Agenda item - Local Government and Schools Pay

Proposed by Councillor Mac Cafferty on behalf of the Green Group.

32.1         The Notice of Motion as listed in the agenda was proposed by Councillor Mac Cafferty and formally seconded by Councillor Shanks.

32.2         Councillor Allcock moved an amendment on behalf of the Labour Group which was formally seconded by Councillor Evans.

32.3         Councillor Clare stated that she could understand aspects of the amendment but could not accept the final bullet point and therefore could not support it.

32.4         The Deputy Mayor noted that the amendment had not accepted and put it to the vote which was carried by 5 votes to 1 with 6 abstentions.

32.5         The Deputy Mayor then put the following motion as amended to the vote:

This council notes

·           Local government has endured central government funding cuts of more than 50% since 2010; meaning between 2010 and 2020, councils lost 60p out of every £1 receive from central government

·           The efforts of public sector workers including council workers against the Covid-19 pandemic; and the additional expected costs and expenditure as councils aim to fully support their communities through the health crisis and beyond

·           The efforts of local government workers to keep communities safe during the pandemic despite risk to themselves; e.g. in public health, in cleaning, waste and recycling; to ensure children are educated and to look after older and vulnerable people

·           The contribution of school staff during the last year.

·           That recent research shows that if the Government were to fully fund the unions’ 2021 pay claim, around half of the money would be recouped thanks to increased tax revenue, reduced expenditure on benefits, and increased consumer spending in the local economy.

·           Performance related pay progression in schools is not educationally sound and is usually discriminatory in outcome.

This council further:

·                Agrees to support the campaign by Trade Unions for a proper, real-terms pay increase for local government; calling on government to fully fund this increase, without adding extra burden to local authority costs;

·                Notes the importance of continued work to support our local staff, in line with work already underway such as the Fair and Inclusive Action Plan, People Promise and additional leave flexibility.

·                Requests the Children, Young People & Skills Committee to revise the Council Schools Pay Policy to ensure that from 2021/22 onwards the policy progresses all teachers and school staff up the pay scale annually (and biennially for upper scale teachers) unless the staff member is subject to formal capability process.

32.6         The Deputy Mayor confirmed that the motion as amended had been carried by 10 votes to 3 with 1 abstention.