Work has started on a review of the national pay scale used to determine salaries for most council employees in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, The MJ has learnt.
The unions' pay claim for 2026-27 submitted last year had warned the lower end of the National Joint Council pay spine was ‘now alarmingly close to the statutory National Minimum Wage and falls below the real Living Wage, which is independently calculated based on what people need to live'. It added this was ‘undermining the ability of councils to recruit and retain staff'.
