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The revelation that 42% of councils still haven't completed equal pay job reviews is truly shocking.

Amid the legal wrangling it is easy to forget that this is about raising the status of some of the most poorly paid women employed in local government to the same level as their male colleagues.

The mechanisms to make that happen are complex - as this week's 150-page ruling in the Redcar and Cleveland case illustrate - but this isn't an excuse for councils to drag their feet. Local government has known about this for a decade.

The fact that only one third hit the original review deadline of April 2007, and that so many have still to complete the task 16 months later shows how little priority it has been given. Unless they at last show some urgency it seems almost certain more costly court cases await them.

➔ See p5