Birmingham City Council and trade unions have reached a final agreement to settle historic equal pay claims.

The claims, brought by UNISON and GMB on behalf of their members employed by the council and Birmingham Children’s Trust, relate to longstanding pay inequalities between female employees and male colleagues performing work of equal value.

Under the settlement, affected employees will receive compensation for wages they were underpaid over many years.

This agreement follows the deal reached in principle last December and subsequent approval by the council’s cabinet.

In a statement, the city council said that ‘previous custodians of the council did not act swiftly or decisively enough to resolve these matters.’ It added that the council would regularly review its job evaluation processes to ‘maintain equity and transparency across all roles.’

City council leader John Cotton said: ‘When I was appointed as leader two years ago, I labelled equal pay the single biggest challenge that the council has faced and vowed to deal with the matter once and for all.

‘We're doing exactly that and this deal represents another key milestone on our journey. I want to thank GMB and UNISON for working so constructively with the council to put right a historic wrong.’

UNISON West Midlands regional manager Claire Campbell said: ‘Many of these women have spent years delivering vital public services, all while being undervalued and underpaid.

‘This recognition and the payments due have been a long time coming. This money will make a real difference to the lives of those affected.’

UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea added that the victory would ‘resonate far beyond Birmingham.’