Pay deal agreed at Cafcass

Staff at the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service will finally receive their 2006-7 pay increase after management, led by chief executive Anthony Douglas, and unions agreed a deal.

Salaries at Cafcass will rise by 3 per cent, backdated to April 2006, which is above expectations given demands from chancellor Gordon Brown for public sector pay deals of no more than 2 per cent.

Unions Unison and Napo had claimed 5 per cent.

The government’s measure of inflation, the consumer price index, is running at 2.4 per cent, however the more comprehensive retail price index is 3.9 per cent, according to latest figures.

However, pay for most staff is likely to increase by more than 3 per cent this year due to incremental salary increases.