Published: Wednesday, 16th April, 2008 12:00
Women increase their share of council jobs
By Bob Lovik
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Council leader Janet Cadenhead hopes the number of women given top jobs will improve.
CLACKMANNANSHIRE Council has improved on the number of women occupying high-paying positions after a 2006-2007 survey found the council to be among the lowest in Scotland.
In a survey by the trade union GMB for the year ending April 2007, Clackmannanshire Council ranked 25 out of Scotland’s 32 local authorities for women among the best-paid five per cent of staff.
According to the survey, only 35.5 per cent of the council’s highest paid employees were women.
That has risen in the past year and now sits at 40.4 per cent – a figure which would have put Clackmannanshire in the top half of the table.
The council’s top five per cent of earners now consists of 109 people – 44 of them female.
The five per cent mark is a government target and serves as a proxy for equal opportunities in the workplace.
Stirling Council topped the GMB table with women sitting in 50.5 per cent of the highest paying jobs during 2006/2007, which led the union to praise Stirling for smashing through the ‘glass ceiling’.
Clackmannanshire Council leader Janet Cadenhead wants to see the numbers in the county improve.
Ms Cadenhead told the Advertiser, “Things are much better now for women than they have ever been but we’ve still got a long way to go.
“All appointments made in the public sector look for the best possible candidate, man or woman.
“Many recent appointments that have been made at Clackmannanshire Council have been women, and women are regarded in every way as equals to men and given all the chances to achieve their own potential.”
The survey looked at how many people were employed by each council, excluding those in schools, and calculated the percentage of the top five per cent of earners who were women.
In effect, the study covered the top managers and professionals employed by the councils.
The Shetland Islands came in at the bottom of the table with a score of 14 per cent.
Kamaljeet Jandu, GMB national equality and diversity officer, said, “Women in local government have started to break through the glass ceiling into the top jobs.
“Given the increasing role of women in the labour market some councils have awoken to the talent, skill and expertise that women bring to the workplace.”
Ms Cadenhead said that Clackmannanshire Council had an equal opportunities hiring and promotion practice.
She explained that a possible reason the council scored so low in last year’s survey was that a lot of the top positions had been occupied for a long time and that neither men nor women had had the opportunity to be promoted.
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