Meeting the Costs of Equal Pay
Here's an interesting and highly topical article from The Times which reports that the University of Oxford has secured a 100-year bond worth £750 million to fund the university's future development.
Now the 'bond' is really just a loan which the university has agreed to repay at the very low rate of interest of just 2.54 per cent.
But if it makes sense for one of the UK's most famous learning institutions, then why shouldn't there be a similar facility for Scotland's largest council to fix the awful mess Glasgow has made of equal pay.
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/oxford-issues-remarkable-ps750-million-100-year-bond
Oxford issues ‘remarkable’ £750 million, 100-year bond
University secures 2.54 per cent interest rate on borrowing to fund £1.5 billion capital programme
By John Morgan - The Times -Twitter: @JMorganTHE
The University of Oxford has announced a “remarkable” £750 million, 100-year bond, the largest yet in UK higher education.
The university, which secured an annual interest rate of 2.54 per cent on the bond thanks to its triple-A Moody’s credit rating, stronger than the UK government’s Aa2 rating, said that the money raised would finance “major new physical and virtual infrastructure development”, including “strategic capital projects that extend its outstanding capabilities in teaching and research”.
The universities of Cambridge, Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester and Southampton have already issued bonds, as have Cardiff, De Montfort and Keele universities. Oxford’s bond goes far beyond the previous largest – Cambridge’s £350 million, 40-year bond.
Universities with a bond will have to pay interest on the borrowing each year and then repay the principal amount at the end of the bond term.
Critics point out that bond borrowing must create new revenue streams that are sufficient to service the debt.
David Prout, Oxford’s pro vice-chancellor for planning and resources, told Times Higher Education: “This is a remarkable thing to have achieved today. It is a global statement of confidence in UK higher education in general and Oxford in particular.”
The money would support a £1.5 billion capital programme over the next 10 to15 years, said Dr Prout.
Decisions on the spending of the money will be “bought into right across the university and taken in a strategic way”, and directed to projects and programmes that “most benefit Oxford in terms of the academic mission of the university”, he continued.
He added: “This is a very long-term bond; [the] interest rate [of] just over 2.5 per cent is less than CPI [inflation] at the moment. It’s a great deal for Oxford.”
Asked about any potential concerns over Oxford’s level of borrowing, he said: “Oxford has managed to get a great deal on this loan. It’s a very, very long-term loan. We will take decisions that ensure that we are able to service this loan in the best possible way.”
Louise Richardson, Oxford vice-chancellor, said: “The rating we have received and the scale and duration of the bond that has been issued is a gratifying testament to the belief of the outside world in the extraordinary institution that has been developed over the centuries by our predecessors, as well as in the calibre of the research and education taking place here today.
“It is our responsibility to ensure that we use the opportunities accorded us by this bond to pass on to our successors an even stronger university.”
Oxford was advised on the bond, which matures in 2117, by JP Morgan Securities as lead adviser.
The university also said that the finance raised would allow it “greater freedom to generate far-reaching new academic projects, which will help power growth along the strategically crucial Oxford-Milton Keynes-Cambridge corridor”.
john.morgan@timeshighereducation.com
Meeting the Costs of Equal Pay(12/01/18)
I've had lots of emails in recent days asking how Glasgow City Council will be able to meet the cost of settling its outstanding equal pay claims.
MSPs, MPs, elected councillors and council officials have all asked me the same question, but the answer is really quite obvious.
Because several years ago the Scottish Government agreed that local councils could apply for additional 'borrowing consents' to meet the costs of financing their equal pay settlements.
And the post below from the blog site archive shows that in 2010 five Scottish councils applied to borrow an £20 million for this very purpose - and these were all were very small councils compared to Glasgow which is the largest local authority in Scotland, by a very long way.
But always bear in mind all these equal pay claims represent 'lost income' to some of Glasgow's lowest paid council workers over the past 10 years and counting - including the cost of their pensions.
What's clear is that Glasgow's low paid women workers have not created the problem, so it would be monstrously stupid and unfair to suggest that they should somehow 'subsidise' a solution by accepting less than what they are due for everything they've lost over all these years.
I am going to submit a new FOI request to Scottish Ministers asking for an update on the 2010 figures, but it doesn't take a financial genius to work out that a 50 year bond agreed with Glasgow City Council would go a long way towards solving its problems over equal pay and its 'unfit for purpose' WPBR pay scheme.
Costs of Equal Pay (23/0814)
Here's a post from the blog site archive which explains the background to my recent Freedom of Information (FoI) request to Scottish Ministers about financial support for councils in relation to outstanding equal pay claims.
Now I don't know the answer to that which is why I've submitted an FoI request to Scottish Ministers.
Meeting the Costs of Equal Pay (17 May 2010)
As reported in last month several councils have applied to the Scottish Government for additional 'borrowing consents' - to help meet the back pay costs of settling their equal pay claims.
All of the councils involved have now been approached - to see if they are prepared to make renewed settlement offers - in the light of these new circumstances.
Any developments will be reported on the blog site - but readers are free to ask the same question of their local councillors and council leaders.
Contact details will be available on your own council's web site
Meeting the Costs of Equal Pay (April 2010)
Several Scottish councils have asked the Scottish Government for permission to borrow extra funds - to help them meet the back pay costs of their outstanding equal pay claims.
Here's what they've been allocated by way of additional 'borrowing consents' from the Scottish Government
Clackmannanshire Council
£1,513,000
East Dunbartonshire Council
£2,786,000
Falkirk Council
£5,633,000
Midlothian Council
£9,091,000
West Dunbartonshire Council
West Dunbartonshire Council
£4,413,000
It seems fair to assume that having asked to borrow these additional funds - the councils involved should now get their fingers out and put firm proposals on the table.
And given that large sums of public money are involved - Action 4 Equality Scotland will ensure that there is a fair and just settlement of people's claims.
It seems fair to assume that having asked to borrow these additional funds - the councils involved should now get their fingers out and put firm proposals on the table.
And given that large sums of public money are involved - Action 4 Equality Scotland will ensure that there is a fair and just settlement of people's claims.
Glasgow - Equal Pay Update (11/01/18)
Glasgow City Council was resoundingly defeated in the Court of Session, Scotland's highest civil court, on three separate occasions during 2017.
- Over 'Pay Protection' - the Court of Session found that the City Council failed to protect the interests of female dominated jobs (the majority of the workforce) following the introduction of a new JES (Job Evaluation Scheme and new pay arrangements in 2006/07.
- Over the 'WPBR' - the Court of Session found that the City Council's new JES and new pay arrangements (known locally as the Workforce Pay and Benefits Review) were discriminatory, unlawful and 'unfit for purpose'.
- Over an application seeking 'leave to appeal' the WPBR judgment to the UK Supreme Court - the Court of Session decided that the City Council had no case and rejected all of their grounds of appeal
- All three decisions of the Court of Session were unanimous.
- Do you support the decisions of the Court of Session?
- Do you agree that Glasgow City Council should accept the judgment of the Court of Session - and drop any further appeal to the UK Supreme Court in London?
- If so, what are you doing to support your local constituents in the ongoing fight for equal pay in Glasgow which has reached a critical moment?
And to help people do just that - here's a handy list of their contact email addresses.
Glasgow Constituency MSPs (Scottish Parliament)
Glasgow List MSPs
Glasgow MPs (Westminster Parliament)
Glasgow - Equal Pay Update (10/01/18)
I think it's safe to say there was no big breakthrough at the first equal pay meeting of 2018 with Glasgow City Council, otherwise everyone would have been shouting from the rooftops of the City Chambers.
So the settlement process continues and further meetings are in the diary, but the elephant in the room is the issue of whether Scotland's largest council now accepts the judgement of Scotland's highest civil court, the Court of Session, that Glasgow's discredited WPBR pay scheme really is 'unfit for purpose'.
If so, the City Council needs to take 'off the table' the possibility of a further appeal to the UK Supreme Court in London because settlement discussions can only get down to the business of serious negotiations if this threat is removed.
I think this is a very fair point to raise directly with Glasgow's MSPs and MPs including the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, especially as the deadline for any appeal is just one week away, i.e. next Wednesday 17 January 2018.
I have been raising the issue with MSPs and MPs in recent weeks, but the time is now right for individual claimants across Glasgow to make their voices heard.
The best way to do this would be for people to contact their local MSPs and MPs to ask their views on this subject and what they are doing to support their local constituents - by email, Facebook and Twitter.
I will post some thoughts on the blog site to help people get their point across, but Glasgow's politicians know what's going on for the past 10 years and if you ask me it's high time they stood up and spoke out.
More to follow - so spread the word far and wide, encourage your friends and co-workers to get involved and watch this space.
