WIREDGOV

Council employees have been offered a two-year pay increase from 1 April 2016.

The majority of employees - those on salaries starting at £17,714 per annum - would receive an uplift of one per cent on 1 April 2016 and a further one per cent on 1 April 2017, with those on lower salaries receiving higher increases to take account of the new National Living Wage.

The National Employers, who negotiate pay on behalf of 350 local authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, made the offer to unions recently. It will affect over 1 million employees.

Cllr Sian Timoney, Chair of the Employers' Side, said:

"Despite the challenges now facing local authorities following the Spending Review and new National Living Wage, there is a broad consensus among councils that there should be a pay offer to staff this year.

"This offer balances our commitment to increase the pay of our hardworking employees with the responsibility we have to address the ongoing financial pressures we face.

"We believe that this is a fair deal for employees, given the limits of what we can afford, and a fair deal for the taxpayers and residents who use and pay for the vital services which local government provides."

Notes

1. The total increase to the national paybill resulting from this offer is 2.4 per cent (£364.175 million) over 2 years (covering the period 1 April 2016 to 31 March 2018). Approximately 0.4 per cent of this figure is designed to meet our immediate obligations under the National Living Wage and to start the process of moving towards the expected level of the Living Wage by 2020. This final offer was at the limit of affordability for councils.

2. This pay offer does not apply to council chief executives, senior officers, teachers or firefighters, who are covered by separate national pay arrangements.

3. The National Joint Council negotiates the pay, terms and conditions of staff in local authorities. It agrees an annual uplift to the national pay spine, on which each individual council decides where to place its employees. Each council takes into account a number of factors such as job size and local labour market conditions when deciding an employee's salary. There are no nationally determined jobs or pay grades in local government, unlike in other parts of the public sector.