A fair deal: an interview with COSLA’s Billy Hendry

As the current financial situation continues to affect councils across Scotland, issues around pay and conditions have become more important than ever. As COSLA’s strategic human resource management spokesman, Billy Hendry’s role is vital to thousands of workers across the country.

Speaking to Holyrood, he stressed the gravity of the situation which currently exists in Scotland. He said: “It is a seriously important role because while we are dealing with issues in a national context, they affect so many people’s lives. The decisions I take forward for ratification have an impact on services, local communities and the economy of a local community. 

“It is a massive role and what’s central to it is the [COSLA] team and their negotiation skills because that’s what they do on a daily basis.

“Something which stands out for me and which I’m very proud of is [our achievements around] the living wage. Everyone in COSLA and all political parties are totally committed to this. I think it’s great because it recognises that there are people who are doing a job for us and while we are in a very difficult financial situation, we’re taking it head on. It’s testament to COSLA as a collective organisation how it takes matters forward which are in the best interest of the workers. If they’re more motivated and feel more appreciated, that has to be good for everyone. 

“There’s always an issue around finances in the current climate but the fact we were able to achieve that and recognise something had to be done is something I feel very proud of. It showed a willingness on our part as employers to engage the trade unions in a positive way. 

People can achieve, you’ve just got to give them the right levers and not be dogmatic

“It was something they were campaigning for so I was very happy when we achieved it and we’re building on it too. At the moment we’re going into a round of pay negotiations and we are looking forward to engaging. We’ve had a pay claim, we’re looking at it at the moment and we’ve got a series of meetings set up. We’re keen to come to a conclusion much quicker than we did last time. We take the view that we are working with financial constraints but we are determined to do what we can for those at the lower end of the pay scale.”
Born in 1969 and brought up in Bishopbriggs, Hendry has been a councillor for over 20 years. After leaving school he was self-employed for many years before training as a solicitor, qualifying over three years ago.

He said: “I lived for the first 11 years of my life in an ex-coal board house, which then became a council house. My father was a miner and worked constant night shifts, six nights a week, and my mother cleaned the local sports centre which was across the road from us. 

“From a political sense, I was aware, even at a young age, that my dad’s job was under threat and because we lived in a street which was predominantly full of miners, there was a lot of discussion about it. To put it in context, this was a street with about 100 people living in it, surrounded by middle-class areas. 

“At a young age I was aware that there was a difference between myself and my school friends. It was simple things, for example, I’d think ‘why does my dad come home covered in dirt while my friend’s dad goes to work in a suit and briefcase’. I used to wonder why there was a difference and why there had to be a difference. That started my Conservative thinking, I was asking ‘why can we not all achieve what we want and what’s holding us back?’. 

“As time moved on, things happened which made me more of a Conservative. For example, my mum and dad were some of the first people in Strathkelvin District Council to buy their own council house. That was a major thing. They wanted to better their life, they wanted to own something and to pass it on and they wanted to progress. When my dad was made redundant, he took his redundancy and bought a taxi, this was a big thing. He worked and worked, and put the money back into the family and we moved house and we got one of the houses that everyone else had. People can achieve, you’ve just got to give them the right levers and not be dogmatic.”