Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Former Aberdeen City Council co-leader donates salary to local charities

CR0025500
Council leader Douglas Lumsden has lodged a motion ahead of full council calling for the Woodies area in Broomhill to be turned into a safe outdoor space for the community. Communal garages in the park have previously been the subject of anti-social behaviour but Douglas says the council could take possession of the site and turn it into a community asset.

Picture by Kenny Elrick     03/12/2020
CR0025500 Council leader Douglas Lumsden has lodged a motion ahead of full council calling for the Woodies area in Broomhill to be turned into a safe outdoor space for the community. Communal garages in the park have previously been the subject of anti-social behaviour but Douglas says the council could take possession of the site and turn it into a community asset. Picture by Kenny Elrick 03/12/2020

The former co-leader of Aberdeen City Council will donate his local authority wage to local charities for the next year after being elected as an MSP.

Douglas Lumsden was elected to represent the north-east region at the Scottish Parliament election earlier this month.

He has already stepped down as co-leader of the council and Conservative group leader, as well as relinquishing various roles on committees.

However, Mr Lumsden plans to continue as a councillor for Airyhall, Broomhill and Garthdee, explaining that it would cost the public purse more to hold a by-election than it would for him to remain in the role until next year’s local elections.

But he has also pledged to donate his basic councillor salary – totalling around £17,500 – to a different local charity each month.

‘Easy decision’ to donate council wage

The first beneficiary will be Harlaw Academy’s HOP project, a parent-led initiative to spruce up the school grounds.

“I will continue to be a councillor for another year while also being an MSP and that’s the right thing to do rather than costing the taxpayer money for a by-election that doesn’t even fulfil a full year,” Mr Lumsden said.

“It was an easy decision to donate my councillor’s salary to charity and I didn’t think twice about it.

“Holding a by-election would cost double the amount of my salary as a councillor and it would be wrong of me to allow that to happen during a time where households are trying to recover from the impacts of the pandemic.

“In Aberdeen and across the north-east, we have so many fantastic charities whose work goes unnoticed.

“The struggles of charities throughout Covid have often gone unnoticed which is why I will donate my salary to a different one each month to allow a large number to benefit from the money.

“Harlaw Parent Council is doing a fantastic job in assisting the council’s investment in the school which is why I selected them as the first charity to receive the money.”

Fellow councillor and new SNP MSP for Aberdeen Donside, Jackie Dunbar, also announced she would donate her council wage to local charities following the election.

“A by-election costs the public purse double the amount it costs for a councillor’s salary,” she said.

“It’s not a case of taking two salaries – you’re not allowed to not take one. What’s happened in the past is it is up to people what they do with it, but my intention would be to donate my councillor salary to local charities.”