The Brownfield Land Release Fund
To what extent does this early initiative of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities deliver on the ‘levelling up’ agenda? Lawrence Turner reports.
Refuse workers strike against ‘ongoing attacks’ on pay and conditions
21/10/2021 Union members at Veolia Sheffield have voted to strike over pay and what they characterise as ‘ongoing attacks’ to their terms and conditions. |
EXCLUSIVE: Employers dig in as they refuse to reopen pay talks
19/10/2021 Council employers have dug in to defend their ‘full and final’ pay offer despite warnings that months of disruption could lie ahead. |
Brighton council and union reaches deal to end bin strike
19/10/2021 Brighton residents will soon once again see their streets cleared of bin bags as the council reaches a deal with striking refuse collection workers to resolve the ongoing industrial dispute. |
Disruption warning as unions ask for pay talks to resume
15/10/2021 Unions have urged council employers to return to the negotiating table with an improved pay offer amid warnings that months of disruption could lie ahead. |
Research shows drop in council pay over past decade
14/10/2021 Frontline staff in local government have seen their pay fall by around £1,500 in real terms over the past decade, new research has revealed today. |
Government told to ‘invest’ in social care to solve recruitment crisis
13/10/2021 A new report has emphasised the importance of ‘properly’ rewarding care workers as figures reveal that adult social care providers are struggling to recruit and retain staff. |
North Northants Council to pay real living wage
07/10/2021 North Northamptonshire Council has announced that it will pay the real living wage because ‘it better reflects the cost of living.’ |
More unions announce strike ballots
06/10/2021 Two more trade unions have moved a step closer to industrial action after members rejected the latest pay offer. |
District boosts pay to tackle shortage of bin drivers
05/10/2021 South Holland District Council has agreed to increase pay for its waste and recycling teams in response to the national shortage of drivers. |
Unison warns of strike action over council pay
04/10/2021 Trade union Unison has warned of future strike action unless local government employers improve their pay offer. |
Scottish teachers declare formal dispute over ‘sub-inflationary’ pay offer
01/10/2021 Teachers in Scotland have declared a formal dispute over what they describe as a ‘sub-inflationary’ pay offer. |
Newcastle Council publishes data on ethnicity pay gap
30/09/2021 Newcastle City Council has published data showing the pay gap between their white and BAME staff for the first time. |
Union calls for reversal of pay cuts to give economy £3.3bn boost
24/09/2021 The TUC has called on the Chancellor to reverse public sector pay cuts in the spending review as a means of supporting the post-pandemic recovery. |
New pay deal ends long-running bin strikes in South London
03/09/2021 Disruption to refuse services in the London Borough of Bexley has finally come to an end after a new pay deal was agreed. |
The local government workforce: equal by default
26/08/2021 The APSE Commission message is clear: we need a well-trained, properly rewarded workforce to meet local public services’ future challenges, says Heather Wakefield. |
Council considers forcing unvaccinated to use sick days in COVID cases
13/08/2021 Unvaccinated workers at Knowsley Council might have to use sick days if they need to self-isolate after contact with a positive COVID-19 case. |
PM urged to intervene over council pay
27/07/2021 A trade union has urged the Prime Minister to make funding available to give council workers a 'fair' pay rise. |
Council pay offer increases to 1.75%
27/07/2021 Council employers have offered an improved 'final' pay offer to staff but have offered council chief executives and chief officers a lower increase. |
Commission calls for funding re-set for local government
20/07/2021 Local government needs a ‘funding floor’, set at an agreed percentage of national income, a report on the future of the sector has said. |
Support workers 'undervalued' by nearly £7k a year, warns report
09/07/2021 Frontline social care workers are paid nearly £7,000 less per year than their peers in equivalent positions in other public funded sectors, a new report has uncovered. |
Workers and communities deserve better than poverty pay and degraded services
08/07/2021 Steve Turner, who is standing to become the next general secretary of Unite the Union, pledges to end the outsourcing of council services and campaign for better pay. |
A new deal for workers in local government
24/06/2021 Sharon Graham, who is standing to become the next general secretary of Unite the Union, sets out her priorities for local government workers. |
Unions rejects 'insulting' council pay offer
24/05/2021 Two trade unions have rejected the 1.5% pay offer from the national local government employers. |
Council ‘outraged’ by Unite decision to continue bin strike
14/05/2021 Thurrock Council has said that it is ‘disappointed’ workers in the local authority’s waste and recycling department have decided to continue pay strike. |
Norwich Council workers to strike over pay dispute
13/05/2021 Staff working at a council-owned company in Norwich have announced five days of strike action over 'broken promises' on pay. |
Unions reject councils’ pay offer
26/04/2021 Scottish members of two trade unions have voted to reject a pay offer from councils, raising the prospect of strike action. |
COVID-19 mortality rates twice as high in insecure jobs, TUC finds
16/04/2021 Mortality rates during the pandemic are twice as high in insecure jobs than in other professions, a TUC analysis has revealed. |
Unions reject Scots pay offer
06/04/2021 Trade unions in Scotland have formally rejected employers’ pay offer of an £800 lower-rate pay rise for 2021, dismissing the sum as an unacceptably poor response to staff efforts during COVID-19. |
Sleep-in shifts legal battle ends
19/03/2021 A long-running legal challenge by care workers over pay worth £400m has been rejected by the Supreme Court. |
COSLA pay offer ‘slap in the face’, union says
18/03/2021 Unison has accused the body representing local authorities in Scotland of making a pay offer that ‘falls far short’ of what local government workers deserve. |
Employers branded a 'disgrace' over council pay delay
26/02/2021 Council employers have been branded a ‘disgrace’ after they said they would not respond to a union pay claim until after the May 6 elections. |
Unions call for 10% pay rise for council staff
16/02/2021 Three local government unions have called for a wage increase of at least 10% for all council and school workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. |
Treasury scraps cap on public sector exit payments
12/02/2021 The Government has dropped its controversial cap on public sector exit payments after admitting it had ‘unintended consequences’. |
Local government workers impacted by pay freeze already facing ‘pay penalty’
23/12/2020 Public sector workers affected by the pay freeze next year already face a pay penalty compared to private sector staff in similar roles, think tank says. |
Top 100: Our most popular local government stories of 2020
16/12/2020 Although the dispute over council pay caused the most stir in the local government sector this year, the impact of dealing with the pandemic obviously dominated the headlines as well. |
Sandwell's outsourced refuse workers secure back pay deal
07/12/2020 Refuse workers in Sandwell are set to receive substantial back pay following intervention by trade union Unite. |
Sunak unveils a Spending Review for jobs, public services and infrastructure
25/11/2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has unveiled a £4bn levelling up fund as part of a Spending Review which he claimed offered ‘huge investment’ in jobs, public services and infrastructure. |
Spending Review: Public sector pay increase for low earners
25/11/2020 Public sector worker wage increases will be limited to the lowest paid, the chancellor has announced this afternoon. |
Local government 'must have parity' with NHS on pay
20/11/2020 The chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board says the hard work of the sector during the pandemic must be recognised as the chancellor moves to put a squeeze on public sector salaries. |
A fifth of employees still paid under the real Living Wage, research shows
09/11/2020 A fifth of employees are still paid under the real Living Wage, new research has shown. |
Charity calls for wage parity between care and NHS workers
09/11/2020 Care workers should be paid the same as people doing the equivalent job in the NHS, a charity has said. |
Local government pay deal agreed
21/08/2020 Local government has accepted a 2.75% pay increase, it has been confirmed, despite objections from Unite. |
Unite members reject 'insulting' council pay offer
17/08/2020 The majority of members of Unite the union have rejected the 2.75% pay offer. |
Chancellor accused of 'selective memory' over council workers' pay
21/07/2020 Council staff are the 'forgotten army of public service' and are being denied a 'decent' pay rise, a union said today. |
Unite to ballot members over ‘insulting’ council pay offer
12/06/2020 Around 100,000 council workers will be asked if they want to accept or reject the 2.75% pay offer. |
LGA split over worker bonus
26/05/2020 A cross-party agreement that the Local Government Association (LGA) would lobby for a coronavirus payment to staff was ditched after senior councillors blocked the move, The MJ can reveal. |
Rejection of coronavirus bonus a 'slap in the face'
19/05/2020 A top union official has branded English councils’ refusal to rally behind a campaign for a workers’ coronavirus bonus as a ‘slap in the face’. |
Unite expected to urge council pay offer rejection
11/05/2020 Trade union Unite is expected to recommend that its members reject the employers ‘final’ 2.75% pay offer at a national committee meeting later this week. |
One in five healthcare workers could quit in wake of Covid-19, think tank warns
23/04/2020 Healthcare could face a staffing crisis after it was revealed on in five healthcare professionals are more likely to leave following the pandemic. |
Unions slam 'woefully low' council pay offer
17/04/2020 The Government should provide extra funding to give council workers a 'proper' pay rise during the pandemic crisis, trade unions have said. |
Council workers offered a 2.75% pay rise
16/04/2020 Trade unions have been urged to accept a 2.75% pay increase for council staff. |
Town hall rich list branded 'inane and distasteful'
15/04/2020 Attempts to criticise local government salaries have been branded as ‘both inane and distasteful' by chief executives’ body Solace. |
Local government pay summit to go ahead
30/03/2020 Negotiators hope to keep local government pay discussions on track despite the difficulties posed by the coronavirus crisis. |
Union and council end dispute amid coronavirus crisis
24/03/2020 Trade union Unite has said its dispute with Veolia over holiday pay for refuse staff working at Tower Hamlets LBC has been resolved. |
A 10% council pay rise is 'affordable' says Unison
12/02/2020 A 10% pay rise for council staff is 'affordable' and would boost local economies, new research from a trade union has said. |
Unions reject 'disappointing' 2% council pay offer
05/02/2020 Trade unions have rejected a 2% pay increase for council staff and called on employers to 'come up with a better offer'. |
Unions blast 'unnecessary' delay to council staff pay rise decision
23/01/2020 Trade unions have criticised employers for failing to make a pay offer to local government staff yet. |
Top 100: Our most popular local government stories of 2019
10/12/2019 From calls to a 10% pay rise for council staff to declaring a climate change emergency, here is our countdown of the 100 most popular stories on LocalGov during 2019. |
Fleet mechanics threaten strike after being asked to ‘accept one compromise too many’
03/12/2019 Council fleet mechanics in Wigan are being balloted for strike action after being told to work late on Fridays, according to Unite. |
Lincolnshire health visitors to strike amid pay dispute with council
19/11/2019 A number of health visitors in Lincolnshire started a month-long strike yesterday over what they describe as the council’s ‘divide and rule’ policy. |
Delays to pay claim talks branded a 'disappointment by union
07/11/2019 The biggest local government union has branded a delay to talks over their 10% pay claim 'a huge disappointment'. |
Decision on council staff pay rise delayed until the New Year
06/11/2019 A leading union negotiator has questioned local government employers' good faith after they decided to delay responding to their 10% pay claim until the New Year. |
Council workers to lobby for 10% pay rise
04/11/2019 Unions are set to protest in support of their 10% pay claim when local government employers meet in London tomorrow. |
Living wage boost would benefit hundreds of thousands of council staff
08/10/2019 Workers stand to gain from politicians' pledges to increase the National Living Wage. |
Lincolnshire health visitors announce new pay strikes
06/08/2019 Unite have announced that health visitors employed by the council will be holding further demonstrations across Lincolnshire as part of an ongoing pay dispute. |
In a nutshell: the 2020-21 local government pay claim
29/07/2019 Mark Whitehead explores the context behind the union's bid for a 10% pay increase for council staff. |
A pay rise for local government workers?
25/07/2019 Local government workers are doing overtime on 'an industrial scale’. Mark Whitehead looks at what unions are doing to address this. |
Unions set to propose 10% pay rise for council staff
17/07/2019 Better work-life balance and support for mental health are likely to be elements in a pay claim being agreed by local government unions, LocalGov can reveal. |
Lincolnshire health visitors strike over pay row
16/07/2019 Health visitors in Lincolnshire began strike action yesterday after failing to reach an agreement with the county council over their rate of pay. |
Harnessing the power of place can lead to better pay
17/05/2019 Douglas White explains why the Living Wage Places movement is gaining traction across the country. |
Council employees win ‘substantial wage rise’
02/05/2019 Customer service assistants employed by Sandwell Council have won what the union Unite describe as a ‘substantial wage rise’. |
Council chiefs defend £100,000 plus pay cheques
09/04/2019 Local leaders have defended the generous remuneration packages paid to a minority of council employees arguing they are decided upon in a ‘transparent’ manner. |
Northants apologises for underpaying childminders
08/03/2019 Northamptonshire County Council has apologised ‘unreservedly’ for underpaying childminders and nurseries by thousands of pounds. |
Scottish councils ‘delighted’ at new pay deal with unions
05/03/2019 Council workers have welcomed a new pay deal that is set to deliver cost of living increases over the next few years after a decade of stagnating wages. |
Teaching union rejects pay offer from councils
22/02/2019 The 9% pay increase offered to teachers in Scotland has been rejected by members of trade union EIS. |
Carers win right to appeal in £400m sleep-in shift battle
14/02/2019 The Supreme Court has granted carers the right to appeal in the ongoing sleep-in shift legal battle with a the mental health charity Mencap. |
‘Tougher penalties’ needed to protect small businesses against late payment
15/01/2019 Small businesses have called for ‘tougher penalties’ for large companies that pay their suppliers late to protect them from another Carillion-style collapse. |
Top 100: Our most popular local government stories of 2018
11/12/2018 From council pay rises to troubled outsourcing firms, here is our countdown of the 100 most popular stories on LocalGov during 2018. |
Council pay offer rejected as union moves towards strike action
09/11/2018 The 3% pay offer for council workers in Scotland has been rejected by members of Unison Scotland. |
Glasgow - peace on the horizon?
05/11/2018 Mark Whitehead explores the complexities of an equal pay dispute that led to thousands of women striking last month in Glasgow. |
Greenwich council staff receive payouts after holiday pay ‘miscalculation’
01/11/2018 Around 5,000 women in schools and nurseries across Greenwich have received payouts from the council following a five year legal battle over holiday pay. |
Glasgow and unions agree meetings to resolve dispute
26/10/2018 Talks following the two-day strike by more than 8,000 women in Glasgow this week were described as positive and constructive by both sides. |
Council workers borrowing money to cope with low pay
25/10/2018 Council staff are being forced to rely on credit cards, pawn possessions and borrow money from friends and family due to low pay, a new survey has revealed. |
Glasgow CC offers ‘olive branch’ in equal pay row
25/10/2018 Talks were taking place today in a bid to settle the equal pay row that led to a two-day strike by more than 8,000 women in Glasgow this week. |
Equal pay strike closes council facilities and hundreds of schools
24/10/2018 Unions were today claiming the strike by 8,000 women staff in Glasgow over equal pay was solid and council facilities had shut down as other workers refused to cross picket lines. |
Breaking: Council affected by secondary strike action
23/10/2018 The strike by 8,000 women staff in Glasgow over equal pay appeared to be escalating on day one as more workers downed tools to show their support. |
Council strike over equal pay goes ahead
23/10/2018 One of the biggest strikes in the UK over equal pay went ahead this morning as thousands of women walked out in the dispute with Glasgow City Council. |
Council staff to strike over equal pay claims
22/10/2018 Thousands of women at one of the UK's biggest councils are set to walk out on strike for two days this week over equal pay. |
Four in 10 council employees report ‘financial worries’
18/10/2018 Almost four in 10 central Government and county council employees have financial worries, a fact that affects their work performance and mental health. |
Council chiefs warn of ‘threat’ to music lessons
11/10/2018 Local authority leaders have warned that music lessons will be ‘under threat’ unless the Government covers the cost of a pay rise for music teachers. |
Business rate discounts should drive adoption of Living Wage
14/09/2018 A union has called on London boroughs to follow Brent Council by developing a business rate scheme which incentivises employers to pay a living wage. |
Council staff urged to reject 3% pay increase in Scotland
10/09/2018 Unison is calling on its local government members to reject the new offer of a 3% pay rise. |
Equal pay claims will put 'unprecedented' pressure on council, warns watchdog
23/08/2018 The cost of resolving equal pay claims could put 'unprecedented financial pressure' on council services in Glasgow, the spending watchdog has warned. |
Whistleblower loses ‘unfair dismissal’ case against council
20/07/2018 Cheshire East Council has welcomed an employment tribunal decision which found a ‘whistleblower’ was not dismissed unfairly. |
Court reverses £400m sleep-in shift ruling
13/07/2018 Council leaders have welcomed the Court of Appeal ruling that social care providers will no longer be required to pay £400m in backpay to carers doing sleep-in shifts. |
Council facing £5m equal pay bill
26/06/2018 Fife Council has been warned it could face a £5m bill from a new round of equal pay claims. |
Union rejects Scottish councils' pay offer
20/06/2018 Members of the GMB Scotland trade union have rejected the Scottish local government pay offer, potentially sparking industrial action. |
Unions submit pay rise claim for youth and community workers
14/05/2018 Unions have submitted a pay claim for youth and community workers they say would narrow a growing gap between falling wages and rising costs caused by austerity. |
Council to take pay dispute to Supreme Court
10/05/2018 Nottingham City Council is to take a dispute with its staff over incremental pay rises to the Supreme Court. |
Incremental pay rises - an endangered species?
27/04/2018 Mark Whitehead explores why the right to an automatic pay rise is disappearing in local government. |
This issue of Public Property examines how how flexible workspaces can lead the way in regeneration for local authorities, Why local authority intervention is key to successful urban regeneration schemes and if the Government’s challenge of embracing beauty is an opportunity for communities.
The March issue also takes a closer look at Blackburn with Darwen Council's first digital health hub to help people gain control over health and care services.
