Sheffield Labour drops Lib Dem policy of extra pay for the lowest paid

The Sheffield Star reports on a backwards move by Labour in Sheffield:

SHEFFIELD’S ruling Labour councillors have been attacked by Nick Clegg for ‘dropping’ a policy to give the authority’s lowest-paid staff an extra £250 each year.

The payment was made for staff paid below £21,000-a-year, under the old Lib Dem administration’s budget for 2011/12 – and Mr Clegg said it was supposed to happen on an annual basis.

But papers setting out the council’s financial plans for 2011/12 – including cuts of at least £48 million – do not include a pay rise next year.

Mr Clegg said: “I’ve had meetings with some of the country’s leading trade union representatives, who recognised that Sheffield was the only big council in the UK to provide the £250 payment – and that it was what they wanted.

“I think they will be horrified to hear that the new Labour council is dropping the commitment to help some of the lowest paid, when they are taking money from reserves to pay for extra spending elsewhere.