Loading ...The proposed 3.2% pay rise would put “additional pressure…on hard-pressed council finances”, but was “fair to employees”, according to the national employers for local government services, which negotiates terms and conditions on behalf of 350 authorities that employ about 1.5 million staff.
However, the offer falls well short of the claim for a £3,000 rise made by the three unions that negotiate on behalf of staff in the National Joint Council for Local Government Services (NJC): UNISON, the GMB and Unite.
A 3.2% pay rise would be worth about an additional £1,260 for a social worker employed outside of London on the bottom of pay point 13 (currently earning £39,419), less than half of what the unions are demanding.
Offer likely to mean real-terms freeze at best
The proposal is above the rate of inflation in the 12 months to March 2025 – 2.6% – according to the government’s preferred consumer prices index (CPI) measure.
However, not only is fiscal watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility projecting that CPI will rise to 3.2% later this year, but the proposed pay rise is below the broader CPIH measure of inflation, which also includes owner occupiers’ housing costs. This was 3.4% in the 12 months to March 2025.
As a result, there is a strong chance that the offer, if implemented, would entail, at best, a pay freeze for staff.
‘Additional pressure on hard-pressed finances’
Defending the proposal, the chair of the national employers, James Lewis, said: “The national employers are acutely aware of the additional pressure this year’s offer will place on already hard-pressed council finances, as it would need to be paid for from existing budgets. However, they believe their offer is fair to employees, given the wider economic backdrop.”
The proposed rise is marginally above that offered by Scottish council employers’ body COSLA, which has tabled a 3% increase. In response to that, union members have signalled their willingness to take strike action in pursuit of a better offer.
The pay offer for council staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, which will cost employers just under £800m, is also slightly higher than the 2.8% increase in pay that the government has budgeted for in relation to much of the rest of the public sector, including the NHS.
Recent history of pay settlements
It is almost certain that the unions will reject the offer from council employers, either upfront or following a consultative ballot of members.
Following that, it would be reasonably likely that ballots for industrial action would follow.
However, in each of the past two years, unions have settled for employers’ initial pay offer – £1,290 or 2.5% in 2024-25 and £1,925 in 2025-26 – after several months of dispute that have involved balloting for strike action.
Why proposed offer is ‘full and final’
In a letter to union leaders, employers’ secretary Naomi Cooke said that council leaders had labelled their offer “full and final”, as they had done in previous years, “to provide certainty from the outset to yourselves, your members, the wider workforce and local employers that their offer, set out below, is the maximum they are able to make”.
Cooke added that the national employers had also rejected all other elements of the unions’ claims, including increasing annual leave entitlement from a minimum of 23 to 24 days, reducing the working week from 37 to 35 hours (or from 36 to 34 in London) and phasing in a £15 an hour minimum wage by 2027.
The current minimum is £12.26 per hour, and Cooke said that introducing a £15 baseline would “prohibitively expensive for councils at any time, not least during the current difficult financial circumstances”.
Prospect of multi-year pay deals
She called on UNISON, the GMB and Unite to work towards a prompt settlement to allow employers and unions to work on reviewing the current pay spine, something that would also be helped by a move towards multi-year pay deals in future.
Cooke said this could be possible due to the government’s plan to provide councils with a multi-year funding settlement for 2026-27 onwards when it delivers the results of its current spending review in June.
She said that council leaders were hoping to be given a three-year settlement for England – decisions in Wales and Northern Ireland will be for the devolved administrations.
“Multi-year pay offers/deals would by necessity require meaningful negotiations and once agreed, would allow the breathing space we need to concentrate our joint efforts on reviewing the pay spine and preparing for the transition of significant numbers of NJC staff into the two new national negotiating bodies being established by the government,” she told union leaders.
Adult social care negotiating body
Under its Employment Rights Bill, the government plans to set up bodies to negotiate pay for adult social care staff and school support workers, respectively, in England.
The adult social care body would have to have representation from unions representing care staff and sector employers, though may have other members, while the government would determine how it would operate and reach decisions.
Where there were agreement from ministers, the body’s proposals for staff pay and conditions would be imposed on the adult social care sector in England.
The union response
In response to the offer, GMB national officer Kevin Brandstatter said: “Local government workers across the UK deserve a proper pay rise after years of real terms wage cuts.
“GMB will now meet with members to discuss next steps.”
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This is ridiculous! Minimum increase should have been at least £2000.
It should be . But it’s unrealistic to expect that.
Let’s get this money in our payslips next month and hope there will be no job losses by holding out for more .
How do I work out how much this means to me? Is it just ‘my wage x 0.032 or is there a more complicated process?
If your wage was for example 37000
1% of that is 370
3.2% is 1184
So the increased amount is 38184
It would be your wage times 1.032. That wpuld give you your annual. You can then use the amount in a salary calculator to work out monthly take home, taxes etc.
I think this is a decent offer, to be honest. However, I have no doubt it will be delayed by people with unrealistic expectations of some kind of well over and above offer of 10%. The usual lines will be rehearsed about the money being there, social workers being worth more , the need for stronger union participation. My advice : get real and let’s avoid the same situation as EVERY year (you all know what it is and how this goes). Look around at the economic situation and take a good offer when you see it.
100% agree
I appreciate it’s an unrealistic expectation to be offered more than inflation given that lots of councils are already going bankrupt. People in these roles need money and rest, so salary and additional leave is the only impactive way of retaining and rewarding so there is scope to consider the other asks, with more emerging research evidencing reduced hour weeks as more productive. I do however wish councils would apply the same logic of being on their knees and not able to offer more when making decisions about increasing council tax and parking charges to the maximum they can.
Totally agree, just hurry up and get it in our pay packets. Unions always make a mess of it deliberately I think.
Yes I think the unions really need to call LA’s to account for their pay and regrading some years ago. Resulting in our LA cynically not following the njc bands.
Instead we get this pointless messing around til late autumn
I’m a single dad of two trying to work full time too (including during separation and energy crisis when pay rise was being ‘negotiated’. It would work out that over the last few years I’ve had a 4.87% increase, then a 3.11% and this year a 3.2% – having also worked for 10 years in the LA, and earned a lot in private sector in a similar role. The increase seems very reasonable balancing budgets, service demands and longer term benefit (pension). Lower levels have had much higher percentage increases, but this year will be a painful drop to what they’ve had for two years. I could really do without delays this year; and hope union members agreed, however I fear too many are at a lower income level and will now be angered by the drop this year. So think we are in for another long drawn out process…. Christmas ‘bonus’ again this year?
It was reported that pay rise had been accepted on 17th April by all parties all unions and LGA why was this reported and put online that’s what I would like to know?
For most; that’s 3 x fixed increased, £1,925, £1,925, £1,290 and whatever 3.2% is for you this year. That’s not bad when you think about it. It’s naïve to demand all cost of living increases be covered by an employer. That doesn’t happen anywhere. I would be happier if this had been an offer of say 3.2% each year for 2 years, so that we know next year will be on time for once!
Andrew I was reading earlier on the njc site, they are saying exactly that. That they are going to change the system so we can go back to multi settlement years once this year’s is sorted out.
Just reading that too. There’s an awful lot of work ahead with the pay spine review and splitting of the negotiating bodies. A drawn out process will have implications to that timeline too. https://www.local.gov.uk/our-support/workforce-and-hr-support/local-government-services/pay-offer-njc-green-book-employees
Personally (selfishly as mortgage due now and so are my increased billed!) I really hope they get this current offer implemented and focus on a multi-year negotiation- that is where I think all 3 unions will prove their weight but need to time to do that.
My bills go up in April not December, get the pay rise in our pay asap. By the way I’m on the bottom pay point. People expecting £3000 a year don’t live in the real world.
3.2% is disappointing many local authorities workers cannot afford to strike. So please let’s get in our pay packets as soon possible not having to wait until Christmas so councils can pocket all the interest from the 8 months it takes to get paid.
Just get this accepted quickly and avoid paying extra tax when they payback in a lump sum please
Last year was an average of 2.5% (those lower incomes got more due to the fixed rise); but the average increase to wage bill was 2.5%. The offer this year is actually an overall improved offer by the NJC vs 2024/25; at 3.2%; but the way that is distributed is everyone has 3.2%; not some get less and some get more thus averaging to 2.5% like last year.
Most councils have not budgeted for an average this high, so even 3.2% increase to wage bill (plus employer NI increases); will be a further stretch to funding in the short term with no increase from central government.
None you, us, me is/are prepared to put in a bit of commitment and graft to take on our employers so please no special pleading and blaming of unions for what the final settlement is. That would be a bit hypocritical and self indulgent. Sit on bum get none as my gran used to say.
as always the unions will flex their muscles, ballot for strike action which will take 5 months as waiting for all 3 unions to get their acts together, then they wont strike and will accept the pay in October.. then take another 5 months to submit next years pay offer which again will be delivered late ( which will be the exact same demands again as this year and last year, so not sure why it always takes so long to present it ) , i thought pay rises were suppose to be for 1st April ? already a month late now, unions get your act together and just accept now – then start proper negotiations for next year, all this waiting around every year is boring and hitting the lowest earners, the offer wont increase, just look at the last 2 years !!!
Unions don’t strike members of unions strike of course. But then that’s in the normal universe not the unique world of social worker exceptionalism where it’s always others that should, must, but never the hard pressed and forever victimised social workers themselves. Well done always blaming unions, local authorities, the Government, the baker and the candle maker and whoever else massages the ego but never ever take personal responsibility. Well done. W
” proper negotiations for next year” . You mean rinse and repeat. What is the point ? The government don’t care about negotiating because if they choose not to then we just accept whatever they give?
3.2 % is a decent enough offer coming on the back of last few years rises have been pretty fair..this needs agreement and implementing asap..lets not have another year of bluster to then accept off come october.
A decent offer? So less than 15 quid a week net…..Have you forgotten council tax up 5 percent, most bills rising above inflation….this is a pathetic offer and actually worse than when the Tories were in power. At best a pay freeze! What happened to getting money into peoples pockets eh Labour?
And you lot are pathetic for rolling over and accepting it…I guess you are not interested in fairness or pay restoration? Just as long as MP’s are getting 3 grand extra a year and CEO’S raking it in….Jesus you lot can’t be helped!
So, the doctors got an uplift on junior rates at 22 per cent over two years, and we are discussing a paltry 3 per cent. Which is negative, if the CPI and Inflation figures are used in conjunction to utility bills increases.
Can the NHS CEO and ADSS peg their salaries at 3 per cent?
Junior doctors had a well recognised pay issue dating back a long time. The scenario of everyone wanting the same as everyone is not equitable. Pay rises shouldn’t be everyone going in for as much as they can possibly get then calling it fair. The public will rightly look at that and call it greed. Many of us also have good pensions , good leave, many LAs offer sw retention payments , flexible working or generous well being days. I am not saying all LAs do but many do. Certainly in London in children’s services there is a competitive market re terms and conditions. I think this endless narrative that SW is the worse profession is just ridiculous.
In danger of being thrown out of the woe is me grievance club for this heresy MS. It is a truth universally known that all social workers at all times are burdened, overworked, disliked, disparage, vilified, under appreciated, under paid and held hostage by employers because of their selfless dedication, personal sacrifices and going over and more than above their already onerous workloads. Very often to the detriment of their own health and well being. It really is unusual and cruel punishment that no social worker even has time for a dubiously sourced indentured labourer picked coffee or an overpriced camomile tea let alone get some actual sleep. Permanently stressed and sleep deprived is the social workers lot. I say recant MS. Or as is more likely continue to do the job with a perspective thst puts all of the challenges we face into a proper world view context. We don’t have to meekly accept our lot but we have zero reason to believe we have the badest of the bad lots.
I am a social worker. This doesn’t ring true. Sorry not to endorse your narrative. You can’t say all social workers at all times. I work in child protection and have done for years. I know many friends and colleagues who wouldn’t agree with that either. I am not saying it’s not a tough job but so are many many jobs done by all sections of the public. If you don’t even sleep it sounds like your employer really needs to have some focus on staff welfare it seems.
Every year the unions hold out, we need the payment now not 6 months down the line, just to keep Union representatives claiming expenses going to meetings. Take the offer, we are not getting anymore, never do
MPs have no qualm giving themselves big pay rises. 3% of £90k is better than 3% of social workers pay. And mps self employed, pay less tax, get freebies as well.
If social workers only think about their unions once a year when the pay negotiations are happening employers know we’ll in advance that apathy will be the order of the day. So don’t blame anyone else for treating social workers as door mats because that’s what social workers have become. It really isn’t complicated is it?
Do you think the government just laughs every year when Unison tell them them their request. I mean they know other industries have fight in them but local government staff are never going to strike or do anything but moan about injustice.
The people who are saying they are dissapointed but we should just accept it. Why bother paying your hard earned cash to even be in a union?
The ones who are saying let’s accept because they have bills to pay. It isn’t all about you you know. Realise until we all get together and say enough is enough they will keep laughing at us. They can throw the money at industries that are actually going to fight the fight and actually cause a bit of disruption. Junior doctors, teachers, train drivers all got results. The proof is in the pudding. Either learn or be prepared for dissapointment year after year
Exactly, whoever stroke all got their better offers, doctors, teachers, train drivers etc.
I dont get it why are local authority staff never put in enough vote to strike?
The NJC employers treat LA staff as a joke, because of what you can read in this comment session, everyone asking to accept the offer.
Council tax gone up 5%, tax allowance stays frozen till 2028. Do we all still remember how much cheaper groceries and rent were 3 years ago? Why settle with pay cuts guys??
For me personally it’s not about the pay increase, it’s the working conditions and the impact it is having on our citizens. I’m not currently doing the job I have delicately trained and signed up for.
I’ve never been one for strikes or union actions, but social care has been on it’s knees for many years and because we just “get on with it”, the government never believes we are in crisis. The gov needs to hear this
So I will be voting to take union action
Local Authorities have a well recognised pay issue – our pay was frozen for many years under the coalition government and has never caught up.
Between the start of 2010 and the end of 2024, the cost of living, as measured by the Retail Prices Index, rose by 57.6%. Over the same period, NJC pay rose by 21.2%
3.2% is an insult to all the incredible hard work we do and not least, the added stress and pressure the cost of living brings- we deserve more. I appreciate 10% would be unrealistic, but 3.2% is insulting. Agreed that we go through the same process year on year, waiting for resolution and then eventual back pay which is incredibly frustrating. There needs to a focus on staff retention as well.
Let hold out for more, then settle for the original offer at the employer can save a huge amount of money in interest while we struggle to pat our bills.
NOT MY UNION.
maybe vote strike this year and fight for a better offer? Unions can’t do anything if there is not enough quorum! Teachers had their strike, junior doctors had their strike, train driver had their strike. Look they all got better offer after strike…
Most people can’t afford to strike, you moan about pay and then spend weeks striking whilst not getting paid. Yes our pay is below what we all deserve but the people I work for which is those who need us (I work in adult social care) would be worse off if I went on strike. So many councils are in such a precarious position with a lot having to declare bankruptcy. Get off your high horses and come into the real world for just a moment.
So for most of us it’s at best at devaluation of our jobs or as will happen over the year a pay cut. They have just put up national minimum wage by 77p and hour. 2000 hour year make that a £1590 p/a pay rise. That is the minimum we need just to stop our jobs being devalued let alone inflation and the years of effective pay cuts. Won’t be long before skilled workers will be on minimum wage. We need to wake up and take action.
Unite has recommended to reject this offer. They will be shortly balloting members on this issue and I for one wil also reject what is at best a pay freeze! I urge you all to do the same…
It’s the full and final that gets me. What is the point. They never consider the holidays or working hours. Not to mention this is not a negotiate. And as for the pay band at the bottom the name is more than the offer anyway. And as for them getting rid of band 1. I understand a couple of councils have moved up all their staff but the majority of us. Did not. So won’t be long that I will be on min wage as a mid bad staff member.
I agree with a lot of the points on here. Since the 2008 crash we have suffered poor pay rises. Inflation shows no signs of going down despite the odd hopeful story in the press attempting to shift the narrative. Since the start of the new year everything I buy in the supermarket seems to have increased in price (again) along with Council Tax with some areas seeing double digit rises. As vocal as Unite are (and they are a good union), the major players here are GMB and Unison. We have seen over the last few years, the members of those unions do not want to strike and I do not blame them. The only successful strikes are where people can see/feel the impact (teachers are a good example, they strike people have to take time off work). Even then, they can drag on for weeks (look at the Birmingham bin strikes). I doubt many of us can afford weeks without pay. And let’s be honest, all that will happen is we will all work extra hours to catch up! I doubt many of us would leave someone at risk or not prepare for court based on the fact we were on strike. Is this all we deserve? No! But is it a terrible offer? No it isn’t. There is the recognition in that offer for the second year running that something structurally has to be done to address local government pay which is a positive. I will be voting to accept the proposed pay rise to get it done and in our pockets. I think we need to remove the rolling excuse that they didn’t have time to make structural changes to pay because the previous years negotiations dragged into November. As colleagues have said, local authorities everywhere are on the path to bankruptcy (many have already of course and some multiple times). We are not in a position to negotiate at this point due to the way local authorities are funded. Yes health colleagues have seen much bigger rises but now look what’s happening to health. Major cuts to all strategic and policy areas. I say we accept and save the fight for when we actually stand a chance of winning.