New Angus Council power structure to be revealed this week

The Courier

05-05-2025

Angus Council's new power line-up will be confirmed within days.
A 13-strong coalition is finalising its nominations for leading roles ahead of a special full council meeting on Thursday.
It follows the successful motion of no confidence in the minority SNP administration, which cut short their control of the authority.
We already know former SNP group deputy leader George Meechan is to be the new £50,000-a-year chief of the Conservative/Independent/Labour coalition.
And Arbroath East and Lunan Conservative Derek Wann is to assume the role of second-in-command.
The appointment of Provost and Depute Provost will be the first items of business for this week's special full council meeting.
The new administration is remaining tight-lipped on its nomination for the role of civic figurehead.
Monifieth councillor and former Depute Provost Craig Fotheringham is considered a strong contender. But the new group also includes Kirrie councillor Ronnie Proctor, who filled the post in a previous administration.
The 13 administration members will take convener and vice-convener roles on six of the main committees.
Those are:
An opposition councillor must chair the Scrutiny and Audit committee, which comprises a majority of non-administration members.
The meeting will also decide the remuneration of all elected members.
The change of power comes just weeks after councillors across the country received pay hikes of as much as 20%.
Angus Council can have a maximum complement of 13 higher-paid senior councillors. Their total wage bill is capped at £412,940.
All other councillors will receive £25,982 a year.
The remuneration report to full council reveals a total of £1.03 million has been set aside for councillor pay, including pension and national insurance costs.
Meanwhile, the council has detailed the circumstances behind the timing of the special meeting.
And it has emerged the absence of new deputy leader Derek Wann had no bearing on the issue. There had been speculation the meeting was delayed due to him being on holiday.
Instead, it was largely due to former administration councillor Brenda Durno's position on a Tayside Contracts joint committee.
A council spokesperson said: 'The challenges in setting a time and date for the special council were primarily due to the need to align with the ongoing process of recruitment in relation to Tayside Contracts involving Councillor Durno as a council-appointed member of the committee.'
'If Cllr Durno's position had become vacant, this would have had a significant delay and financial impact on the Tayside Contracts recruitment process.
'This process was concluded on April 29.'