Scrutiny On The Administration: Pay & Conditions

The annual round of trades union negotiations for staff in the public sector has brought the bread-and-butter issue of pay under the spotlight.

With a budgetary squeeze it came as no surprise that the deal offered would not be as generous as in other years. Anna Roberts reports that as many as 113 (out of approximately 5,000) council staff may be affected by a new pay grading, while pressures of legal challenges to diffential pay scales will also need to be handled carefully.

Union officials were predictably angry that their members are in the line of fire and that some of those who can least afford it are due to lose out.

Meanwhile pay for the top bureaucrats in the borough was noted when a reply to that longstanding question was given to a Conservative enquiry at a recent council meeting - apparently 5 borough executives earn salaries above £100,000 per year, in addition to two Head Teachers paid for out of the public purse.