Council Leader demands Chancellor funds pay rise for council staff

Council Leader Richard Farnell

The Labour leader of Rochdale Council, Richard Farnell, has joined ninety Labour council leaders from across the UK to write to the Chancellor demanding that he fully funds a fair pay rise for council staff.

The letter calls for an end to the public sector pay cap, and demands that a guarantee from the Chancellor that he will fully fund the 2% pay offer made to council staff by the National Employers for Local Government Services this week. The letter notes that local government workers have suffered real terms pay reductions since 2010 that, combined with increases to the cost of living, mean they’ve lost the equivalent of £1 in every £5 they previously earned.

Councillor Farnell said: "Thousands of local people depend on the hard work of council staff – from care workers to parks attendants, and from social workers to street sweepers.

"I support the decision of the National Employers for Local Government to recognise the difficulties faced by many council workers in recent years, and to offer a 2% deal for each of the next two years.

“Local government has suffered the biggest cut of any part of the public sector so it is vital that the Chancellor uses next week’s Local Government Finance Settlement to fully fund the cost of this deal, and to start to reverse the appalling cuts planned to local government. The 2% pay rise will cost Rochdale Council an extra £2 million a year.

“I have joined Labour leaders from across the country to write to the Chancellor to demand that the pay cap is formally lifted, that he fully funds the offer that has been made, and that he urgently addresses the £5.8bn gap in funding councils face by 2020.”