Aberdeen in meltdown over pay cut for workers earning £50,000-plus

ABERDEEN'S ruling Liberal Democrat and SNP administration was last night split apart in the growing row over controversial plans to sack a tenth of the cash-strapped authority's workforce.

The joint administration sparked uproar last week by claiming it had been left with no choice but to make 900 staff compulsorily redundant after union leaders rejected its call for staff earning more than 21,000 a year to take a 5 per cent pay cut to fund an enhanced 3 million early retirement and voluntary severance package.

But, in a surprise move, the SNP group on the joint administration has tabled an emergency motion for today's meeting of the finance and resources committee, which it is claimed will avoid the need for any compulsory redundancies at the council.

Instead it is proposing the council should pursue plans to make 600 employees voluntarily redundant through a scheme which would be partly funded by 120 senior council staff, on a salary of over 50,000, accepting a 5 per cent pay cut.

John Stewart, leader of the Liberal Democrat group and the joint administration, said last night that the "irresponsible" move by the SNP group had effectively sealed the fate of the joint administration.

He declared: "The last thing you need in coalition is one party going off and doing their own thing because their masters in Edinburgh are a bit upset. To table an emergency motion with no discussion with your coalition partners that seeks to overturn a decision the council has already made is not the way a coalition should behave.

"It is clearly a knee-jerk response to criticisms from John Swinney, and is motivated by short-term political gain, rather than the long-term good of Aberdeen."

Willie Young, secretary of the opposition Labour group, claimed that the "U-turn" by the SNP councillors meant the ruling joint administration could not survive.

He said: "The administration is in a complete and utter mess. They are not speaking to each other. I think the SNP are looking to get out and have been looking to get out for some time now. The leader of the council's position has become untenable."

And Lewis Macdonald, Labour MSP for Aberdeen Central, claimed: "This administration is in chaos. The SNP's coalition partners in the Town House have been adamant that there is no alternative to compulsory redundancies.It is long past time that John Stewart and Kevin Stewart admitted that their coalition is not fit for purpose, and it's time for them to go."

Kevin Stewart, leader of the SNP group, said SNP councillors had decided to table the emergency motion following the announcement by finance secretary John Swinney, finance secretary, that there will be a flat cash settlement to Scottish local authorities until 2015.

He said: "That changed the situation because we did not previously know what was going to happen beyond this year. There is now room for manoeuvre."

He added: "The SNP group's aim from the very beginning of this process has been to seek to avoid the need for compulsory redundancies wherever possible.

"I believe that these plans present an opportunity for Aberdeen City Council to avoid compulsory redundancies, build a better relationship with our staff and unions, and maintain key services for the people of Aberdeen."