By Bill Heaney
MSPs’ such as Jackie Baillie in Dumbarton and Marie McNair in Clydebank, who is also a councillor in West Dunbartonshire, will receive a pay rise of 6.7 per cent from the Scottish Parliament based on increases to average weekly earnings.
The base rate for members will increase to £72,195, up from the current rate of 67,662, and will take effect on 1 April. MSPs received an increase of 1.5% last year and 3.4% the year before.
The move was confirmed by Conservative MSP Jackson Carlaw, representing the Scottish Parliament’s corporate body, at the finance and public administration committee. Ministers and presiding officers are entitled to extra money on top of the base rate.
Local MSPs Marie McNair and Dame Jackie Baillie will receive a boost in their income.
In recent years ministers have declined pay rises. The Scottish government has been approached for comment.
Salaries for 2024-25 will be based on increases to average weekly earnings (AWE), having previously increased in line with the Office for National Statistics annual survey of hours and earnings (ASHE).
A spokesperson for the Scottish Parliament, which is responsible for the paying MSPs’ salaries, said: “In recent years, ASHE has been increasingly out of sync with other wage inflation indices to the point that MSPs received 1.5% last year when general inflation was running at 10%.
“Prior to that, MSPs received 3.4% in 2022-23 and 0% in 2021-22. This year, AWE will be applied to MSPs’ pay.”
Currently, a Scottish government minister is paid £99,516, while a cabinet secretary receives £118,511. The first minister’s annual salary is £165,678. The presiding officer is paid £118,511, while their deputy receives £99,516.