Equal pay claims drift southwards as Walsall faces £1m payout and joins army of councils in the north of the UK facing claims

Walsall Council could be facing a £1m payout in equal pay claims to 220 female cleaners.

Representatives from the Transport and General Workers’ Union are in talks with the council over six years of lost payments, including, pensions and bonuses.

Walsall could become the latest in a long line of councils hit with equal pay actions, including Edinburgh City, Cumbria and Aberdeen.

The union said it was currently in discussions with the authority’s legal team to negotiate a possible settlement.

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The authority is also being forced to pay a senior employee up to £1m as compensation for unfair dismissal after he was sacked for raising concerns over how millions of pounds of tax-payers money was spent.