display in Leith yesterday.

Business leaders have been campaigning for the life-size vehicle to be brought to Leith after the area suffered more than a year of disruption from tramworks. It has been installed on Constitution Street where it will remain for the next five weeks to showcase how the tram will look as it goes through a residential area.

The city council agreed to the move after the replica vehicle attracted 74,000 visits during a seven-week spell outside the Jenners department store on Princes Street.