Trams firm bosses 'earn more than First Minister'

Published on Sunday 9 January 2011 15:00

SIX senior figures at Edinburgh's under-fire tram development body, including its chief spin doctor, are paid higher salaries than the First Minister, it has emerged.

Figures released by Transport Initiatives Edinburgh show that the six senior directors are paid more than 100,000.

Customer services and communications director Mandy Haeburn-Little is paid between 120,000 and 139,000 a year while Dennis Murray, the commercial director, is on between 100,000 and 119,000.

The infrastructure director, Frank McFadden, is paid up to 139,000, as is operations director Alastair Richards.

At the highest end of the scale, project director Steven Bell and TIE chief executive Richard Jeffrey are in the salary band of "140,000 and over".

Their pay tops Alex Salmond's salary of around 82,000 for his role as First Minister, however, he also receives an MSP's salary of 57,000.

Other figures released show that the firm has spent a further 3.9 million on consultants in the current financial year, which has not yet ended. Around 2.2m of this was on "dispute resolution" experts.

Shirley-Anne Somerville, Lothians MSP and critic of the tram scheme, said: "TIE must show they have saved far more than the 2m spent on consultants to resolve their dispute with Bilfinger Berger.

"Paying a spin doctor a salary that appears to be higher than the First Minister's, when TIE's communications consist of not telling anyone when the tram system will be finished or what it will cost, is outrageous."

In response, a spokesman for TIE said: "Our costs for consultants in this financial year are likely to be considerably less than the last.

"One exception to this is costs associated with the DRP but given the current situation this is not unexpected. In financial years 2007 to 2010 there was an average of forty consultants working on the project. This year it has been reduced by fifty per cent to twenty consultants.

"Like any other organisation delivering similar work a number of factors must be taken into consideration when it comes to setting senior salaries. Retention of a core group in construction projects is a key priority. The salary band needs to recognise that the employment market in construction is highly competitive when looking to attract the right mix of skill and experience. Retention of those skills for the duration of the project is a high priority as recruitment can be costly.

"Tie believes that its recruitment and retention strategy has been successful through setting salaries which are competitive and not over-generous when compared with other industries."

Meanwhile Councillor Gordon Mackenzie, the city's transport convener, hit back at comments Alex Salmond made at the weekend that the project is a waste of money and saying it should never have gone ahead.

Mr Salmond said: "As soon as they dug up Edinburgh it was a recipe for disaster."

In response Cllr Mackenzie said: "It is disappointing that the First Minister, days before the outset of mediation, could not use this interview as an opportunity to give his support to achieve the best outcome from that process.

"We need more focus on resolving problems facing the tram project, and less on using it as a political football."