Following the last update in February 2025, discussions between the Support Staff Trade Unions and the employers have continued to take place.
These discussions led to the Support Staff Trade Unions undertaking consultative ballots of their members on the terms of the National Job Evaluation Project. When these ballots closed UNISON and Unite members overwhelmingly backed the resumption of the project. The GMB stated that their member ballot outcome, found the proposal was insufficient.
The employers discussed the ballot outcomes at meetings on 14 May and 21 May 2025 and agreed to proceed with the work required to deliver National Job Evaluation. The GMB will continue to be invited to participate in these discussions.
The next step in this project will be to continue work on a draft timeline at a joint employers’ and support staff trade unions working group to focus on the detail of the project which will then be used to develop a full Business Case which will be taken to the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and the Scottish Government for review and approval.
It has also been agreed that colleges will be asked to begin preparatory work to map job history from 2018, ensure Job Descriptions and Organisation Charts are updated and confirm the number of roles to be evaluated. This information will also be used to develop the Business Case.
Please note, the Scottish Government has confirmed in an article in The Herald the following:
“The Scottish Government remains committed to the colleges job evaluation project. Backdated pay, when agreed, will be distributed to colleges via the standard SFC allocations process. It is our expectation that this spend will be monitored through the reporting and audit processes already in place between Colleges and the Scottish Funding Council.”
It is anticipated, the next joint update will be provided when the Business Case is issued to the SFC and Scottish Government.