Watch: Lessons from Brighton & Hove City Council in scaling AI
Brighton & Hove's Chris Wales talks to LocalGov about moving AI from pilot to production – and what other councils can learn from the journey.
Mayor unveils £500k package for Jaguar Land Rover workers
07/09/2026 Mayor Richard Parker has launched an initial £500,000 employment support package for JLR workers taking voluntary redundancy. |
Activists call for ‘Bristol weighting’ to help council staff with cost of living
04/09/2026 Unison activists are urging Bristol CC to investigate introducing a ‘Bristol weighting’ payment for all council employees. |
Glasgow council under pressure to deliver new pay structure
03/09/2026 It is ‘critical’ that Glasgow City Council deliver its new pay and grading structure by April 2027, the Accounts Commission has warned. |
Local government workers ‘reluctantly’ agree 3.3% pay boost
25/08/2026 Agreement has been ‘reluctantly’ reached on the 3.3% pay settlement for frontline workers in local government. |
Rochdale council to stagger backpay after benefit losses
21/08/2026 Rochdale BC will change how it pays backdated wages after staff on Universal Credit found lump-sum payments were cutting into benefits, according to UNISON. |
Immigration changes deepening social care workforce crisis, says UNISON
19/08/2026 The Government's immigration reforms are worsening the social care staffing crisis, UNISON has warned, citing new analysis of employment figures. |
Unions warn Glasgow's equal pay scheme falls short
17/08/2026 Glasgow CC is preparing to roll out a new pay and grading structure from April 2026, which it says will finally resolve its long-running equal pay dispute. |
Beyond the Language of Crisis: Fixing social care's workforce problem
29/07/2026 LocalGov talks to ADASS President Phil Holmes about the social care workforce crisis and what the PM's reform plans need to deliver. |
Burnham unveils plans to reform social care workforce
29/07/2026 Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced plans to overhaul the social care workforce as part of a wider push towards a National Care Service. |
LGA warns councils 'sidelined' by social care Fair Pay Agreement
16/07/2026 Councils are to be ‘sidelined' by a negotiating body representing care workers, the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned. |
Employers defend pay stance
14/07/2026 Employers have denied they are playing parts of the sector off against each other by offering different pay settlements to different groups of council staff. |
Welsh council chiefs welcome teacher pay consultation plan
14/07/2026 Local authority chiefs have welcomed an announcement that the Welsh Government intends to consult on a 3.5% pay award for teachers and school leaders. |
Unite balloting thousands of council workers over pay strike
13/07/2026 Thousands of Unite members working for local authorities across the country are being balloted for strike action after rejecting this year's pay offer. |
200,000 council and school staff begin voting on pay strikes
09/07/2026 Around 200,000 council and school staff across England and Wales began voting today on whether to take strike action over pay, UNISON has announced. |
Stronger local government starts with fair pay
09/07/2026 UNISON's head of local government on why devolution means nothing without fair pay for council and school staff |
Union calls for fully-funded teacher pay offer
02/07/2026 A union has criticised the Government’s latest pay offer for teachers, which proposes a partially funded settlement. |
Leeds CC still faces equal pay claims 'worth hundreds of millions'
29/06/2026 Leeds CC is still facing equal pay claims worth hundreds of millions of pounds, with more than 4,000 women having taken action against the council, GMB says. |
Brighton faces 'unquantifiable' liability over equal pay claims
25/06/2026 Brighton and Hove City Council is unsure about the level of financial exposure it faces from more than 1,000 unresolved equal pay claims, auditor warns. |
Three in four council workers 'one bill away from crisis'
16/06/2026 A survey of local government employees has found that 72% are financially vulnerable, meaning a single unexpected cost could tip them into crisis. |
Union issues strike threat over 3.3% local government pay offer
15/06/2026 Hundreds of thousands of council and school workers could walk out on strike after their union vowed to ballot members over what it called an unacceptable pay offer. |
EXCLUSIVE: Chiefs lobby Government over severance payment threshold
11/06/2026 Council chiefs have been lobbying the Government to relax the requirements around severance payments when they publish guidance on reorganisation staffing. |
Council craftworkers to strike over pay and conditions
09/06/2026 Over a thousand local government craftworkers are set to walk out later this month in a dispute over pay and threatened changes to their working conditions. |
Union rejects local government pay offer
28/05/2026 GMB members have voted to reject a 3.3% pay offer from the Local Government Association (LGA) for 2026/27, joining UNISON and Unite in turning down the deal. |
LGA fails to restore collective bargaining for coroner pay
05/05/2026 The Local Government Association (LGA) has been unable to reestablish collective bargaining to agree pay for coroners. |
'End in sight' for Birmingham strike
27/04/2026 After more than a year of industrial action, Birmingham CC's leader John Cotton has tabled an offer he believes will ‘end the strike once and for all'. |
LocalGov Round-Up: Southport inquiry, pay talks and Reform’s savings claim
17/04/2026 Southport inquiry fallout, a pay standoff, record six-figure salaries, a roads funding row and Reform UK's savings claims – it's been a busy week. |
EXCLUSIVE: Two unions reject pay offer
15/04/2026 Trade unions Unison and Unite have both rejected the employers' offer of a 3.3% pay increase. |
Record number of council staff earning over £100k
14/04/2026 A record 4,733 local authority employees across the UK received total remuneration of more than £100,000 in 2024-25, according to a new analysis. |
LocalGov Round Up: Pay, Pride in Place and LGR
27/03/2026 This week councils faced pay decisions, sweeping reorganisation plans, fresh regeneration funding and tensions over the future shape of local government. |
Council workers offered 3.3% pay rise
25/03/2026 Local government workers have been offered a pay increase of 3.30% from 1 April 2026 in what has been described as a ‘full and final one-year pay offer’. |
Unite fined £265k over Birmingham bin strike injunction breaches
18/03/2026 Birmingham CC has welcomed a High Court ruling that fines the trade union Unite £265,000 for breaching an injunction during the long-running bin strike. |
Unite cuts Labour fee amid Birmingham bin strike row
12/03/2026 Unite has voted to cut the affiliation fee it pays to Labour by 40% in response to the ongoing bin workers’ strike in Birmingham. |
LGA to look into scale of £100k salary sign off burden
26/02/2026 The Local Government Association (LGA) is to look into the scale of the burden of members having to sign off salary packages worth more than £100,000. |
EXCLUSIVE: Pay spine review kicks off
26/02/2026 Work has started on a review of the national pay scale used to determine salaries for most council employees in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. |
LGA slammed for failing to take its own advice
11/02/2026 Local Government Association has been accused of failing to take its own advice on employee relations in the aftermath of disastrous restructure consultation. |
Brum bin workers vote to extend strikes beyond local elections
11/02/2026 Striking bin workers in Birmingham have voted to extend their industrial action mandate past the city’s May local elections and into September 2026. |
£2.8bn wages hike looms amid unions pay demands
29/01/2026 Local government’s wage bill would have to surge by £2.8bn to meet the demands laid down in unions’ pay claim for 2026-27, it has been estimated. |
Councils fear exclusion from pay negotiations
27/01/2026 Council chiefs are calling for a formal role in negotiations on the Government’s proposed Fair Pay Agreement for care workers. |
LGA accused of pushing restructure to beat 'fire and rehire' changes
22/01/2026 The Labour-led Local Government Association's has been accused of trying to push through its restructure before fire and rehire practice are outlawed. |
Doncaster workers’ pay to be restored by millions of pounds
19/01/2026 The GMB trade union has revealed that over 4,000 Doncaster Council workers are due to receive a pay rise ‘worth millions’. |
LGA: Fair Pay Agreement ‘unworkable’ without council involvement
16/01/2026 The proposed adult social care Fair Pay Agreement (FPA) model is unworkable without adequate funding and meaningful local government involvement, LGA warns. |
Staff left reeling after LGA restructure plans
08/01/2026 Local Government Association (LGA) staff face pay cuts of up to £30,000 under modernisation plans. |
Bromley traffic wardens take further strike action
07/01/2026 Outsourced traffic wardens belonging to the GMB trade union have begun further strike action in Bromley. |
Union warns of more equal pay claims as payouts rise above £1bn
02/01/2026 The GMB has revealed it plans to launch 10,000 new equal pay claims across five more councils alongside 40,000 outstanding actions at 28 authorities. |
Council staff demand pay rise amid rising pressures
01/12/2025 Unions representing council workers have today submitted their joint pay claim for 2026–27, calling for a wage rise of at least £3,000. |
Staff shortages ‘blighting’ children’s education, union warns
28/11/2025 Staffing shortages in UK schools are putting children’s education – and safety – at risk, warns the union UNISON. |
Budget: Councils to be impacted by minimum wage and threshold freeze
26/11/2025 Councils, along with other employers, will be impacted by the chancellor's decision to increase the minimum wage and freeze national insurance tax thresholds. |
EXCLUSIVE: Chiefs' pay slump
20/11/2025 Advertised salaries for local government chief executives have failed to keep up with inflation, an analysis has revealed. |
Agency workers join escalating Birmingham bin strike
18/11/2025 Agency workers have now joined Birmingham City Council’s directly employed refuse collectors in the long-running bin strike. |
Reed: Reorganisation will contribute to 'fair' pay
14/11/2025 Local government reorganisation will help pay council workers a ‘fair wage', communities secretary Steve Reed has suggested. |
Autumn Budget Insights: A chance to rebuild councils
11/11/2025 Mike Short, head of local government at UNISON, argues that the Autumn Statement is a chance to protect services and staff, and renew local government. |
Autumn Budget Insights: What the local government workforce really needs
04/11/2025 Pam Parkes, President of PPMA, argues that local government cannot deliver reform or growth without investing in its workforce. |
Mayors call for real Living Wage for care workers
28/10/2025 Mayors Andy Burnham and Kim McGuinness have signed an open letter urging Government to guarantee all adult social care workers are paid the real Living Wage. |
Councils to fund half of increased labour costs under fair pay agreement
27/10/2025 Local authorities are projected to fund over half of increased labour costs passed on by providers as a result of the fair pay agreement for social care. |
Council called out for failing to pay minimum wage
20/10/2025 Coventry City Council has been named among nearly 500 employers found to have underpaid staff the National Minimum Wage, according to the Government. |
Domestic recruitment challenges persist in adult social care
15/10/2025 The adult social care sector in England continued to grow in 2024/25, but challenges in domestic recruitment and workforce sustainability remain, a new report reveals. |
Birmingham and unions finalise landmark equal pay deal
14/10/2025 Birmingham City Council and trade unions have reached a final agreement to settle historic equal pay claims. |
Social care fair pay 'unlikely to be sufficient'
10/10/2025 Doubt has been cast on whether the adult social care fair pay agreement will have the impact claimed by ministers. |
10 ways councils can boost staff retention
30/09/2025 Budget strain and heavy workloads are driving council staff away. Here are 10 simple changes that can make a big difference. |
Care sector to benefit from £500m fair pay initiative
30/09/2025 The UK Government has announced a £500m investment to establish the first ever Fair Pay Agreement for adult care workers in England. |
Labour conference: Reed puts councillors back into LGPS
29/09/2025 Councillors in England will be allowed back into the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), communities secretary Steve Reed has announced. |
Sheffield reaches landmark £36m equal pay deal
23/09/2025 Sheffield City Council has reached a landmark equal pay agreement with the trade unions Unison, GMB and Unite, resolving long-standing pay disparities. |
Glasgow redundancy payouts 'deeply concerning'
04/09/2025 Redundancy payouts totalling £1m made to senior officers at Glasgow have been described as ‘deeply concerning' by a financial watchdog. |
Bin workers in Brum back further strike action
03/09/2025 A vote has seen bin workers in Birmingham ‘overwhelmingly’ agree to extend strike action until spring next year, according to Unite. |
EXCLUSIVE: Director suspended by county amid reorganisation vacuum
30/07/2025 A director remains out of the office on full pay almost three months on from being suspended, The MJ understands. |
Calls for higher pay for social care workers
29/07/2025 The Government has faced calls for higher pay and better conditions for social care workers as the numbers of British recruits has continued to fall. |
Employers and unions agree pay deal
24/07/2025 Local government employers and the Unison and GMB trade unions have agreed a pay deal for the sector. |
BCP Council announces new pay structure
24/07/2025 Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council has approved proposals for a new ‘fair and transparent’ staff pay structure. |
Union ballots Wrexham bin workers on strike action
21/07/2025 Refuse workers in Wrexham are being balloted on strike action, with their union Unite claiming changes in working patterns by the town’s council will see them lose half a day’s pay. |
Employers double down on pay offer
16/07/2025 Council employers have unanimously reaffirmed their April offer of a 3.2% pay increase as ‘full and final' despite unions urging them to better their proposal. |
Unitary achieves pay harmony six years after reorganisation
16/07/2025 A deal to harmonise legacy pay and terms for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council workers is finally expected to be signed. |
Unions back Scottish local government pay offer
11/07/2025 Local authority leaders in Scotland have welcomed the decision by Unite and GMB members to accept the latest two-year pay offer. |
Job loses loom as Birmingham bin dispute talks collapse
10/07/2025 Attempts to resolve the long-running waste service dispute between Birmingham City Council and Unite have collapsed with job loses the likely result. |
Union members accept two-year pay offer
08/07/2025 Local government staff in Scotland have voted to accept a two-year pay offer. |
Unions call for ‘better and fairer’ pay offer
04/07/2025 Trade unions representing council staff across the country have called on local government employers to improve on the 3.2% pay offer. |
GMB members vote against 3.2% pay offer
01/07/2025 Members of the trade union GMB have voted to reject a 3.2% local government pay offer. |
Unite set to take Brum bin dispute to Liverpool
30/06/2025 Unite members are set to protest Birmingham City Council’s leader at this year’s LGA conference as part of the ongoing bin strikes, says the trade union. |
Unite members reject 3.2% pay offer
24/06/2025 Unite members have voted to overwhelmingly reject this year's pay offer of 3.2%. |
COSLA makes two-year pay offer
16/06/2025 The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) has offered a 4% pay rise for 2025-26 and an increase of 3.5% the year after. |
Spending Review: Chancellor vows to improve pay for social workers
11/06/2025 The Chancellor has backed a fair pay agreement for social care workers in a Spending Review that failed to address many of the care sector’s concerns. |
‘Urgent’ call for sustainable homecare funding
06/06/2025 New research reveals local authorities are ‘consistently failing to fund homecare’, with 27% of contracts falling below minimum wage. |
Brum bin strikes could last 6 months longer
06/06/2025 Almost 400 Birmingham bin workers voted for continued strike action in a recent ballot. |
Reform UK launches DOGE teams to investigate council finances
02/06/2025 A new DOGE-style team of auditors, led by a UK ‘tech entrepreneur’, will be tasked with reviewing the finances of Reform UK-controlled councils, party chair Zia Yusuf has announced. |
Unions demand pay talks
29/05/2025 A union boss has called for employers to come to the negotiating table as they accused bosses of ‘undermining' their collective bargaining agreement. |
Birmingham council secures court order to stop bin lorry protests
25/05/2025 Birmingham City Council has been granted a court order to stop protests outside of its bin lorry depots as the latest move in the long-running pay dispute. |
Call for £1.5bn boost to care worker pay
19/05/2025 A think tank has urged the Government to boost social care funding by £1.5bn to support a £2,000 pay rise for care workers. |
UNISON calls on members to reject pay offer
13/05/2025 The UK’s largest union has urged its members to reject the latest local government pay offer. |
GMB urges members to reject pay offer
07/05/2025 The trade union GMB has recommended that its members reject the latest local government pay offer. |
Lambeth defends Dosunmu payoff
29/04/2025 Lambeth LBC has defended a payoff totalling almost £88,000 to its former chief who admitted failing to stop after a collision and driving without insurance. |
Unite advises members to reject latest pay offer
28/04/2025 Public sector trade union Unite has advised its members to reject this year’s local government pay offer and threatened industrial action this summer. |
Council employee pay offer announced
23/04/2025 Council employees have been offered a 3.2% pay increase from 1 April 2025. |
Making payment processes smarter
22/04/2025 It can be challenging to find the right software to streamline payment processes. Lewis McKenna-Crisp argues SmarterPay has the ideal solution for councils. |
Union announces strike ballot over pay
16/04/2025 Scottish council workers are to be balloted over strike action in response to what a union has described as a ‘pitiful' pay offer. |
Striking Brum bin workers reject pay offer
14/04/2025 Refuse collection workers in Birmingham have rejected the city council’s latest pay offer in long-running dispute. |
Council chiefs defend six figure salaries
01/04/2025 Local authority leaders have defended local government salaries exceeding six figures, arguing it is important to attract the ‘right people’. |
Brum council declares ‘major incident’ amid bin strikes
01/04/2025 Birmingham City Council has declared a major incident to address the impact of the bin strikes in a move branded by Unite as ‘disgraceful strike breaking’. |
Aberdeen council accused of ‘fire and rehire’ threat
28/03/2025 Unite has accused Aberdeen City Council of threatening workers with ‘fire and rehire’ proposals as part of an industrial dispute, a claim the council denies. |
Brum council threatens redundancies to end bin strike
28/03/2025 Birmingham City Council will begin a consultation on compulsory redundancies in an effort to end the bin strike, a move Unite describes as ‘bully boy tactics’. |
UNISON: Reorganisation must not be ‘cover for job cuts’
20/03/2025 The abolition of district councils as part of local government reorganisation puts thousands of frontline jobs at risk, says UNISON. |
Leaders call for tough pay negotiating stance
05/03/2025 Council leaders have warned a tough stance is needed during pay negotiations as local government struggles to meet union demands. |
