Answers needed on black holw surrounding cost of health service equal pay

Dumfries Liberal Democrats <tom@therussells.org.uk>

Answers needed on black holw surrounding cost of health service equal pay - O'Donnell

September 23, 2009 12:02 PM
Originally published by Scottish Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrat member of the Equal Opportunities Committee, Hugh O'Donnell MSP has called on Ministers to prioritise getting answers on how much it will cost to implement equal pay across Scotland's health boards.

The Equal Opportunities Committee was today taking evidence from Audit Scotland, unions, campaign groups and health boards over how to bridge gender pay inequalities in Scotland's health service.

None of the groups giving evidence were able to explain exactly how much this would cost.

Commenting, Mr O'Donnell said:

"It is seriously concerning that nobody seems to know how much it will cost to implement equal pay across Scotland's Health Boards.

"This is an issue that affects some of Scotland's lowest paid public service workers, most of them women.

"Unions, Health Boards, Audit Scotland and the Scottish Government all seem to be saying that there is a black hole surrounding these figures.

"It is unacceptable that in a modern Scotland no one is taking responsibility for this issue. Ministers must make addressing this a top priority.

"We need leadership from Government to get answers to the key questions surrounding exactly how much it will cost to implement equal pay across Scotland."

Ends.