Dear David,
Soulbury Pay
Thank you for the pay offer of 4 December 2024. The Officers' Side reluctantly accepts the pay offer. The three unions wish to put on record their huge disappointment at this outcome, which represents yet another real terms pay cut and another significant worsening of Soulbury pay relative to teachers. These factors will continue to drive serious recruitment and retention problems, with the crucial work of Soulbury Officers not properly valued.
The Employers’ Side have agreed that there are significant recruitment and retention problems – but we need improvements in pay to tackle these problems. The unions will continue to engage with our members to build support for the improvements in pay levels and pay structure that are so desperately needed to recruit, retain and properly value Soulbury Officers.
The Employers’ Side has agreed to further discussions on a review of SPA points, a review of London Area Payments and the Workforce Survey Report. The unions call for urgent meetings to take forward these issues.
All concerned should be clear that any delay in the implementation of the September 2024 increase is not the fault of the unions. Our pay claim for 2024-25 was submitted to the Employers’ Side in May, but no response was received until September. The unions then needed to complete their separate consultation processes. The unions call for the September 2024 pay increase to be implemented and appropriately backdated as quickly as possible.
The unions are also concerned that the Employers’ Side refused to move from its original position and did not, in the unions’ view, engage with the evidence presented bytheunions. Forexample,theEmployers’Sideassertedthatthelowpayoffercould not be increased due to funding considerations but did not engage with the point that huge agency costs are generated by recruitment and retention problems. We are further disappointed that this offer is also based on what appears to have been a single survey to employers with a response rate of just 45%. Therefore, simply offering 2.5%, you have not provided the unions with any financial information on costings at either 5% or 2.5% for Soulbury Officers. This has not been a negotiation based on sound or structured evidence from your side.
The unions call for timely and meaningful negotiations to take place in the next round, with the Employers’ Side engaging properly with the negotiations instead of adopting an approach where the initial response to the Officers’ Side claim is described as a final offer.
The unions call for the Employers’ Side to discuss campaigning jointly with the unions for more Government funding for the pay and conditions improvements needed to recruit, retain and properly value Soulbury Officers.
Yours sincerely
DAVID POWELL
Officers’ Side Secretary