Wednesday March 4th 2026
West Lothian Council headquarters
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Stuart Sommerville
West Lothian’s councillors will get an £857 pay rise in April.
The new pay packages for all councillors were agreed without comment at this month’s meeting of the Council Executive.
The pay hikes, set by the Scottish Government, will see the salary of council leader Lawrence Fitzpatrick rise to £51,715, a rise of £1,652.
The salary of the Provost, Cathy Muldoon will rise £1,239 to £38,787 and for the 12 senior councillors- heads of committees- by £1,222 to £38,281.
Councillors will see their salaries rise from £25,982 to £26,839.
By contrast the basic salary for an MSP in Holyrood from April will be £77,710. Cabinet Secretaries will receive around £116,000.
All councillor salaries jumped last year after a ten year review. Basic pay for councillors rose by almost £5,000.
The Scottish Local Authority Remuneration Committee (SLARC), was commissioned in 2023 to look at how the roles of councillor has changed and grown in recent years.
A report, independent of the Scottish Parliament and local councils, made a number of recommendations, which affect councillors in key areas such as training, meeting attendance and salary.
The findings have been accepted by COSLA, the umbrella organisation for local authorities in Scotland, as well as Scottish Ministers, and came into force last year.
While the role of a councillor was seen as part-time in the past, the role has grown to be more complex, include increased responsibility and take up more time in recent years. The rise of social media and on-line contact has also added to the demands on councillors.
The SLARC report aimed to address some of the barriers that prevent under-represented groups, such as women, those with disabilities, people under 55 and those from less affluent backgrounds, standing to become councillors.
Evidence gathered by SLARC showed that the low level of pay was one of the biggest barriers to elected office for these groups. The new salaries will assist in addressing some of the barriers that prevent under-represented groups standing to become councillors.
As there changes are set out in legislation, individual councils cannot accept or reject the changes.
Tweet Share on Facebook
