Extra pay for council bosses for overseeing elections are to come under scrutiny by MSPs.

Some of those who received the cash will be asked to appear and explain their roles and what the pay is for.

The payments, which saw the chief executive of Glasgow City Council receive £75,000 on top of her salary for being Returning Officer at two elections and a referendum, have been criticised by some and it has been suggested the responsibility of Returning Officer should be incorporated into the role.

The system and amounts will be examined by the Local Government Committee who will also consider if they are appropriate.

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The deal meant, for Glasgow’s top official, Annmarie O’Donnell, an extra £75,000 on top of her salary of £160,000 between 2014 and 2016 for overseeing the EU referendum and a Westminster and Holyrood election.

Other chief executives across Scotland’s 32 councils received an average of £34,000 for their work.

The committee will hear form chief executives, unions and the Electoral Reform Society.

Bob Doris Maryhill and Springburn SNP MSP, convenor of the committee, said: “Understandably there is public concern around additional payments reportedly worth £1 million in the last two years being made to already well-paid office holders.

“The level of payment varies for different elections and different councils, and we’re also aware some Returning Officers claim their payment, while others share payments with their staff.

“We want to find out more about how these payments operate, what their uptake is and whether they remain appropriate.”

Ms O’Donnell as the chief executive of Scotland’s largest council was paid the highest amount.

Edinburgh’s chief executive was paid around £90,000 between 2014 and 2016, while heads of councils in Fife and North and South Lanarkshire received additional pay-outs of more than £50,000.

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Across the same two-year period around £90,000 was paid to Edinburgh's returning officer, with payments of £50,000-plus made to the chief executives of councils including North and South Lanarkshire, Fife and the Highlands.

The committee will take evidence at Holyrood over two meetings next month.