Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he approved the recourse to fire and rehiring of staff if the unions and staff in Homes England did not accept the new pay proposals when agreeing to parts of the pay business case made by Homes England.
On 3 March the Secretary of State approved Homes England's pay remit for 2020/21. This was a valuable award towards the maximum level allowable across the Public Sector. I am therefore confident that it will allow for the Agency to implement a new pay and grading structure which is based on the principle of ensuring pay equality for its staff. Homes England are at the early stages of what I am sure will be successful negotiations, conducted through normal process with staff and unions. Officials have been asked to support these negotiations to ensure that options for implementation are properly explored and that due process and guidance is followed.