Bolton taps into capitalisation fund for equal pay

Bolton Council is the latest to cash in on the government’s capitalisation agreement for equal pay debts.

The council borrowed £4.75m from the Department for Communities and Local Government and received £3m from the Audit Commission for achieving performance targets, it has been revealed.

The council, which has a total equal pay deficit of £8m, said it would pay the loan back to the department over a six-year period.

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The capitalisation scheme allows councils to borrow against the value of their assets. The Treasury has said the fund will have a national cap of £200m – but it has so far received applications totalling £321m.

Earlier this month it emerged that Birmingham City Council had paid £6m to employees who could still file equal pay claims. A spokesman said the council had given 6,000 workers £1,000 each where there was an “apparent entitlement to a back-pay claim”. Officials are currently undertaking a job evaluation scheme.