WOLVO/SANDWELL SINGLE STATUS UPDATE

18-01-2008

More than 2,000 council staff will lose pay following Wolverhampton’s Single Status pay review – but more than 5,000 will gain. It’s also emerged that a £55 million gap in Sandwell’s Single Status deal will have to be met by local schools.

According to the Express and Star, the majority of the ‘winners’ in Wolverhampton (more than 3,000 of them) will receive an extra £1,000 or less.

84 workers are due to be paid an additional £5,000 - £10,000.

Wolvo, of course, has a Labour Council, and it’s interesting to see the quotes attributed to the city’s Conservative opposition leader Paddy Bradley.

She says, “I just can’t see the fairness in this.

“People have taken jobs at the Council and bought homes and cars based on what they earned, and now they face cuts.”

Perhaps she ought to have a word with her counterpart in Birmingham Mike Whitby.

Meanwhile The Guardian has the story that the shortfall in Sandwell’s budget caused by introducing Single Status is being met by the borough’s schools (Guardian Story Here).

Phil Jones, the head of Oakham Primary has had a bill for £650,000 – and across the borough, educational establishments are having to find £55 million.

Join the Single Status thread on The Stirrer Forum.