Government urged to act on pay cap

Published Thursday, 14th December 2017

The Leader of Hartlepool Borough Council is calling on the Government to lift the pay cap on council staff.

Councillor Christopher Akers-Belcher has joined over ninety council leaders from across the UK to write to the Chancellor asking that he fully funds a fair pay rise for local authority employees.

Councillor Christopher Akers-Belcher

Councillor Christopher Akers-Belcher

The letter calls for an end to the public sector pay cap, and seeks a guarantee from the Chancellor that he will fully fund the 2% pay offer made to council staff by the National Employers for Local Government Services last week.

The letter notes that local government workers have suffered real terms pay reductions since 2010 that, combined with increases to the cost of living, mean they’ve lost the equivalent of £1 in every £5 they previously earned.

Commenting on the letter, Councillor Christopher Akers-Belcher, the Leader of Hartlepool Borough Council, said: "Thousands of local people depend on the hard work of council staff so I support the decision of the National Employers for Local Government to recognise the difficulties faced by many council workers in recent years, and to offer a 2% deal for each of the next two years.

“I also support the decision that council staff on the lowest salaries will receive increases above 2% and this builds on the initiative taken by Hartlepool Borough Council to implement the Hartlepool Living Wage.

“But local government has suffered the biggest cut of any part of the public sector so it is vital that the Chancellor uses the Local Government Finance Settlement to fully fund the cost of this deal, and to start to reverse the appalling cuts planned to local government. If the Government does not provide additional funding for a fair pay settlement, the additional cost to councils will result in significant additional budget cuts being required over the next two years.

“I’ve joined more than 90 Council leaders from across the country to write to the Chancellor to demand that the pay cap is formally lifted, that he fully funds the offer that has been made, and that he urgently addresses the £5.8bn gap in funding councils face by 2020.”