REVEALED : Scottish Borders Council ex-Chief Executive David Hume received £318K PAYOFF in secret voluntary redundancy package negotiated by lawyers

Is this man’s exit worth two Prime Minister’s salaries ? Scottish Borders Council accounts reveal huge exit payoff for Chief Executive David Hume who took voluntary redundancy. EXACTLY one year after Scottish Borders Council announced it’s then Chief Executive David Hume had left his post due to a “change in his personal circumstances” which came about after questions were raised over his spending on taxpayer bankrolled credit cards, financial accounts now published by the heavily-in-debt south of Scotland local authority reveal Mr Hume, who left his post in July last year after an extended period of sick leave received a staggering THREE HUNDRED & EIGHTEEN THOUSAND POUNDS in a pay-off linked to his application for voluntary redundancy.

However, questions are now being raised why SBC Council Chiefs, Councillors & legal officers fought for over a year to cover up the details of the pay-off to Mr Hume, a deal negotiated by lawyers acting for the former Chief Executive and Scottish Borders Council, who themselves contracted a private law firm, Glasgow based MacRoberts to "provide external employment law advice" on the bitter negotiations with Mr Hume's legal team. MacRoberts part in the exit negotiations of Mr Hume has only this week been made public by Ian Wilkie, the head of SBC’s legal team in response to Freedom of Information requests by members of the public who are campaigning for an inquiry into the murky circumstances surrounding Mr Hume’s departure from Scottish Borders Council.

Rolling in it while Council debt burden increases – Salaries, Pensions & Secret Exit Packages of Council Chiefs finally revealed in secrecy battle. The annual accounts of Scottish Borders Council for 2011-2012 reveal Mr David Hume, who left his post as chief executive on 15th August 2011 received the sum of £103,174 as “compensation for loss of employment”, an explanation which local campaigners have pointed out is at odds with claims by SBC’s leader David Parker that Mr Hume retired. Council insiders have let it be known the “compensation for loss of employment” figure was the result of “tough negotiations between the legal teams.”

The accounts further reveal Mr Hume’s salary, fees and allowances for the part financial year totalled £78,868 (full year equivalent £119,223), so his total remuneration in 2011/12 was £182,042. He also left with a pension lump sum of £136,392 and an annual pension of £50,374, bringing the total of lump sums plus part year’s salary to a recession busting grant total of £318,434.

Revelations of Mr Hume’s spending spree on Council funded credit cards, reported in more detail by Scottish Law Reporter HERE, was taken up by the SNP’s Christine Grahame, MSP for the area and Chair of the Scottish Parliament’s Justice Committee who questioned why Mr Hume was able to use a corporate credit card while many constituents in the Scottish Borders are facing financial oblivion.

Ms Grahame said : “While many of my constituents are struggling to make ends meet Mr Hume was using a corporate credit card to enjoy luxuries and pay for expensive goods. It also beggars belief that in his time as Chief Executive of the council he backed numerous campaigns to shop local but decided to buy a brooch from Orkney as a gift for a visiting dignitary.?”

She added : “I would like to know if Mr Hume had carte blanche when using his credit card or was this expenditure monitored. I also feel that taxpayers need to know whether this extravagance was sanctioned by senior councillors who were, at the same time, grappling with the need to cut spending and ensure value for money.?”

Council Leader David Parker & Chief Executive David Hume before murky exit While behind the scenes bitter legal negotiations were going on between lawyers acting for Mr Hume & the Council over a “voluntary redundancy” which Council Chiefs had spun into a “retirement, Council Leader David Parker said in a press release announcing Hume’s exit : “The Council is most grateful to David for his loyal and dedicated service over the last nine years. He has been instrumental in the Council’s success, and has demonstrated enormous commitment to the Council and the Scottish Borders. He departs with the best wishes of all elected Members and staff. He leaves a Council that is in strong heart, and which has been transformed under his leadership.”

However, during Mr Hume’s term at the Council, the south of Scotland local authority has found itself at the heart of persistent financial failures with the loss of millions of pounds in bankrupt Icelandic banks, and recent revelations by Scotland’s Finance Secretary John Swinney that Scottish Borders Council has a staggering debt mountain of TWO HUNRED & SIXTY TWO MILLION POUNDS.

Speaking at the Scottish Parliament, Mr Swinney also revealed Scottish Borders Council are forking out over TWELVE MILLION POUNDS A YEAR for interest on debts such as assets acquired under Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) or similar arrangements, a figure which has leapt from £9,090 million in 2007 to £12,273 million as of 2011. Local campaigners in the Scottish Borders have criticised the scale of the problems at Scottish Borders Council and the lack of any substantive plans to halt the ever rising mountain of debt at the Council, which now equates to a sum of £2,403 & rising for every person living in the Scottish Borders as of this date.

Scottish Law Reporter has previously covered a long battle between local campaigners and Scottish Borders Council who were refusing to publish details of Mr Hume’s huge publicly funded pay off in articles HERE, where it was reported Mr Hume was effectively “pushed out” of his Council post, and HERE, where it had become clear senior figures at the Council had used the scandal & cover up to maintain their grip on power.

SLR also reported yesterday on the staggering FIVE MILLION POUND staff pay-off scheme operated by Scottish Borders Council in the last financial year, report available HERE

The Herald newspaper reports :

Ex-council boss given £318,000

FORMER Scottish Borders Council chief executive David Hume walked away with more than £318,000 from his final year in his post.

The financial package for the 59-year-old, who stood down in August 2011, has been shrouded in secrecy, despite Freedom of Information requests.

But council accounts for 2011-12 finally reveal the extent of payments to Mr Hume, who left his £119,000-a-year job after being on long-term sick leave and is now employed by Children's Hearing Scotland.

He received £103,174 "compensation", a pension lump sum of £136,392, and his salary, fees and allowances for the part financial year came to £78,868 – totalling £318,434.

and the story also appeared in the Scottish Daily Mail, with the following editorial :

SCOTTISH DAILY MAIL COMMENT: 5 July 2012.

COSTLY FAT CAT PAYOFFS

THE scandal of local authority fat cats enjoying massive salaries, severance payments and pensions at a time of public sector retrenchment has been aggravated by the revelation that David Hume, former chief executive of Scottish Borders Council has left his post with a total package worth £318,000 – more than double the Prime Minister’s salary.

Although it was claimed he left his job as a result of being on extended sick leave, the accounts show his pay-off included £103,174 as “compensation for loss of employment”. He is now working for Children’s Hearings Scotland.

The amount of secrecy and contradiction surrounding this massive pay off will provoke considerable public concern.

Other SBC employees are in the second year of a pay freeze, while 107 highly-paid senior officials received salary increases. The unfairness of this situation is blatant. It seems that a culture of greed and unfair remuneration is not confined to the private sector. Is this what public service is about?

Revolt over costs of solicitors contributions to Law Society fizzles out for now

The much talked about revolt by members of Scotland’s hapless legal profession who are ‘fed up’ paying £665 a year to fund the huge salaries of wasters staff at the Law Society of Scotland, fizzled out as expected.

The Council of the Law Society raised a motion as they always do, took over the issue, and won the vote. (Checkmate ! – Ed)

The Scotsman reports :

The cost of being certified solicitor survives 'cut' call

Published Date: 29 May 2009
By Christopher Mackie

A REBELLION over the cost of practising as a solicitor in Scotland was headed off last night, as the Law Society won a crucial vote at its AGM in Edinburgh.

The motion, put down by Glasgow solicitor David Flint – to reduce the cost of the solicitor's practising certificate from £665 to £400 – was defeated after an amendment tabled by the society won overwhelmingly by 1,150 votes to 480.

That amendment called on the legal profession to allow the society time to bring forward cost-reduction proposals for membership at a special meeting in September after a review of its operations is carried out.

The society's chief executive, Lorna Jack, has already promised that the professional body will bring forward proposals for a "material reduction" in the cost of the certificate at that meeting.

Commenting after the vote was taken, Mr Fllint, who is a partner in MacRoberts, said: "Despite the fact that the mot- ion was not successful, I am heartened by the fact that a significant number of the profession voted in favour of it and that the society has recognised and committed to a material reduction in the practising certificate for next year."

The vote caps a turbulent two weeks for the Law Society over membership costs, after it was accused by Mr Flint and others of being a bureaucracy that wasted the money of its members.

Law Society of Scotland accused of wasting solicitors contributions

Big fall outs at the Law Society of Scotland as the membership begin to grumble over paying £665 a year to fund high salaried staff at the Law Society who do little for the profession. (It’s a bit like a protection racket – Ed)

The Scotsman reports :

Law Society is 'wasting money of its members', critics claim

Published Date: 26 May 2009
By Christopher Mackie

A ROW over the cost of practising as a solicitor has intensified after the Law Society of Scotland was accused of wasting its members' money.

In a letter circulated throughout the profession, David Flint, a partner in MacRoberts, claimed the Society operated as though it had "an open cheque book" funded by the subscriptions paid to it by Scottish solicitors.

Mr Flint has already tabled a motion at the forthcoming Law Society AGM demanding that the cost of the lawyers' practising certificate be cut from £665 to £400, in the face of the harsh economic climate. The motion was accompanied by a letter to all Scots lawyers asking for support and criticising the Society. It accused the organisation of being a growing bureaucracy that failed to adequately represent the interests of members.

Following a campaign by the Society to rebut the claims, Mr Flint has circulated a second letter, detailing specific areas of waste and urging lawyers to vote for his proposal at the AGM.

In the latest document, Mr Flint said the Society had "demonstrated a singular inability to operate within any reasonable budgetary constraints: they have an open cheque book from the members and they operate accordingly."

Mr Flint questioned the increased cost of the chief executive's office, a figure that includes the salary of Lorna Jack, who took the helm in January. The latest draft accounts show that this increased by £90,000 to £326,000 in 2008.

He also highlighted the £98,000 spent on an abortive attempt to relocate the Society's offices in Edinburgh, abandoned in light of a reduction in property values.

Mr Flint also asked whether solicitors paying £665 for the certificate should benefit from the large surplus the Society holds. The 2008 accounts show cash reserves of £1.229 million.

Mr Flint told The Scotsman: "My concern is members' money is being spent on the administration, rather than on services to members. If you have a surplus being run on a members organisation the surplus belongs to the members and it should be used for their benefit."

The Society said the decision to retain cash was approved by a vote of its members and said the increase in the cost of the chief executive office was misleading as the cost was artificially low in 2007 because of unfilled vacancies. It defended its decision to cancel the relocation of its offices, and described the incurred costs as "reasonable" for a transaction of that size.

The Law Society intends to reduce the cost of the practising certificate, but only after a review is complete. Ms Jack said: "

There is a commitment to making a material reduction at this year's SGM in September and we would hope that the profession is prepared to allow the full planning process to be completed and make its decision then."

Law Society of Scotland condemned by solicitor as 'costly, bureaucratic and useless'

In a remarkably frank session of stating the obvious, solicitor David Flint, partner at Glasgow law firm, MacRoberts, has sent out a letter to all lawyers saying : "The Society has over the past two decades shown a signal inability effectively to represent the interests of its membership whilst at the same time growing a bureaucracy with an ever increasing cost. At the same time, the interface with the membership has been negligible.". (We know ! – Ed)

The Scotsman reports :

Solicitor says Law Society is ineffective and run by bureaucrats

Published Date: 19 May 2009
By Christopher Mackie

A SCOTTISH solicitor has launched a withering attack on the Law Society of Scotland and called for the cost of membership to the professional body to be reduced.

David Flint, a partner at MacRoberts in Glasgow, accused the Society of failing to uphold its members' interests, despite the increasing cost of the solicitor's practising certificate, which currently stands at £665.

In a letter to all lawyers in Scotland, Mr Flint said: "The Society has over the past two decades shown a signal inability effectively to represent the interests of its membership whilst at the same time growing a bureaucracy with an ever increasing cost. At the same time, the interface with the membership has been negligible."

He questioned how the Society could justify its current budget, claiming: "For the bulk of the profession ... members would be hard placed to say what the Society did for them, or to their benefit – or at the very least, what the Society did which justified its cost."

Mr Flint has tabled a motion to be discussed at the Society's AGM in Edinburgh next week. In it, he calls for the cost of the practising certificate to be capped at £400 to reflect the economic situation and the costs now borne by lawyers to pay for the new Scottish Legal Complaints Commission.

In response, the Law Society claimed its membership cost was lower than most other European jurisdictions. Its treasurer, Jamie Millar, added: "We gave a commitment last year to look at the cost of the practising certificate for solicitors for 2009-2010. Last year we froze the cost of the practising certificate and we are confident that we can reduce the costs this year."

MacRoberts holding seminars on 'how to interact' with SNP

As the legal profession has to find new ways of arm twisting the Scottish Executive & politicians, legal firms have begun holding seminars on the best possible ways forward.

So, if you are up for learning fun ways to 'interact' with the SNP, go along to the Dome on George Street, Edinburgh on November 6th, or "The Lighthouse", Mitchell Lane, Glasgow, on November 7th.

The Herald reports :

MacRoberts to hold free seminars

DAVID BLACK October 22 2007

LAW firm MacRoberts is to hold a series of free public seminars on public law and government next month. They will take place at the Dome on George Street, Edinburgh, on November 6, and at The Lighthouse, Mitchell Lane, Glasgow, on November 7.

A spokesman for the firm said: "MacRoberts' public law and government group will examine how Scotland's legislative and policy framework operates today. The political landscape in Scotland has shifted dramatically since the May elections, impacting on everyone doing business in in the country, whether in the public or the private sector.

The structure of the Scottish Government has changed, and interacting with the minority SNP administration requires a fresh approach." MacRoberts is also due to hold a construction law seminar on November 27 at the Roxburghe Hotel, Charlotte Street, Edinburgh.