Council faces £85m pay bill

Nearly seven out of 10 Staffordshire County Council staff are set to get wage rises next year in a pay shake-up costing £85 million. Employees who are getting increases will receive up to four years back pay under the reform.

The council's cabinet today agreed to a consultation period for single status proposals expected to be implemented in April next year. A previous £30.5 million scheme was thrown out in January after employees' protests. That would have seen 28 per cent of core staff lose pay.

Thirty six per cent would have got increases with only three years of back pay.

The new scheme, for 12,313 core staff, will see 68.1 per cent get a rise and 9.5 per cent lose pay. Those losing would get a three-year pay protection procedure.

Average loss in pay would be £1,300 a year from April 2011. Extra money will partly be found from borrowing to be paid back over seven-years.

Individual letters explaining the impact on staff go out on Tuesday. School support staff will get letters the same day but will not be told the impact on them until the new year because the council is still waiting for information from schools.

The leader of the Labour-controlled council, Councillor John Taylor, said: "When we took the original package to employees it was crystal clear that is would have to be changed."

He said it had been a process that every council had to go through.

Teachers are not included in the process.

A new pay structure, which will go back to cabinet for final approval on December 5, covers 27, 619 employees including part time and casual staff.

The non-teaching school staff will have the scheme implemented in September next year but backdated to April.

l The new scheme will put Staffordshire into the top 25 per cent of local government payers and it is hoped this will imporove the council's ability to retain staff and recruitment for difficult to fill posts including social workers.