Soulbury unions submit ‘significant’ pay claim to Local Government Association

The recognised Soulbury trade unions have submitted its pay claim to the Local Government Association.

The Soulbury Committee is the collective bargaining forum for the negotiation of pay and conditions for local authority educational advisory staff and other specific professional staffs.

Prospect’s Education and Children’s Services Group represents the largest number of Soulbury professionals of the three unions that are on the committee.

Of the claim, a ‘significant’ consolidated pay increase on all pay points that will be effective from 1 September, Prospect national secretary Steve Thomas said:

“It reflects that our members have been performing critical roles during the pandemic and the feedback that we’ve had from our Soulbury survey about workloads, complexity and variety of work carried out by a highly professional group of staff.”

“We need an enduring and competitive offer so that we can continue to retain and attract professionals to work in crucial local authority education roles.”

He added that the Soulbury unions recognise the challenging environment facing schools and local authorities with the continuing effects of the pandemic.

However, ahead of the negotiations in the coming weeks, Thomas reminded the LGA that “the government cannot automatically impose a pay freeze on local government. Any settlement needs to come through negotiations with trade unions.”

Find out more about Prospect’s Soulbury survey here.