Hannah Blythyn MS, Deputy Minister for Social Partnership
The Programme for Government committed the Welsh Government to ensure that public bodies and those receiving public funding address pay disparities amongst and between their staff. Following discussions with the management and trade unions of Welsh Government arm’s length bodies (ALBs), and with funding provided by the Minister for Finance and Local Government, we are taking steps to ensure workers in these ALBs will be paid at least the same as the minimum salary for their equivalent Welsh Government grade. This means that nine bodies will receive Welsh Government funding to increase the minimum salary for one or more grades in their organisations. The other ALBs already pay at least the same minimum salary for each grade as the Welsh Government does for equivalent levels.
Around 500 staff across the nine organisations are expected to receive an uplift in salary as a result of this agreement, which is backdated to 1 April 2021. The Minister for Finance and Local Government has agreed to provide up to up to £652,000 for each year from 2021/2022 until 2024/2025 - a maximum of £2.6 million over four years - to support the bodies to deliver this step towards wider pay parity in the Welsh public sector.
This is an important step towards delivering one of the Programme for Government commitments alongside taking forward work to progress the recommendations of the Fair Work commission and realise our ambition of a Wales of Fair Work. Whilst in this first instance we are addressing the Welsh Government’s own arm’s length bodies in this agreement, we want to promote pay parity across the public sector in Wales and look forward to working in social partnership with management and trade unions in taking this forward.
The ALBs expected to be funded to create greater pay parity are:
Arts Council Wales
Careers Wales
Commissioner for Future Generations
Commissioner for Older People
Social Care Wales
Higher Education Funding Council for Wales
National Library of Wales
National Museum Wales
Sports Wales
HANNAH BLYTHYN AS/MS
Deputy Minister for Social Partnership