Ministers have rejected pleas from local government chiefs for help in meeting the this month's deadline on equal pay.
Councils have until 31 March to complete and implement equal pay reviews, but a Local Government Association (LGA) report estimates more than half of all local authorities will miss the deadline.
‘Local authorities want to strike the best balance between pay, equal pay and pensions to ensure the best package for both staff and the way taxpayer, and we need the help of ministers to do this,' said Local Government Employers' chair, Steve Bullock. Mr Bullock said ministers should relax rules on council borrowing and allow local authorities and unions to reach agreements on equal pay via arbitration.
But local government minister Phil Woolas said: ‘The Government is fully committed to equality for all in the workplace and we are not prepared to compromise on this.
‘This includes the principle of equal pay for work of equal value.'
‘We recognise that this is a difficult process for local government, but this is not a new pressure – equal pay legislation arrived in 1970 and came into force in 1975.' GMB national secretary Brian Strutton has called on the Government to intervene.
‘Government seems caught in the headlights,' he said. ‘Knowing there is a huge problem, but unwilling to face up to difficult solutions.'
Labour MP Chris Mullin has hit out at ‘no win, no fee' lawyers who are taking legal action against both councils and trade unions over equal pay deals.
Mr Mullin told Radio 4's Today programme the lawyers were ‘ruthless and parasitic'.
‘It is compensation culture gone barmy and it is going to lead to ruin,' he said.
For past stories in The MJ on single status, see www.localgov.co.uk