Officials in the Planning Inspectorate have begun industrial action over pay restraint and high workloads.
The Prospect union, which represents specialist civil and public servants, said the action short of strike is taking place after the inspectorate imposed a "rejected pay deal" which results in "below inflation pay awards" for significant numbers of staff "linked to a contested job evaluation exercise and the freezing or reducing of pay minima and maxima for some grades".
The industrial action, which began yesterday, will be continuous and consist of staff only working contracted hours and a voluntary overtime ban, and could run until 23 May 2026 unless progress can be made to resolve the dispute, the union said.
The action follows a ballot from Prospect in which 79% of members who responded voted in favour of taking action at the inspectorate, which is an executive agency sponsored by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Steve Thomas, deputy general Secretary of Prospect, said: “The Planning Inspectorate has long depended on the dedication and goodwill of its workforce. Because of their dedication to their jobs our members routinely work beyond their hours, often spending long periods of time working remotely away from home, so that the inspectorate can continue to perform its duties. But repeated pay restraint, increasing workloads and the erosion of trust means increasingly members feel their goodwill is taken for granted.”
Thomas added: “The work of our members is essential both to the government’s growth mission and to the delivery of 1.5m new homes. All our members want is a fair pay offer, a promise to look again at the job evaluation scheme, and a solution to the structural pay issues. If changes aren’t made there is a real danger of a collapse in morale and that the Inspectorate will face an insurmountable recruitment and retention crisis and will not be able to fulfil its duties.”
A Planning Inspectorate spokesperson said the agency "will monitor the potential impact of any industrial action", adding that "the majority of Planning Inspectorate staff are not involved in the industrial action".
“The decision to take part is a personal one and we cannot predict, at this stage, exactly how our services might be affected," the spokesperson said. “We have plans in place to keep disruption to a minimum.”