8. Will the Cabinet Secretary provide an update on how the Welsh Government ensures fair pay for local government staff? OAQ(5)0093(FLG)

I thank the Member for the question. The Government supports fair pay across the devolved public sector. While pay for local government staff remains a matter for democratically elected local authorities as employers, the Welsh Government supports them in that work through, for example, the workforce partnership council, the independent remuneration panel, and the Public Services Staff Commission.

Cabinet Secretary, I have been contacted by a number of constituents who have been affected by the pay review being conducted by local authorities. People who have been working in highly skilled roles for decades have suddenly found that their jobs have been reclassified as unskilled, and, as a result, my constituents have had their wages cut, sometimes by as much as 25 per cent. The fear amongst many local government employees is that they are being targeted in an effort to cut costs. Cabinet Secretary, how is it fair when high-ranking local government officers earn more than the Prime Minister, yet lower-paid local government employees are having their pay axed? What plans do you have to ensure that this doesn’t continue, and to rectify the constituents’ complaints that have come to me? Thank you.

Well, Llywydd, I would expect any actions by local authorities in reviewing jobs that staff carry out to be carried out in a way that is consistent with the advice provided by this Government and the agreements that those local authorities will have with their trade unions. One of the ways in which we will help to make sure that that happens in future is through the Trade Union (Wales) Bill that we are bringing in front of this National Assembly to make sure that the rights of trade unions are not eroded and that they are able to go on protecting their members in circumstances of the sort that the Member described. I look forward to the support of her party as that Bill makes its way through the National Assembly.

I thank the Cabinet Secretary.