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About this brief
As more pay negotiations are done locally in Scotland it can be useful to have regional figures to supplement national UNISON briefings. In this brief you will find the latest:
Latest Claimant / ILO Unemployment Figures The latest Claimant/ILO Unemployment figures released Wednesday 13 February 2002 are: Claimant Unemployment UK Claimant Unemployment Scotland (Seasonally Adjusted) (Seasonally Adjusted)
ILO Unemployment UK ILO Unemployment Scotland (Seasonally Adjusted) (Seasonally Adjusted)
The drop in UK and Scottish claimant count adds evidence to suggest that interest rates have reached their lowest point. Average Earnings UK and Scotland
Inflation The latest RETAIL PRICES INDEX (RPI) figures released 12 Feb 2002 are: (1987=100)
Headline rate = percentage change over one year Underlying rate (RPIX) = annual percentage increase in RPI, excluding mortgage interest payments. The next release date for the RPI is 19 March 2002. Inflation Forecasts: External forecasters expect inflation to stay close to the Government's target of 2.5%. (HM Treasury) Earnings Forecasts Employment prospects weakened at the start of 2002 according to the latest survey from the Manpower employment agency. Greatest pressures are on the manufacturing sectors. Weakest sectors are leisure, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, retail, electronics and engineering. The demand for labour is strongest in healthcare (both public and private) the building industry, utilities and finance. Latest figures from the LRD Payline data base show that the midpoint for pay rises in the Oct – Dec period was 3.5% in services as against 3.2 % in industry. This is partly due to the situation in the public sector where recruitment pressures are still strong, and show signs of remaining so. Latest Pay Settlement Trends in the Public Sector Incomes Data Services (IDS) notes a growing trend for long term pay deals in the public sector in Scotland. IDS cites the recent pay deals for school teachers, civil servants, and in local government as evidence of this. These long term pay agreements have been encouraged by the Chancellor, and give opportunities to restructure pay and a general uplift to raise salaries to more competitive levels. Pay settlements for many groups in the public sector centred around 3.7%, the level recommended by review bodies. For civil servants and agencies it tends to be higher at 4.5%. A significant minority
of pay bill increases were above five per cent. In the not-for-profit sector settlements were lower, averaging around 3¼ per cent with a significant number in the housing and care sectors below three per cent. Pay increases for many staff have frequently been much higher than the headline percentage settlement. Many deals have had underpinning increases to help the lower paid and others have raised the salaries of specific groups to aid recruitment and retention. Public sector employees in a range of occupations are set to receive substantial pay increases in 2002 as employers seek to address recruitment and retention issues, establish more competitive salary levels and deal with discriminatory pay systems. Recruitment and Retention in the Public Sector IDS found recruitment and retention difficulties across local government in the UK particularly for professional posts such as social workers, and IT staff. In Scotland councils reported recruitment and retention problems among key staff groups particularly social work. Problems were also encountered in recruiting and retaining IT staff, Legal staff, and accountants. Amongst lower paid staff Aberdeenshire experienced problems recruiting and retaining cleaners, East Lothian with residential/cleaning staff, Falkirk with domestic and catering, Midlothian with cooks and cleaners, and Shetland with care staff. Across the UK pay remains the main factor behind recruitment and retention problems, and the difficulties of competing with private sector. In some areas councils find it difficult to compete with neighbouring local authorities on pay rates. In Scotland, Falkirk Council is considering implementing supplements for social worker posts as "golden hello's". At the moment Shetland Islands Council is the only Scottish council to do this. North Lanarkshire Council is considering enhanced placing on the pay scale for accountants, IT staff, and social workers, however each case will be considered on merit. Work life balance strategies, and improved childcare support are becoming an important part of councils' employment strategies to attract staff, and many local authorities are looking to broaden initiatives in this area. Equal Pay Gender pay difference GB & Scotland, full time employees on adult rates; hourly earnings excluding overtime, April 2001:
The ONS results above show a narrowing of the gender pay gap, more pronounced in Scotland. It should be noted that average hourly pay excludes overtime, as overtime can distort the picture with men working relatively more overtime than their female counterparts. We should be careful on this point, as men's jobs tend to offer more opportunities for overtime than women's. Close the Gap In 2001 the Scottish Executive, with partners organisations: the EOC, STUC, CBI Scotland, and the Scottish Low Pay Unit, launched the Close the Gap initiative. It aims to:
Employers and employees are invited to get involved in the campaign by:
For more Equal Pay information see UNISON's P&I Team Briefings: No 26 Equal Pay Policy and No. 24 Equal Pay Awareness or the EOC website http://www.eoc.org.uk New Earnings Survey 2001 Section E of the New Earnings Survey 2001 (published at the end of February 2002) consists of regional labour market data. Data showing the increase in average weekly pay April 2000-2001 reveal interesting statistics:
The statistics appear to confirm views of declining local economies of rural Aberdeenshire and West Dunbartonshire, and shows how average salaries are increasing in the more prosperous areas of Stirling.
Notes:
Average Weekly Earnings:
FURTHER INFORMATION: UK Official National Statistics Website: UNISON Intranet/Internet site : This is UNISON's UK home page and should be the starting point for most searches. The Bargaining Support Unit maintains a wide range of information online including journal abstracts, statistics, UNISON documents and access to the LRD database. They also provide links to other web sites. UNISON Scotland web site : http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/ UNISON Scotland's home page has links to all of the P&I Briefings, policy and campaigns information, along with links to other useful web sites. The P&I Team Briefing No1 Bargaining on the Internet has details of many other useful web sites. TUC Web site: The TUC site provides good information http://www.tuc.org.uk and you can register to receive regular email bulletins on a range of employment law, health and safety and equality issues. Other useful sites include: Incomes Data Services (IDS) Industrial Law Journal Department of Trade and Industry
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