The Context & History
The JNCHES Pay Agreement 2006-09 concluded at the end of the 2006 pay dispute included the following commitment:
“Negotiations this year have been complicated …. by differences between the parties on the funds available for pay increases and on trends in the relative earnings of HE staff. The unions and employers therefore agree that JNCHES should jointly commission a review with an agreed independent chair, union and employer representatives working in partnership and the potential for other independent inputs, to facilitate and inform future negotiations.”
It was agreed that the Review would establish commonly accepted data on:
a. universities’ and HE colleges’ income and expenditure in 2006-07 and 2007- 08, and forecasts for 2008-09 and later years (taking account of the Government’s and devolved administrations’ post-CSR plans for grant and tuition fees in those years, and the diversity in HEIs’ finances);
b. the outcomes of the Framework Agreement, the remuneration of HE staff following its implementation, and relativities to the remuneration of other UK employees.
The Review drew on independent data sources and it was agreed that is would report by Autumn 2008 to inform subsequent negotiations in the JNCHES machinery for academic year 2009-10 and later, although in the event that the Review were to provide evidence of HEIs’ ability further to improve the pay of staff for the 2008-09 year this would be included in these negotiations. It was later agreed that this wouldn’t be the case.
The Review appointed Baroness Fritchie as its chair and two further independent members, Sir Bill Callaghan and Dick Coldwell, CBE. Funding was sought from DIUS to facilitate the Review, but regrettably, this was not secured.
The first meeting of the review was held in November 2007 and it was agreed that joint statements will be produced following meetings of the Review. These appear below:
Statements from previous meetings: