Trade union Unison has today urged the Local Government Association (LGA) to enter arbitration talks over the 2014/15 pay offer.

The call to join formal negotiations brokered by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) follows last week's rejection by Unison members of the town hall employers 1% pay offer.

Unison claimed 70% of its 600,000 local government members voted against what it termed an ‘insulting' pay award, but the turnout remains unknown.