Calls by unions for a minimum rate of £6.50 an hour for public sector workers, including home care staff, have been rejected by the Local Government Pay Commission.

In a report released this week, the commission says that despite the problems with attracting staff into some jobs at the bottom of the pay scale in certain parts of the country, "these were not pervasive enough to justify a general uprating of the minimum rate of pay".

The Local Government Pay Commission acknowledges that pay is a "significant" factor in recruiting and retaining social workers.

But it says that negative media coverage has contributed to a poor image, which is another important factor in recruitment problems.

It also highlights problems created by the closer working of social care and health professionals, saying that the deal laid out in the NHS's workforce strategy Agenda for Change has led to "discontent" among local government workers.

The lack of money available in social care compared with the NHS is "undermining the relative attractiveness of employment in local government," it explains.

The failure by representative bodies to develop career pathways is also criticised within the report, which adds that the national campaign to recruit social workers is welcome but has not addressed the more profound issue of a career ladder within the profession.

It recommends councils introduce or extend their own graduate development schemes to attract greater numbers of young professionals into local authorities.

Proposals for performance-related pay were rejected because of the problems inherent in measuring productivity in certain types of work such as social care work.

Instead the report suggests giving pay rises on the basis of progression in terms of skills, qualifications and competences.

Unions and employers, who have agreed that longer-term pay deals would be preferable to annual wage negotiations, will welcome the sympathy for this idea in the report, which says it would provide "some stability and predictability" for workers.

The commission was set up last year to look into pay and related issues following national strikes by public sector workers who received a 3 per cent pay rise instead of the 6 per cent they had requested, 

- Report of the Local Government Pay Commission is available from www.lgpay.org.uk