Shamed, a 'cabal' of councillors who ran up thousands of pounds of debts as they 'avoided' paying their own council tax

Councillors in Scotland's ­biggest city ran up council tax debts of thousands of pounds – with some barred from carrying out their full duties as a result.

An investigation by The Scottish Mail on Sunday shows that while they preside over a local authority budget of £3 billion, a 'cabal' of councillors in Glasgow have failed to pay their own council tax.

One hurriedly paid off his £1,386 debt as soon as we began our inquiries but others are facing retrospective action from their local authority's debt recovery service.

Last night Elliot Keck, head of campaigns at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'Scots will be sickened by this shameful scandal.

'While councils run deficits and cut vital frontline services, a cabal of councillors are covertly avoiding council taxes and forcing locals to carry the burden.'

Included in the councillors' list of shame is Roza Salih, a rising star of the SNP administration in Glasgow's City Chambers.

She was hailed as the first ­former refugee elected to public office in Scotland when she stood in 2022, with Facebook showing her flanked at the count by a beaming Nicola Sturgeon, then First Minister, and Susan Aitken, leader of Glasgow City Council.

The BBC celebrated her as one of the Top 100 influential women of 2022. She has also been awarded the title of 'bailie', which means she can deputise for the city's Lord Provost at civic functions.

However, we found that last month the Kurdish-born councillor for Greater Pollok owed £1,210 in tax to her own local authority.

She is paid £21,000 a year as a councillor and has also declared some external income as a newspaper columnist. She failed to respond to repeated requests for explanation and comment.

Greens councillor Blair Anderson, the Partick East representative, owed £1,386 last month, but he paid it off as soon as we began making inquiries.

He said: 'When the Freedom of Information request was received, I was made aware of an administrative issue with direct debits transfers. I immediately paid the outstanding amount.'

Fellow Greens councillor Elaine Gallagher – Scotland's first transgender councillor, who was elected to the Southside Central ward – owed £1,540 last month when we submitted our FoI request, although she then moved to clear £148 of it. She is also a city bailie.

Labour councillor Jill Pidgeon, who sits on the influential planning applications committee, said of her debt: 'For clarity – there was £2,249 outstanding and I arranged a repayment plan. There is now £899 left to pay.'

Under Section 112 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, any councillor with at least two months of council tax arrears is unable to fully carry out their duties. They are prevented from taking part in budget votes and if they participate in any debate or meeting about council tax, they must declare their debt beforehand. Offences carry a maximum fine of £1,000.

On February 15 this year, Ms Gallagher was the only one of the four to stay away from Glasgow's budget vote. Councillors Anderson and Pidgeon said they voted, as they were up to date with their council tax at the time. Councillor Salih refused to confirm her ­council tax status at the time.