The Government is to fund pay awards for parts of the public sector, but its announcement over the summer did not provide any additional funding for pay in local government.
Cllr Peter Marland, Chair of the LGA’s Economy and Resources Board, said the sector was experiencing “huge workforce recruitment and retention problems”, and that these “must be addressed as part of the wider discussions we are having with government over funding”. He added: “Public sector workers do an incredible job to keep local services running day in, day out. Pay awards in local government are funded through council budgets. These continue to face severe and unprecedented challenges and so the pay offer needs to be affordable to the sector.”