Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
Strike action is looming over local government pay in Scotland after union members declared their readiness to walk out over employers’ 3% pay offer for 2025-26.

Consultative ballots by UNISON and the GMB revealed that over 90% of participants would back strike action if employers’ body COSLA did not improve the offer, which was made in February and immediately rejected by union leaders.

Member of the third local government union – Unite – also rejected the pay offer in a consultative ballot.

The offer  is just above the rate of inflation in February (2.8%) according to the government’s preferred consumer prices index (CPI) measure.

However, it is below the broader CPIH rate (3.7%), which also includes owner occupiers’ housing costs, while the Bank of England predicted  in February that the CPI rate would rise to 3.7% over the coming months before falling during the rest of the year.

That projection is clouded in uncertainty due to doubts over the impact of US president Donald Trump’s tariffs on the global economy.

Offer is less than half of unions’ claim

The unions had lodged a claim for 6.5%, which they said was designed to tackle “severe erosion of pay” in local government in Scotland over many years.

For UNISON – 92% of whose voting members backed taking strike action in the consultative ballot – local government committee chair Colette Hunter said: “The last thing anyone wants to do is take strike action.

“But local government workers deserve a fair increase to stop their pay lagging behind inflation and other sectors of the economy.

Celebrate those who’ve inspired you

Photo by Daniel Laflor/peopleimages.com/ AdobeStock

Do you have a colleague, mentor, or social work figure you can’t help but gush about?

Our My Brilliant Colleague series invites you to celebrate anyone within social work who has inspired you – whether current or former colleagues, managers, students, lecturers, mentors or prominent past or present sector figures whom you have admired from afar.

Nominate your colleague or social work inspiration by filling in our nominations form with a few paragraphs (100-250 words) explaining how and why the person has inspired you.

*Please note that, despite the need to provide your name and role, you or the nominee can be anonymous in the published entry*

If you have any questions, email our community journalist, Anastasia Koutsounia, at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com

Union members’ vote ‘should be wake-up call’ for employers

“This result should be a wake-up call for COSLA. It needs to reward council workers fairly for the essential services they provide and start to reverse years of pay cuts.”

The GMB said 96% of voting members backed a walkout were COSLA’s offer not improved.

“The offer is clearly unacceptable and nowhere close to matching the commitment of council workers, adding pennies to the hourly rate paid to the lowest-paid staff,” said Keir Greenaway, the union’s senior organiser in the public sector.

Both unions warned that a formal ballot for industrial action would follow without improvements in COSLA’s offer.

COSLA warns of ‘damaging strikes in pursuit of unsustainable pay’

However, in response, a COSLA spokesperson said: “Our current offer, which was made before the settlement date, and remains on the table, fully utilises the available funding and represents a balance between making an offer aligned with the current CPI rate of inflation and protecting services and jobs.

“We must be clear that the current offer is not without challenges for councils struggling to balance budgets.

“We implore our unions to properly consult their members on pay offers rather than immediately seeking to escalate to damaging industrial action in pursuit of unsustainable levels of pay that would result in cuts to services and higher taxes.”

In late January, unions lodged a claim for a £3,000 pay rise for local government and school support staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for 2025-26.

UNISON, the GMB and Unite said council workers were “overdue” a significant pay rise, having previously “missed out on the higher wage settlements” awarded to other public sector staff, such as NHS workers.

‘We deserve compensation’

But what do social workers think of the 2025-26 pay claim?

Out of 1,839 respondents in a Community Care poll, the majority (63%) said the pay rise was “the least” they deserved “to compensate for years of pay cuts”.

Of the rest, 18% believed it was “a recipe for protracted pay talks that would achieve very little”, a reference to the experience of the last two years when unions have settled for employers’ initial offer after several months of negotiations.

Meanwhile, 19% said the £3,000 claim would be “good in an ideal world”, but was “unrealistic”.

Discussions in the article’s comment section revealed divided opinions: some doubted unions’ ability to deliver, while others argued it was up to members to take action to achieve a decent increase.

‘Having three unions is counter-productive’

One reader said it was “counterproductive” for staff to be represented by three separate unions.

“They can’t agree, and by the time they ballot people, half the year has passed,” they said.

“I have voted to strike every single time, but the process drags on so long that it plays into the hands of the employer.”

Glen echoed this view, calling for a union specifically for children’s and adults’ services.

“The three public sector unions are too big with too many members from disparate roles and services,” he said. “Until there is a union dealing solely with adults’ and children’s services, nothing can or will change.”

‘Ineffective pay negotiations’

Others criticised unions’ negotiating processes.

“As usual, pointless ballots will be sent out at significant cost to the members and all for the initial offer to be accepted,” said Simone Davis.

“Meanwhile, the value of the pay rise [will be] reduced in value in the several months since it was offered due to inflation.”

Another practitioner, James, attributed this to a lack of strategy and leadership in managing negotiations.

“The unions serve a general purpose and that’s not to be entirely dismissed but anyone arguing that their pay negotiations are effective is living on another planet,” added Johnny Ross.

He added it would be another year in which the unions accepted employers’ initial offer “without negotiating any changes at all”.

‘Social workers don’t use their vote’

Photo: New Africa/Adobe Stock

However, a number of social workers argued that union strength depended on active members.

“The unions are only as good as [their] members and if we don’t vote for strike action then their hands are tied and they have less power to negotiate,” said Cath Howard.

“We would have even worse conditions and pay if not for the unions. They play an important role – don’t underestimate that.”

Jason said that while social workers are dedicated to their roles, they aren’t very active as union members.

“We don’t use our vote, ignore the ballot, then get [angry] that what we think we are entitled to and deserve isn’t given to us. We then blame the union, our employers, and the government rather than take responsibility for the outcome. This is just a fact. It may be uncomfortable, but it is.”

Abdul added: “Change can start with social workers owning their part rather than blaming [the union]. I’d warrant in any given team 95% don’t know who their shop steward is and 99% have never attended a union meeting.”

‘Give unions a strong mandate’

Sam argued that members who were not active and non-members had lost “the privilege” to comment on this year’s pay claim.

“If social workers can’t be bothered to vote on the ballot then of course union negotiators are going to be hamstrung. Give them a strong mandate and if they fail on that, then legitimately criticise them,” he added.

“Moaning from the sidelines is the disease that is rotting social work and not just on this issue.”

Alison Johnson, who some years ago went on a strike for pay, said she was discouraged by the low turnout.

“Most of my team […] did not want to lose a day’s pay. It was frustrating but, as a result, I would be reluctant to take action again, because there is no collective will for it. There is now a minority in my team even in a union.”

Councils unable to meet pay demands

One practitioner, Doris, said councils wouldn’t be able to meet pay demands, so she would accept whichever offer was put forward.

“A decent pay rise that we all deserve would bankrupt most, if not all, councils. Because of this, we are in a terrible negotiating position. 

“The general public isn’t really that bothered if we go on strike. Maybe refuse collection but certainly not social work. [We aren’t] visible. Because of this, I will be voting to accept the first offer put forward at the first opportunity.”

What are your thoughts on the 2025-26 pay negotiations?

Celebrate those who’ve inspired you

Photo by Daniel Laflor/peopleimages.com/ AdobeStock

Do you have a colleague, mentor, or social work figure you can’t help but gush about?

Our My Brilliant Colleague series invites you to celebrate anyone within social work who has inspired you – whether current or former colleagues, managers, students, lecturers, mentors or prominent past or present sector figures whom you have admired from afar.

Nominate your colleague or social work inspiration by filling in our nominations form with a few paragraphs (100-250 words) explaining how and why the person has inspired you.

*Please note that, despite the need to provide your name and role, you or the nominee can be anonymous in the published entry*

If you have any questions, email our community journalist, Anastasia Koutsounia, at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com

Average pay for social workers in council adults’ services in England fell by 5.3% from 2016-24, official data shows.

As of September 2024, the (mean) average salary for practitioners was £43,000, up 2% on the level 12 months earlier after taking account of inflation, said Skills for Care’s annual report on the local authority workforce.

In cash terms, practitioners were earning about £9,000 more on average, in 2024, compared with 2016, when the figure was £34,200.

However, once inflation is taken into account, the value of social workers’ pay has fallen by £2,500 over that time.

Skills for Care’s figures show that real-terms pay was relatively static from 2016-21 and then fell dramatically from 2021-22 on the back of the sharp and sustained rise in inflation following the economic recovery from Covid and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.  Since then, only some of the lost ground in real-terms pay has been recovered.

The figures capture the impact of promotions, pay progression and the annual rise in salaries to take account of the cost of living.

This year’s pay claim

For most councils in England, the latter is determined through the National Joint Council for Local Government Services, which is made up of representatives from employers and the three main unions, UNISON, the GMB and Unite.

The unions have put in a bid for a £3,000 increase in pay in 2025-26, alongside a boost to annual leave and a cut in the working week. They have argued that such a rise is “overdue” due to many years of pay settlements they have deemed inadequate.

Employers are yet to make an offer to staff. However, this will likely be far below the unions’ claim, in the context of the significant pressures facing councils in 2025-26, including those arising from the government’s increase in national insurance contributions for employers.

Celebrate those who’ve inspired you

Photo by Daniel Laflor/peopleimages.com/ AdobeStock

Do you have a colleague, mentor, or social work figure you can’t help but gush about?

Our My Brilliant Colleague series invites you to celebrate anyone within social work who has inspired you – whether current or former colleagues, managers, students, lecturers, mentors or prominent past or present sector figures whom you have admired from afar.

Nominate your colleague or social work inspiration by filling in our nominations form with a few paragraphs (100-250 words) explaining how and why the person has inspired you.

*Please note that, despite the need to provide your name and role, you or the nominee can be anonymous in the published entry*

If you have any questions, email our community journalist, Anastasia Koutsounia, at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
Unions have lodged their pay claim for local government and school support staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for 2025-26.

UNISON, the GMB and Unite have called for a £3,000 rise for all staff, on the grounds that council workers are “overdue” a significant increase in salary, having “missed out” on more generous settlements given to other public sector workers last year.

In 2024-25, council staff were given an increase of £1,290 or 2.5%, whichever was higher, with slightly higher amounts given to those working in the capital to cover London weighting.

Less generous pay deal for council staff

This was worth 3-4% for most social workers, significantly less than the 5.5% received by their counterparts in the NHS and also below the 4.43% settlement for practitioners working for Cafcass.

Besides the headline increase, the unions’ claim also includes establishing a £15 an hour minimum wage for the sector, compared with £12.26 currently, increasing annual leave by one day and cutting the working week by two hours.

“Services provided by council and school workers are vital for communities to thrive,” said UNISON’s head of local government, Mike Short. “But wages have remained low, and without decent pay, staff feel undervalued and are looking for better-paid work elsewhere. A proper pay offer is essential.”

‘Low pay, cuts and workload increases’

GMB national officer Sharon Wilde said its members were experiencing “low pay, funding cuts and increasing workloads”, while Unite counterpart Clare Keogh said local government employers needed to “recognise that there is growing anger among workers, especially the lowest paid, about the way they are treated year after year”.

Pay negotiations are conducted through the National Joint Council for Local Government Services, which includes representation from the unions and employers, and whose decisions cover most, but not all councils, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Employer leaders will consult councils will on the unions’ 2025 pay claims at online regional pay briefings during February and March, the Local Government Association (LGA) has said.

Offer likely to be far below claim

Employers will then make an offer to staff. This will likely be far below the unions’ claim, in the context of the significant pressures facing councils in 2025-26, including those arising from the government’s increase in national insurance contributions for employers.

Meanwhile, the government has budgeted for pay increases of 2.8% across the NHS and other parts of the public sector, with these now being considered by independent pay review bodies.

Unions have lodged their claims for an increase in pay for local government staff in Scotland this year.

UNISON has called for a 6.5% rise in 2025-26, while the GMB and Unite have jointly urged an increase of £1 per hour, or 6.5%, whichever is greater, along with more annual leave for staff.

The proposed rises are comfortably above the rate of inflation, which was 2.5% in the year to December 2024, according to the government’s preferred consumer prices index (CPI) measure (source: Office for National Statistics). The CPIH measure, which, unlike CPI, includes the housing costs of owner occupiers, was 3.5% as of last month.

‘Severe erosion of pay’

However, UNISON said an above-inflation deal was necessary to address “the severe erosion of pay” in local government in Scotland in recent years and ensure staff were fairly compensated.

It also said this year’s pay settlement needed to address “growing recruitment and retention problems across councils”, claiming that staff were “increasingly compelled to leave, and vacancies [were] becoming harder to fill” because of the “declining value of pay”.

Council pay in Scotland is negotiated through the Scottish Joint Council for Local Government Employees (SJC), which comprises representatives from the three unions, the 32 councils and employers’ body COSLA.

2024-25 pay rise

In 2024-25, staff were given a rise of 3.6% or 67p per hour – whichever was higher – after COSLA increased its initial offer with the help of a cash injection from the Scottish Government. This was above the CPI inflation rate (2.3%) at the time of the settlement.

Though the deal was accepted by Unite and the GMB – enabling COSLA to implement it – it was initially rejected by UNISON, which took strike action in schools in protest, before finally agreeing to the settlement.

Unite and GMB said their priority for the deal was moving towards the objective – shared by COSLA – of achieving a £15 an hour minimum wage in Scottish local government, up from the current £12.56. That explains why it included a flat-rate element to its claim – the proposed rise of £1 an hour – which would benefit the lowest paid.

Scottish Government budget settlement

According to the Scottish Government, annual revenue funding for local authorities in Scotland is due to rise by about £1bn, to £15bn, in 2025-26. Of this, £289m of the increase being available to authorities to spend on meeting local needs, and the rest committed to particular services or schemes.

COSLA said the budget was “step in the right direction” but warned that it “may not be enough to reverse planned cuts to vital services”.

In relation to pay, COSLA said that a 1% increase in pay would cost councils £125m in 2025-26, with a 3% rise – less than half of what the unions are claiming – wiping out the £289m in increased resource.

Social work and social care staff shortages

It also said the budget did not “provide sufficient funding to improve social care and social work capacity”, and enable councils and providers to “attract and retain a skilled and supported workforce”.

This was in the context of 97% of authorities having reported social care staffing shortages and 90% social worker shortages in a 2023 survey carried out by the Society of Personnel and Development Scotland and council leadership body Solace.

COSLA told Community Care that the SJC would meet later in January and in February to discuss the unions’ pay claims and councils’ budgetary position. Over the same period, Scottish council leaders would meet to agree their negotiating position.

“We have still to receive pay claims from some of our unions within our chief officials and teaching negotiation groups. In addition, at this time of year, council budgets are still being worked on and finalised,” a COSLA spokesperson added.

Social workers are most likely to hold the government responsible for the 2024-25 pay settlement, a Community Care poll has found.

This year’s local government pay deal was finalised in October, after UNISON failed to secure a sufficient mandate to take industrial action.

Backdated to April, the pay rise will give council staff outside London either £1,290 or 2.5%, whichever is higher, with slightly higher amounts for London-based staff.

The settlement is worth 3-4% for social workers and stands above the current rate of inflation in the UK, which has ranged between 1.7% and 2.3% since April.

However, this is lower than the deal received by many other public sector workers, including NHS social workers.

The government most responsible for pay deal

In previous years, some social workers have expressed disappointment towards unions for what they saw as uncoordinated and strung-out negotiations with unfavourable results. 

In 2023, there was an eight-month dispute before employers’ original pay offer, worth 4-6% for social workers, was accepted.

However, this year, the government was most likely to be viewed as responsible for the outcome of pay negotiations, being selected by 41% of respondents to our poll, which received 1,200 votes.

Next in line were individual staff “for not fighting hard enough” (23%), while 19% blamed union leaders for the pay deal and 9% pointed the finger at employers.

Memberships at risk of cancellation

Still, many practitioners in the comments were contemplating leaving their unions, with some saying that they did not receive their strike ballot papers.

“I am considering cancelling, I have NOT been sent ballot papers! I also don’t understand why the pay negotiations take so long,” said Nan.

“We were not given the opportunity to vote for better pay. [My union] needs to up its game to support its members [and] act in a timely manner!”

Another practitioner said they had to call their union twice to receive their ballot.

Mr D Das also attested that three of his colleagues had not received a ballot either.

“To be fair, they wanted a pay rise but were apathetic [about] contacting their union to get a ballot paper,” he added. “Another colleague didn’t receive a ballot paper, but felt strongly enough to [ask for] one from his union.”

David said he had just cancelled his membership with his union after 20 years because of the pay deal.

“I just fail to see what benefit they provide now and £270 is a lot of money for no real representation. Nationally, they’re not nearly visible enough for local government workers, and years of inadequate pay rises are a consequence.”

Phil Dolbear echoed this: “It’s the same every year. I’ve cancelled my union subscription. There’s no point in paying a monthly fee to a toothless organisation that can’t protect its members or negotiate a fair and realistic deal.”

‘Ballot arrangements should be made sooner’

Kye admitted feeling “failed by the unions”, adding that strike ballots should have been carried out sooner so families didn’t have to struggle to make ends meet before the Christmas period. 

“UNISON, GMB and Unite should be asking for the 2025-26 pay offer months before it is due to be implemented in April.”

Geoff Wode also asked for members to be balloted in April, rather than “when winter and Christmas is coming and the money is seven months overdue”.

“It seems too convenient that for the past three years [that] pay deals are accepted just before Christmas, when people are unlikely to vote for strike action and associate having a backdated payment in their November pay as a positive,” added Chris.

Geoff argued that being represented by three different unions diluted their power.

“The unions split into three doesn’t help clearly,” he said. “[They] don’t work together and their communication with their members is terrible.”

‘It is on members, not unions’

Others, however, believed the unions are only as strong as their members.

“How can people blame the unions? They need the members to agree to “strike” before they can take further action, we do nothing about it and expect change,” said one practitioner. 

Lin Newton blamed unions being “weak” to their members’ inactivity.

“Leaving [makes] you even more vulnerable to exploitation,” she added.

Samantha Davies also criticised those who “moan, but do not stick together”.

“Workers complain and have the chance to vote against what employers offer, then end up not voting and seeing it through,” she said. “People do not stand together anymore.”

Another urged those considering to leave their union to think twice.

“How does this help? YOU are the union. If you want an effective union, join it, lobby your colleagues to join it and then vote to strike. How does doing nothing solve the problem?”

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
This year’s local government pay deal has been agreed after the biggest union failed to gain a sufficient mandate to take effective strike action.

UNISON said it had agreed to employers’ pay offer to staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for 2024-25 because of a relatively low turnout in its ballot for industrial action.

GMB members have already backed the deal, meaning there is sufficient union support for the deal to be implemented.

The third union, Unite, also balloted for industrial action and said it would carry out localised walkouts in areas where it had obtained a mandate to strike, however, this will not stop the deal going through.

This year’s pay deal

As a result, this year’s salary increase – backdated to April 2024 – will be in council staff’s pay packets next month or as soon as possible thereafter. The deal amounts to pay rises of:

• £1,290 or 2.5%, whichever is higher, for staff outside of London.
• £1,491 or 2.5%, whichever is higher, for staff in outer London.
• £1,575 or 2.5%, whichever is higher, for staff in inner London.

The deal applies to staff working in councils covered by the National Joint Council for Local Government Services (NJC) – the vast majority of authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The settlement is worth 3-4% for social workers, similar to the deal received by practitioners in Scotland, and above the rate of inflation in the UK, which has ranged between 1.7% and 2.3% since April of this year according to the government’s preferred consumer prices index (CPI) measured.

However, it is less than the 5.5% received by NHS social workers in England and Wales.

‘Not enough voted in strike ballot’

UNISON head of local government Mike Short said: “Not enough workers voted in the recent strike ballot, so UNISON has accepted an increase of £1,290 for all relevant staff in schools and local government.”

Under the law, trade unions need half of eligible members to take part in an industrial action ballot, with a majority of those turning out voting in favour, to secure a mandate to strike for a given employer.

Though UNISON, nationally, has not published the results of the ballot, which took place from 4 September to 16 October 2024, its Sandwell General branch reported that, in England and Wales, 80% of those voting to take action, but on a turnout of just 29%.

Of the 4,093 employers for which ballots were run, a total which includes local authorities and schools, the 50% threshold was reached in 682 – though UNISON has declined to take industrial action in these areas.

‘Priority to get money in wage packets’

Short added: “The pay award will be backdated to April this year. The priority will be to ensure the money goes into everyone’s wage packets as soon as possible. The amount will be adjusted accordingly for workers on part-time and term-time contracts.”

GMB members voted in favour of the pay offer in July.

Its national secretary, Rachel Harrison said: “This pay deal is welcome and must now appear in our local government and school members’ pay packets as soon as possible – including back pay.”

Looking towards 2025-26 pay deal

She added: “GMB is now looking forward to next year and will be consulting members on pay aspirations for 2025-26. We will be lobbying for this to be fully funded pay offer for schools and local government workers.”

Unite said that it had secured a mandate to strike in some areas, and would take action in these localities.

“Local government workers need a fair pay rise, after years of pay freezes and below inflation increases,” said its general secretary, Sharon Graham. “Where Unite members are prepared to stand up and take industrial action, the union will have their backs every step of the way.”

The result means that, for the second year running, unions, collectively, have accepted employers’ original pay offer after balloting for industrial action in protest against it.

A spokesperson for the national employers said: “We are pleased agreement has been reached so that employees can receive their long-awaited pay increase.”

The latest local government pay offer for Scotland will come into force despite the country’s biggest union for council staff planning strike action in protest against it later this month.

The 32 council leaders, through their representative body COSLA, have agreed to implement the increase – worth 67p an hour or 3.6%, whichever is higher – based on the agreement of two of the three unions, the GMB and Unite.

However, UNISON members have overwhelmingly rejected the offer. This week, the union said it would hold a two-week strike later this month for school and early years centre staff working for Perth and Kinross Council, the area that includes first minister John Swinney’s constituency.

UNISON has particularly criticised the fact that the offer, which is worth an average of 4.27% for council staff in Scotland, is less than the 5-6% given to large numbers of public sector workers across the UK.

‘A strong settlement for employees’

But COSLA, which increased its previous offer of 3.2% with the help of Scottish Government cash, said that councils could not afford any more. It has also highlighted that the deal is worth more than the offer of £1,290, or 2.5%, whichever is higher, made to council staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

“The [Scottish Joint Council for Local Government Employees] pay award of 3.6% or £0.67 (whichever is higher)…offers a fair, above inflation and strong settlement for all of our employees,” said COSLA resources spokesperson, Katie Hagmann. “It is at the absolute limit of affordability in the extremely challenging financial context we face.”

She said the decision to implement the deal, which will be backdated to April 2024, had been influenced by representations from Unite and GMB.

“Leaders have fully considered the views of our three trade unions, including the concerns expressed by GMB and Unite about the cost of living and financial pressures which continue to affect many across our workforce, and their desire for the offer to be implemented as soon as possible,” Hagmann added.

‘Staff forced to strike’

However, UNISON Perth and Kinross branch secretary Stuart Hope said: “A fair pay deal should have been in place from 1 April, but six months later it’s still not been agreed.

Instead, the employer has imposed a wage rise rejected by a majority of the workers UNISON represents. Yet again local government staff are being forced to strike to simply get fair pay.”

The two-week strike starts on 21 October and UNISON said it would lead to the closure of schools and early centres in Perth and Kinross.

COSLA said councils would implement the pay offer, and pay staff backpay from April 2024, in line with their local payroll processes.

Councils are losing ground to the NHS in the competition for social workers because of their different pay setting arrangements, the Local Government Association has warned.

NHS social workers in England have received a 5.5% rise in 2024-25, compared with an offer of roughly 3-4% for counterparts in the majority of local authorities, a proposal that has prompted ballots for strike action by two of the three unions representing staff.

While pay settlements for NHS and council practitioners were more similar in 2023-24, the LGA said the disparity this year was indicative of local government’s deteriorating competitiveness on salary compared with the health service.

Pay setting disparities

It attributed this to the different ways in which pay is set in the two sectors.

In the NHS, as in many other parts of the public sector, ministers set annual salary increases based on recommendations from independent pay review bodies and generally provide employers with the budget to deliver these.

In contrast, council pay, in most areas, is set by collective bargaining between employer and union representatives, with settlements limited by local government budgets and the pressure on authorities to respond to increases in the national living wage (NLW).

National Living Wage pressures

With the national wage floor having risen by roughly 10% in each of the past two years, councils have had to concentrate rises on the lowest paid, who earn just above the NLW, leaving less for those higher up the salary scale, including social workers.

The situation is particularly problematic in social work because the profession has consistently been cited by authorities as their biggest recruitment and retention challenge.

“With two of the nationally recognised trade unions announcing formal ballots for industrial action in response to the national employers’ offer, it is imperative that decisions made regarding funding for one group of public sector workers who are subject to pay review bodies are not at the expense of another group whose pay is set through collective bargaining,” said the association.

Ironically, the LGA’s argument echoes one made in the past by Cafcass, about the inferior pay settlements it has been able to give staff compared with local authorities because of different pay setting arrangements.

The LGA made the comments in a submission to the Treasury designed to influence next month’s Budget – which will set government funding levels for 2025-26 – and the 2025 spending review, which is expected to set spending limits for the subsequent three years.

High social worker vacancy and turnover rates 

The LGA’s report highlighted the well-documented challenges councils face in recruiting and retaining children’s social workers, with the full-time equivalent vacancy rate registering 18.9% as of September 2023, and the turnover rate hitting 15.9% in 2022-23.

The LGA also cited social workers’ reported increases in stress and workload levels, as measured by the Department for Education’s longitudinal survey of practitioners in children’s services.

To tackle these issues, the association urged ministers to invest more in the workforce, specifically by:

• Resourcing councils to expand administrative support, supervision capacity and training for children’s social workers.
• Funding training programmes and bursaries to encourage people from other professions to retrain as social workers.
• Spending £500,000 to help 200 former practitioners return to social work, repeating a call the LGA made last year.

The government has signalled that the Budget will be highly challenging for both taxpayers and public services because of the state of the nation’s finances.

Councils’ mounting funding gap driven by social care, says LGA

But, citing data it had released previously, the LGA said councils needed an additional £4.7bn, including £3.4bn for social care, in 2025-26, compared with 2024-25, to maintain services at current levels. In 2026-27, they would need an extra £8.9bn, including £6.3bn for social care, compared with 2024-25, the association claimed.

The money would be needed to manage increased placement costs for looked-after children, rising demand for, and costs of, adult social care services, rises in the NLW and mounting expenditure on special educational needs and disability services.

However, on current projections, increased income for councils would not be sufficient to keep pace with these pressures, leaving authorities with a funding gap of £2.3bn in 2025-26 and £3.9bn in 2026-27, the LGA claimed.

The association said this meant that councils needed “a significant and sustained increase in overall funding”.

UNISON is planning a nationwide strike ballot in an escalation of its campaign on this year’s local government pay round in Scotland.

The union announced today that it intended to poll more than 90,000 staff across Scotland’s 32 councils on striking over employers’ body COSLA’s offer of a rise of 3.6% or 67p per hour, whichever is higher.

Unions split over pay offer

The proposed deal – an improvement on COSLA’s previous 3.2% offer – has been accepted by members of fellow unions GMB and Unite.

However, UNISON members overwhelming rejected the revised offer, with the union saying it fell short of expectations in the context of real-terms cuts to council workers’ pay since 2010.

A deal can only go through with the support of a majority of union members on negotiating body the Scottish Joint Council for Local Government Employees (SJC). As most of these seats are held by UNISON, the dispute remains unresolved.

The union already has a mandate to strike for waste and street cleaning staff in 13 councils, and one covering schools and early years workers in five authorities.

Strike ballot plans

However, in an escalation of the dispute, it today announced that it intended to ballot its whole local government membership on taking industrial action over the pay offer. UNISON said that such a ballot would take several weeks to arrange.

Its local government committee chair, Colette Hunter, said: “Thousands of council workers have overwhelmingly rejected COSLA’s pay offer.

“They are demanding a fair increase to prevent their pay from consistently lagging behind and to ensure their wage rise aligns with other sectors of the economy.”

‘Outrage’ over superior NHS deal

She pointed to the 5.5% pay rise agreed for NHS workers in Scotland adding that council staff were “outraged” that their offer fell “well below” this level.

UNISON’s statement follows a meeting of the SJC steering group yesterday, after which COSLA’s resources spokesperson, Katie Hagmann declared on X (formerly Twitter) that it was “so important to keep discussions open”.

COSLA has strongly welcomed Unite and GMB members’ acceptance of the offer, while declaring itself “deeply disappointed” by their UNISON counterparts’ rejection of the proposed deal.

Pay offer ‘at the absolute limit of affordability’

In a statement last week following the results of the UNISON vote, Hagmann, said the offer – worth an additional 4.27% on the pay bill and enabled by extra funding from the Scottish Government – was “at the absolute limit of affordability”.

“Local government have a responsibility to ensure sustainable service delivery for our communities across Scotland,” she said. “We are clear that increasing the value of any pay offer would have very serious consequences.

“We remain concerned that UNISON’s expectations cannot be met without further unpalatable difficult decisions. We are aware that communities will be concerned about the potential impact of industrial action on the most vulnerable.”