Only a third of single status deals implemented on time

Every local authority was supposed to implement the single status pay deal by 1 April, but only about a third of councils have reached agreements.

The government has refused to give local authorities extra funds to pay those who gain from the deal.

This encourages councils to slash pay elsewhere and to cut and privatise services.

In response to the budget – which produced no extra funding for the deal – Dave Prentis, Unison general secretary, said, “Local government employers risk creating extreme tension through attempts to introduce single status on the cheap. 

“This has led to large swathes of workers, both male and female, facing pay cuts – in some cases worth thousands of pounds. One of our women members in Staffordshire doing a vital job in a school was told that her pay would go down by £16,000. Scandalous.”

The scandal needs to be addressed with a coordinated national campaign to put pressure to win equal pay without pay cuts for other workers in councils across Britain.