COUNCILS in the west of Scotland have paid out more than £100million to settle equal pay and employment disputes in the last five years.

The cash is for present and former female staff who claimed they were earning less than men in comparable, but different jobs and for employment tribunals and other dispute settlements.

It is understood South Lanarkshire Council had the highest bill in Scotland at more than £70m with North Lanarkshire and Glasgow both paying out around £18m.The figures show local councils across the country also had to fund legal bills totalling £2m to defend wage claims.

Politicians insist the sum represents justice being done for thousands of workers who have been treated unfairly.

Neil Findlay, Scottish Labour's spokesman for fair work, skills and training, said: "Justice and dignity in the workplace has finally been delivered to those who, for years, have been paid less because of their gender."

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie also welcomed the massive pay-outs.

He said: "This staggering sum reveals the extent of the real discrimination that women have faced for decades.

"It is costly for the state but the price that female workers experienced has been far greater.

"It is important we put right the mistakes of the past and ensure they are not repeated."

Many Scots councils have been forced to sell off assets or use reserve cash to meet the large payments.

South Lanarkshire, which is understood to have used reserves to pay the sums, said it was confident the equal pay issue is now a "historical matter".

In March this year, thousands of female workers across Glasgow were given the go-ahead by the Court of Session in Edinburgh to continue their battle for equal pay settlements worth millions of pounds.

Three judges at Scotland's highest civil court rejected argument from Scotland's largest council that 2500 claimants were not eligible for substantial pay-outs because their jobs were transferred to the local authority's arms-length external organisations, or aleos.

The judges ruled in favour of female staff, including cleaners, cooks, home helps and others, now working for organisations such as Cordia.