00:00Those concerns that unions raised a year ago were about gender pay gaps, weren't they?
00:05About women being paid less than men for similar jobs?
00:08They were the concerns that were raised and so we took those concerns very seriously
00:13and did a full review and we found that there may be some anomalies across the organisation.
00:19This is not a systemic issue but what's crucial is that when we identified that there may be
00:25some problems, we are now putting steps in place to make sure that we implement a
00:30new job evaluation scheme to put in place a fair system for everyone in the council.
00:36So in changing the system in which these jobs are granted for that,
00:40is this not the council kind of accepting that there was
00:43a problem with the fairness of the salaries it was paying?
00:47Well look, we wouldn't be having this conversation if we didn't recognise that there is a problem
00:52that we are now committed to put right and that's what we will now do.
00:58We've already got to a place with the trade unions where we've agreed a new job evaluation
01:02scheme and when other organisations, other employers have had similar concerns raised,
01:08they've often taken a very long time to implement a new job evaluation scheme or
01:14agree what the next steps would be. Through the really close co-operative working with
01:19unions over the last few months, we're now in a place today where we've been able to talk
01:25confidently to all of our staff about what this means over the next couple of years as we review
01:31all of the roles in the council and that is all of the roles.
01:35We've got over 8,500 staff plus 2,000 support staff in school so it's a big endeavour and it's
01:42right that we are up front with our staff but crucially, having identified a problem,
01:47we talk to them about the solution and how we're going to work with them to put this right.
01:51Will the council be able to afford it though? It's well publicised by the local
01:55reporting service that finances aren't difficult in Sheffield as they are in
01:59local authorities across the country. Can the Sheffield City Council afford to rectify this?
02:03Yes, we're confident that we will be able to meet the requirements of the role review
02:07programme but until that work is completed over the next few years, we won't be able to
02:13have a full figure at this stage but I am committed to maintaining our commitment to
02:19openness and honesty around this and so I'm very happy to talk to you as the cost becomes more
02:27apparent but the key thing is we're taking the steps to put this right.
02:31So we're not going to have any service cuts or abundancies in order to make this right?
02:35No and it would be wrong to speculate on any of that at the minute. We're not in the same
02:39situation that other councils have found themselves in, crucially because we've been
02:44working really closely with trade unions throughout this process to get us to this point
02:49but the work now will be done over the next couple of years and I'm committed to continuing
02:54to talk to you about what that cost will be but what will be absolutely steadfast is our
03:01commitment to making sure that we provide great services for the people of this city
03:05and we continue to meet the ambitions of this city.
03:08And so staff that have been identified to have been underpaid or not paid, you know,
03:13in the right level, will that pay be backdated? Will I be able to claim backdated pay of what
03:17they should have earned?
03:18There will be compensation that will be part of this but at this stage we need to do the work
03:24to identify where those disparities in the job evaluation system exist before we can have any
03:32further conversations around that but the work following today's announcement now is underway.
03:37But I guess what my next question is, you know, if we are talking about potential
03:42backdating and compensation for miss pay, you know, I think one of the figures that
03:46the unions were using at the time is that it's up to 11 grand a year that some of these
03:50disparities were, you know, and that's one, if one person has that gap that's 66 grand in
03:55compensation because I believe legally they claim 66.
03:58We don't believe that anyone will be in the situation of the kinds of figures that you're
04:02talking about but it's really important that we don't speculate at this stage about what
04:07the costs could be for the overall authority or for individuals concerned because, you know,
04:14I'm really proud that there are 8,500 people here who every day do fantastic work serving
04:19the people of this city and it's right that we treat them with respect and do this work
04:24in a proper thorough way so that when there's information to share with them first they're
04:29the ones who get that information first because it's about their jobs, their livelihoods but
04:35we will continue to have full open transparency with the people of Sheffield as well.
04:40And definitely no chance you can rule out the council going bankrupt?
04:44We're absolutely not in that territory.
04:47We are managing our budgets prudently and responsibly.
04:50You know as well as I do that over the last 14 years this council has taken an absolute
04:55hammering.
04:56Councils up and down the country have but throughout that 14 years we've always managed
05:02our budgets responsibly to continue to provide services for the people of the city so I can
05:07absolutely say we are not in that territory.
Comments