What has happened and what is still to come
What has happened so far
October 2024
- The council's Employment Committee approved the proposed reshaped structure.
November 2024
- We started consulting with our 3 recognised trade unions – GMB, UNISON, and Unite the Union about the reshaped structure.
January to April 2025
- We provisionally agreed a reshaped National Joint Council (NJC) structure with our trade unions and conversations continued.
- We launched our Equal Pay Programme video.
- We held a webinar for managers to introduce the reshaped pay and grading structure.
- Working with our trade unions, we issued a joint statement.
- Trade unions started to engage with their members, setting out the main details of the reshaped structure.
May 2025
- We held an all colleague pay and grading webinar (not including schools) where we shared details of the provisional reshaped structure.
- We provided line managers with a Manager's Briefing Pack and online team activity to help them talk to their teams about the reshaped structure.
June 2025
- We published 'Your Guide to Pay and Grading' online and posted the guide to offline colleagues (those without a work email address) – the guide shows the progression through the reshaped grades.
- We held a number of drop-in sessions at the Council House.
July 2025
- We launched our pay and grading video which explains the reshaped structure.
- We sent an update through the post to offline colleagues.
- We gave managers a leaflet to share with offline team members, showing the benefits of the structure and giving them access to the pay and grading video.
- The trade unions held a consultative ballot on the reshaped structure.
August 2025
- The outcome of the trade unions’ consultative ballot was that most members voted against accepting the proposal.
September 2025
- Consultations with the trade unions resumed, and agreement in principle was reached.
- A revised version of the pay and grading guide was published online.
October 2025
- After extensive discussions on the proposed structure with our 3 recognised trade unions, agreement was reached, and a collective signed, on 15 October 2025
- The reshaped structure will be implemented on 31 October 2025 with an effective date of 1 October 2025. We will share information about your move to the reshaped structure when it is implemented.
What is still to come
- If you are in Grades 6 and 7, we will keep you informed about the review of the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) structure and your proposed move to it.
Keeping you updated
We will update our pay and grading pages as well as sharing information through our usual work communication channels.
Page last updated: 23 October 2025
