Members of Napo’s Cafcass Section Executive Committee (SEC) took part in a recent joint discussion between the unions and senior management to explore the potential agenda for our pay discussions.
The meeting allowed the parties to have a full and frank exchange about a range of issues. These included the difficulties that we face following the confirmation from the Treasury that pay remits across the Civil Service will be limited to 2% with an additional 1% being available if major restructuring can be undertaken.
The only exception to this would be subject to an employer being able to make a strong business case to provide additional funding from within their existing resources.
In response, the unions obviously pointed out the unpalatable fact that pay within Cafcass has seen staff suffer a real time reduction in their salaries over the last decade, and that there was serious upward pressure developing about this and the current workload and staffing position.
This is obviously exacerbated by the cost of living crisis (see below) and that in some areas, staff are essentially still working for free to cope with excessive workloads. We also reminded the employer that Napo has a live Trade Dispute over pay and workloads and that the possibility of future industrial action if we cannot make meaningful progress on pay is a live possibility.
The SEC will meet again after the Easter break in advance of a meeting with our colleagues from UNISON where we aim to finalise a joint pay claim that will fully reflect the demands of our respective members. More news on pay and other areas of concern will follow as soon as possible, and our Family Court Section members should also look out for details of the next all Napo members meeting next month.
