Controversial pay review delayed

Flintshire council has written to 6,000 staff about pay deals

Flintshire council has decided to delay a controversial pay review which could have left many staff facing large cuts.

More than 1,200 workers faced wage cuts following efforts to implement an agreement on equal pay.

More than a quarter of the 70 council members signed a notice of motion against the move, with some claiming they would lose up to £15,000.

The council said it would look again at the scheme, but remained committed to implementing a single status agreement.

The Single Status Agreement was signed in 1997 by all UK councils, in an attempt to end unequal pay in local government, especially differences in manual and white-collar pay between men and women.

However, a special meeting was held on Tuesday in an attempt to overturn the decision to implement the deal.

If you have sad staff, you have sad service - staff won't put any effort in if they're not being paid properly Councillor Klaus Armstrong-Braun

More than a quarter of the 70 council members signed a notice of motion calling for the decision to be overturned.

The motion said the review had led to a "far higher loss of earnings by individual members of staff than the few hundred pounds that the council was previously informed of".

Councillor Klaus Armstrong-Braun, who had called for the special meeting and put forward the motion, said he had received cross-party support from councillors concerned about the way the issue had been handled.

"It's a complete debacle and it's completely undermined morale among council staff," he said.

Pay increase

"When were were advised on this before the decision was taken in August, we were given the impression that no one would lose more than a few hundred pounds.

"But now it's clear that some workers will lose £10,000 or more."

He cited one example where two people doing identical jobs had been put on different pay grades.

"If you have sad staff, you have sad service - staff won't put any effort in if they're not being paid properly. We will lose good technical staff," he said.

Flintshire council chief executive Colin Everett has said around half of those affected by the changes would see their pay increase.

However, he admitted that it did mean some council employees would be adversely affected.

All staff will have a right to appeal against any changes.