The new Local Government Employers (LGE) body has been officially launched.
The new organisation, which replaces the Employers Organisation for Local Government, has been created to work with authorities, stakeholders and partners to deal with pay, pensions and employment issues.
LGE will also provide guidance for councils on issues such as job evaluation, equal pay, employment law and sickness absence management.
Steve Bullock, chairman of LGE, said: “This year is going to be a tough year for local government employers. We have two major pay rounds – in local government services and the fire service – to settle. And there remains the need to join with both government and the unions to develop a sustainable, affordable and flexible pension scheme for the future.
“The creation of LGE firmly embeds these issues in the Local Government Association’s policy and lobbying agenda.”
Jan Parkinson, who is currently strategic director of HR at Gateshead Council, has recently been appointed LGE’s new managing director. She will start work in early June.
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“The sector needs to recognise the crucial links between how it pays and rewards its staff and their performance,” she said. “To make continued improvements to services, we need to get the employment contract right – both at an individual council level and on a national basis.”
