Free Resources
2020 – 2021 pay negotiations
NJC for Local Government Services
24 August 2020
We heard on Friday 21 August that Unison members have voted 66% to accept the main NJC pay offer – for more information see https://www.unison.org.uk/news/press-release/2020/08/unison-local-government-staff-accept-new-pay-deal/). (GMB had already voted 66% to accept, and Unite voted 70% to reject). This matter is now settled.
Pay agreements below.
24 June 2020
A letter have been received by UNISON from the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government regarding Local Government pay.
3 June 2020
The NJC have today issued a circular setting out guidance for working over Christmas and New Year holidays as below:
Working Arrangements: Christmas & New Year 2020 / 21 Christmas Day and Boxing Day 2020 fall on a Friday and Saturday respectively. The Government has designated Monday 28 December as a public holiday with pay in substitution for Boxing Day. New Year’s Day falls on Friday 1 January 2021. This circular sets out the payments to be made to employees required to work over the Christmas period. Authorities are advised that payments, unless a local agreement is in place, should be made in accordance with Green Book Part 3 Para 2.6(b)&(d) as follows:
- Employees required to work on Friday 25 December should receive public holiday pay, plus time off with pay at a later date • Employees required to work on Sunday 27 December should receive Sunday rates of pay
- Employees required to work only one day of either Saturday 26 December or Monday 28 December should receive public holiday pay, plus time off with pay at a later date, for the one day on which they work
- Employees required to work on both Saturday 26 December and Monday 28 December should receive Saturday rates of pay for Saturday 26 December and public holiday pay for Monday 28 December, plus time off with pay at a later date
- Employees required to work onFriday 1 January 2021 should receive public holiday pay, plus time off with pay at a later date.
16 June 2020
National Joint Council for Local Government Services letter regarding the pay increases for Local Government.
12 June 2020
GMB has now confirmed that it will be consulting without a recommendation on whether the Employers’ final offer should be accepted or rejected. Its consultation will run to the end of July (as will UNISON’s, which is consulting on the same basis).
Unite’s consultation (with recommendation to reject) runs through to mid-August, so a conclusion to this year’s pay round is unlikely until end of August at the earliest (assuming all three unions are able to reach a joint position on whether to accept the offer).
12 June 2020
Unite’s national committee met earlier today and decided that it will be recommending to its members that the pay offer be rejected.
11 June 2020
Trade Union Side for Local Government Services letter.
The national NJC committee met to discuss the Employers’ pay offer following the LGA Executive board’s decision not to seek additional money from the government for pay for staff. After a long and considered discussion the committee agreed that negotiations were now over and there will be a move to begin consulting with members on the offer.
The current situation makes consulting with members more challenging so there will be a longer consultation period. On our provisional timetable the process is expected to be completed towards the end of July.
28 April 2020
Please find attached correspondence between the Chief Officer JNC unions and National Employers
24 April 2020
Please find attached correspondence between the Chief Officer JNC unions and National Employers
17 April 2020
Yesterday the National Employers made a final pay offer to the Trade Union Side for Local Government Services (Green Book) Craft (Red Book), CEX & Chief Officers.
The offer was rejected by the Unions. Here is LGA’s response to that rejection:
We are disappointed to have received the attached response from UNISON, GMB and Unite, just a little after two hours since making a final pay offer.
We shall consider the unions’ letter carefully before responding, but we are clear that the Employers’ offer is final; that the Employers’ decision to recommend that representations are made to government for an additional funded amount to be awarded to employees in recognition of their exceptional hard work, is for the senior political leadership of the LGA to consider, rather than the National Employers; and that the National Employers will not be bound by a two-week deadline set by the unions for any discussions to take place.
Harry Honnor
Senior Advisor (Workforce & Negotiations)
23 January 2020
An update on the Pay update 23 January 2020.
The next meeting of the Employers is scheduled for 5 February, it is likely this will be a one year pay deal (2020/21), and it is unlikely to be agreed in time to implement on 1 April.
We will keep you advised of developments.
21 January 2020
The National Employers met today. It has been agreed that lead members will meet with national union representatives at a meeting of the NJC Executive on 5 February 2020. A further update will follow that meeting.
15 November 2019
The NJC has issued a circular regarding the change to the Spring Bank Holiday in 2020 for the VE Day 75 celebrations.
5 November 2019
The National Employers met today and sent a letter to the NJC Trade Unions Side following the meeting. The National Employers have confirmed that they were not in a position to make an offer until the impact of the outcome of the General Election is known.
October 2019
The National Employers will be meeting on 5 November to receive and discuss the information collected from the regional pay briefings. An offer is unlikely to result from this meeting as this will be the first opportunity the National Employers will have to review and consider the feedback from councils. In addition the National Employers may decide to await the outcome of Brexit and a possible General Election. Brexit brings uncertainty around the economic landscape, while a General Election will impact how the National Employers future-proof the new 2019 pay spine points. The current Government has committed to a National Living Wage of £10.50 by 2024, applicable to all over 21’s. However, if we were to see a change of Government, Labour has committed to a £10 minimum wage for all workers over the age of 16 from 1 April 2020. Once an offer is made, negotiations are anticipated to be lengthy as there is likely to be a significant gap between the National Employers’ and Unions’ positions.
July 2019
At a meeting on 24 July 2019 the NJC Trade Unions lodged the 2020 pay claim with the National Employers. The claim is for:
- a 10% pay increase
- a one-day increase in annual leave
- a two-hour reduction in the working week
- a review of workplace stress and mental health
Councils will be consulted in the usual way through a series of regional pay briefings during September and October. The South East Regional Pay Briefing is on Wednesday 18 September at London Councils offices. In advance of our briefing, we are seeking input from all our councils to help the National Employers understand the picture in our region regarding pay.
May 2019
UNISON’s NJC Committee is consulting its branches on the proposal that the pay claim be for 10% or £10 per hour, whichever is the greater. For reference, the minimum NJC hourly rate with effect from 1 April 2019 is £9 per hour.
GMB and Unite are also consulting on what they would like to see included in the pay claim.
April 2019
In March, the LGA conducted a light-touch snapshot survey of councils regarding where they are with implementation of the new pay spine.
Headline summary as follows:
There were 238* responses, of which…
- On national pay, 198
- On local pay, 40, of which 3 have or will be returning to national pay
Has new pay spine been implemented in April so employees will receive new pay rates by May?
- Yes, 183
- No, 15
Delay agreed / discussed with TUs?
- Discussed and agreed, 3
- Discussed but not agreed, 9
- Neither discussed nor agreed, 3
Has new spine necessitated wider changes eg, grade restructure?
- Yes, 44
- No, 154
*London Councils conducted its own separate survey: Ready for implementation: 30 ‘yes’, 1 ‘no’ and 2 on local pay bargaining.
13 March 2019
The NJC issued a circular and an updated version of the Green Book.
1 March 2019
The NJC issued a circular regarding the review of the Job Evaluation Scheme.
For updates on the Term Time Only Review please see our dedicated page.
JNC for Chief Executives
24 August 2020
We heard on Friday 21 August evening that Unison members have voted 66% to accept the main NJC pay offer – for more information see https://www.unison.org.uk/news/press-release/2020/08/unison-local-government-staff-accept-new-pay-deal/). (GMB had already voted 66% to accept, and Unite voted 70% to reject). This matter is now settled.
Chief Executives and Chief Officers have also accepted their final offers of 2.75 per cent.
Pay agreements below.
17 April 2020
Yesterday the National Employers made a final pay offer to the Trade Union Side for Local Government Services (Green Book) Craft (Red Book), CEX & Chief Officers.
The offer was rejected by the Unions. Here is LGA’s response to that rejection:
We are disappointed to have received the attached response from UNISON, GMB and Unite, just a little after two hours since making a final pay offer.
We shall consider the unions’ letter carefully before responding, but we are clear that the Employers’ offer is final; that the Employers’ decision to recommend that representations are made to government for an additional funded amount to be awarded to employees in recognition of their exceptional hard work, is for the senior political leadership of the LGA to consider, rather than the National Employers; and that the National Employers will not be bound by a two-week deadline set by the unions for any discussions to take place.
Harry Honnor
Senior Advisor (Workforce & Negotiations)
November 2019
There is unlikely to be any movement on the pay negotiations for Chief Executives until after the negotiations for NJC for LGS (Green Book) have concluded.
12 September 2019
ALACE have submitted a pay claim on behalf of Chief Executives for 2020 and beyond. They are seeking a pay award that matches the NJC Local Government Services pay award this year and going forward.
JNC for Chief Officers
24 August
We heard on Friday 21 August that Unison members have voted 66% to accept the main NJC pay offer – for more information see https://www.unison.org.uk/news/press-release/2020/08/unison-local-government-staff-accept-new-pay-deal/). (GMB had already voted 66% to accept, and Unite voted 70% to reject). This matter is now settled.
Chief Executives and Chief Officers have also accepted their final offers of 2.75 per cent.
Pay agreements below.
17 April 2020
Yesterday the National Employers made a final pay offer to the Trade Union Side for Local Government Services (Green Book) Craft (Red Book), CEX & Chief Officers.
The offer was rejected by the Unions. Here is LGA’s response to that rejection:
We are disappointed to have received the attached response from UNISON, GMB and Unite, just a little after two hours since making a final pay offer.
We shall consider the unions’ letter carefully before responding, but we are clear that the Employers’ offer is final; that the Employers’ decision to recommend that representations are made to government for an additional funded amount to be awarded to employees in recognition of their exceptional hard work, is for the senior political leadership of the LGA to consider, rather than the National Employers; and that the National Employers will not be bound by a two-week deadline set by the unions for any discussions to take place.
Harry Honnor
Senior Advisor (Workforce & Negotiations)
January 2020
A JNC pay claim 2020/21 has been lodged by GMB and UNISON in respect of local authority Chief Officers. The National Employers will be meeting on Tuesday 21 January. It is expected they will defer responding to this claim (as they have already decided to do in respect of the Chief Executives’ and Craftworkers’ claims) until the main NJC negotiations have been settled.
November 2019
There is unlikely to be any movement towards reaching an agreement for Chief Officers until after the negotiations for the NJC for LGS (Green Book) have concluded.
Teachers - STPCD
School teachers’ pay and conditions document
The latest document can be found in our Education Resources section along with other useful documents and links.
Teachers’ pay rise funding
In the summer of 2018 the Government announced that it would fully fund the pay rise for all classroom teachers. It has since emerged that this will not apply to centrally employed teachers (CETs), the majority of which provide music tuition. Through a recent letter to the Secretary of State for Education, Damian Hinds, and through media work, the LGA are seeking assurances from the Government that it will meet the cost of the additional 1 to 2.5 per cent salary rise for CETs, estimated to be £5.5 million. The LGA and SEE have reiterated that the burden cannot fall on councils, given the existing financial pressures.
Update July 2019
Confirmation 2019 Pay Grant for the ongoing costs associated with the 2018 pay award for teachers.
Guidance issued 3 July https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teachers-pay-grant-methodology/teachers-pay-grant-methodology
Pension Funding
- ESFA will make payments covering September 2019 through to March 2020 to local authorities at the end of October 2019, and to academies in early November 2019.
- Supplementary Fund ……. We will announce details of the fund, including how to apply, in October.
- Local authority Centrally Employed Teachers …..More details of how local authorities will be able to apply will be provided in October.
- DfE is publishing more information in the autumn..
Teachers in Residential Establishments
A pay claim has not yet been received for 2020 – 2021.
November 2019
The National Employers’ and Teachers’ sides of the JNC for Teachers in Residential Establishments have reached agreement on a 2.75 per cent increase in allowances for teachers in residential establishments for 2019. More information can be found in JNCTRE Circular 214
JNC for Craft Workers
15 May 2020
Please find attached correspondence between the Trade Unions and National Employers
28 April 2020
Please find attached correspondence between the Chief Officer JNC unions and National Employers
24 April 2020
Please find attached correspondence between the Chief Officer JNC unions and National Employers
20 April 2020
The attached letter has been sent on behalf of the National Employers to the unions, in response to their letter to their LGA last week.
17 April 2020
Yesterday the National Employers made a final pay offer to the Trade Union Side for Local Government Services (Green Book) Craft (Red Book), CEX & Chief Officers.
The offer was rejected by the Unions. Here is LGA’s response to that rejection:
We are disappointed to have received the attached response from UNISON, GMB and Unite, just a little after two hours since making a final pay offer.
We shall consider the unions’ letter carefully before responding, but we are clear that the Employers’ offer is final; that the Employers’ decision to recommend that representations are made to government for an additional funded amount to be awarded to employees in recognition of their exceptional hard work, is for the senior political leadership of the LGA to consider, rather than the National Employers; and that the National Employers will not be bound by a two-week deadline set by the unions for any discussions to take place.
Harry Honnor
Senior Advisor (Workforce & Negotiations)
November 2019
There is unlikely to be any movement on the pay negotiations for Craft Workers until after the negotiations for NJC for LGS (Green Book) have concluded.
4 October 2019
The JNC Craftworker unions have lodged their pay claim for 2020/21. The claim is similar to the claim for NJC for Local Government Services and is for:
- A 10% pay rise for all Craft JNC employees (regardless of job title and designation) whose rate of pay is higher than the minimum salaries set out in the Craft JNC 2018-20 pay agreement circular (dated 10 April 2018), but is still contractually linked to the annual settlement reached by the Craft JNC.
- The uprating of the minimum rates for Craft workers employed directly on JNC grades, benchmarked against average Craft pay rates within local authorities, and industry level collective agreements.
- A one-day increase to all paid annual leave entitlement set out in the Red Book
- A two-hour reduction in the standard working week as set out in the Red Book
- A comprehensive joint national review of the workplace causes of stress and mental health throughout local authorities
- A significant increase in tool allowance and insurance payments
- Commitment to the continuation of the Red Book agreement
National Employers are due to meet on 5 November 2019 and will use this meeting to consider the claim and the next steps.
Soulbury Committee
A pay claim has not yet been received for 2020 – 2021.
JNC for Youth and Community Workers
A pay claim has not yet been received from the unions representing those covered by the Pink Book terms and conditions for youth and community workers.
Fire & Rescue Services
National Joint Council for Brigade Managers of Local Authority Fire and Rescue Services have released the results of the Pay Survey 2019.
Coroners
June 2018
Circular 64 sets out the constitution applying to the JNC for Coroners which has been updated in line with the 2018 national review of coroners’ pay.
November 2018
The LGA conducted a survey of coroners’ pay in August 2018, following the latest national agreement on coroners’ pay outlined in JNC circular 62 dated 8 January 2018. The report has been complied from the responses received.
30 November 2018
Agreement has been reached on a two year pay deal by the JNC for Coroners.
Police Staff
The National Employers for Police Staff have reached a pay agreement with the Trade Union Side for 2019:
- a 2.5 per cent increase on all pay points and on standby allowance
- an increase in the bottom pay point from £17,262 to £17,799
- a Police Staff Council Joint Circular 103 to promote the TUC ‘Dying to Work’ Charter.
Police Staff Council circulars can be found on the Police Staff Council page on the LGA website.
Other Pay Resources
SEE member organisations can find more information about different aspects of pay.
More information about these negotiations and the historical settlements.