Scots council paying back £1.5bn private finance deal on historic buildings to fund equal pay scandal
dailyrecord.co.ukGlasgow City Council will pay a staggering £1.5billion to rent its own buildings over 30 years to settle £770million of equal pay claims.And a tax haven-based finance company is being used for a part of the deal which sees the sale and lease-back of its historic City Chambers headquarters and landmark Kelvingrove Art Gallery.A Sunday Mail investigation has lifted the lid on the crippling finance package for the first time including how:Lib Dem economy spokesman Willie Rennie said: “It’s simply adding insult to injury that not only are Glasgow residents seeing the architectural crown jewels of their city sold off but that fees for doing so will be flowing to financial firms headquartered in tax havens abroad.“It will be decades before the council owns its own buildings once again.
That’s a depressing state of affairs that speaks to the parlous state of local government finances.”Glasgow finalised the second phase of a £770million settlement with 19,000 workers who had been unfairly paid last year.At the heart of the dispute was the fact female dominated jobs like working in school canteens had historically attracted a lower wage than male dominated sectors like refuse collection.In 2019 the local authority finally agreed to pay an astonishing £550million and then last year a further £220million was added.In order to meet the cost, the council set up a network of “arms-length” companies and sold off its most valuable property assets.The companies - which the council ultimately owns - have then struck loan agreements totalling £759million with private finance firms.Total rent repayments for the buildings in initial years will be around £32.1million.But when we asked Glasgow City Council to give the total amount to fund the
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