As UNISON opens its strike ballot over local government pay, UNISON head of local government Mike Short argues that Andy Burnham's devolution ambitions will only succeed if councils invest in the workforce that delivers essential services.

Andy Burnham is expected to walk into Downing Street as Britain’s next prime minister promising a renewed focus on devolving further powers away from Whitehall.

Few in local government would argue with the former mayor of Greater Manchester's ambition. Stronger local authorities should mean stronger communities, more responsive public services and decisions taken closer to the people they affect.

But devolution is about so much more than a simple transfer of powers between institutions. Success depends on having a skilled, experienced and motivated workforce, capable of turning political ambition into reality.

That's why the opening of UNISON's strike ballot today over local government pay matters far beyond this year's annual pay settlement.

Around 200,000 local government and school support staff at more than 500 employers across England and Wales are being balloted on whether they're prepared to take industrial action over the ‘full and final’ 3.3% pay offer for 2026/27 the employers have asked unions to accept without negotiation.

Industrial action is always a last resort. But it becomes inevitable when a workforce crucial to the smooth operation of UK services is repeatedly expected to absorb another year of falling living standards.

Since austerity began around 2010, councils and schools have faced rising demand, shrinking budgets and growing expectations. Through all of it – including the extraordinary pressures of the Covid-19 pandemic – staff have continued to deliver. They support vulnerable children and adults through care services, assist teachers, collect refuse, maintain roads and parks, enforce trading standards, provide housing services, staff libraries and keep local democracy functioning.

These services are rightly described as essential. The people delivering them should be treated that way too.

Yet recruitment and retention across local government and schools have become some of the sector's biggest challenges. Behind many of those vacancies was an experienced worker who decided they could no longer carry on – whether because of low pay, relentless workloads or simply feeling undervalued. As UNISON's recent research into planning departments showed, vacancies are becoming harder to fill, while demand for services continues to grow. At a time when councils face rising pressure in areas such as adult social care and SEND support, they cannot afford to lose the skilled workforce on which communities depend.

That is why pay shouldn't be treated by employers as just another annual box-ticking exercise. It goes to the heart of local government's ability to deliver high-quality public services. The UK is about to have a prime minister who's built his recent political career arguing local government deserves greater powers. Those ambitions will succeed only if councils can take on, and keep hold of, the skilled workforce needed to deliver them. The employers' pay offer falls well short of that challenge. That's why it has been rejected by all three unions representing the NJC workforce.

Local government and school support workers have already seen the spending power of their pay fall by an average of around 26% since 2010. Typically, for a teaching assistant that's equivalent to around £7,000 in lost real-terms pay, and as much as £18,000 for a social worker, when measured against RPI inflation.

With inflation likely to outstrip the proposed 3.3% increase if instability in the Middle East continues to drive up energy and import costs, staff face another real-terms pay cut. After more than 16 years of diminishing pay, another settlement failing to keep pace with the cost of living will only deepen the recruitment and retention crisis.

A fair pay settlement is not simply about rewarding commitment. It’s also about ensuring local government and education support remain attractive careers for the next generation. Without investment in staff, councils and schools will struggle to find sufficient people to deliver the services residents rightly expect.

Council leaders know better than anyone how difficult the financial position has become. Years of underfunding have left authorities facing impossible choices across every service.

But that cannot become an argument for asking staff to pay the price. Many workers already rely on in-work benefits to make ends meet. Some even rely on the foodbanks their councils’ partner with and refer struggling residents to. A failure to invest in the workforce also carries other costs through higher staff turnover, increased recruitment costs, greater use of agency workers and burnout among experienced employees.

The employers’ side of the NJC still has an opportunity to improve its current offer. It can avoid a dispute that benefits nobody. The opening of today's strike ballot should be seen as a warning. The gap between what local government expects from its workforce and what it is prepared to pay has become too wide to ignore.

At the same time, the next government cannot ignore local government's financial reality. For devolution to succeed, it must be backed by sustainable funding. Giving councils and combined authorities greater responsibilities without the resources to fund key services would simply move pressure around the system; it won't solve it.

The same principle applies to the workforce. Local government and school staff can't deliver ‘more with less’ forever. Eventually, services suffer because the people delivering them reach breaking point.

Andy Burnham's commitment to devolution presents a genuine opportunity to put local government at the heart of national renewal. But stronger councils and schools won't be built through constitutional or structural reform alone. They'll be built by investing in the people who deliver challenging local public services every day.

That starts with recognising the value of the workforce, improving the current pay offer and giving councils the resources they need to succeed.