At our first branch meeting of 2024 we voted on a motion to campaign for an increase to the London Weighting Allowance. As set out in the motion below, the allowance at Kingston compares very poorly to the London waiting applied at other London universities. The motion received overwhelming support, with 97.3% of members in favour after 112 votes
Thank you to members for this support!
The current London Weighting allowance at Kingston University is not in line with the sector.
Kingston UCU notes:
- The London Weighting for University of the Arts London is £5,121
- The London Weighting for University of Greenwich is £4,069 to £5,269 (https://docs.gre.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/132130/london-weighting-rates-august-2023.pdf).
- The London Weighting for King’s College is £5,000 (https://employeebenefits.co.uk/kings-college-london-staff-accept-pay-rise-and-increased-parental-leave/).
- The London Weighting for University College London is £5,000 (https://www.ucl.ac.uk/human-resources/sites/human_resources/files/2023_-_24_ucl_non-clinical_grade_structure_with_spinal_points_december_2023_update_1.3.pdf).
- The NHS London Weighting for Outer London is 15% of salary (minimum £4,313 / maximum £5,436; https://publicsectorpay.org.uk/nhs-london-weighting-pay-bands/).
- The London Weighting recommended by research from Loughborough University (https://www.lboro.ac.uk/news-events/news/2022/may/london-weighting-vital-for-tackling-cost-of-living/) and endorsed by the Mayor of London is £6,549 for Outer London (https://www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/what-london-assembly-does/questions-mayor/find-an-answer/london-weighting-key-workers-and-cost-living-crisis).
- The current London Weighting for Kingston University is £2,666, which is approximately £3,000 to £4,000 lower than the above figures.
- The London Weighting for institutions such as Royal Holloway and University of London has not been changed for 30 years, remaining at £2,134, just £532 less than Kingston University.
- Likewise, the London Weighting has been unchanged for some time at St. George’s at £3,195, yet this is higher than Kingston University by £529 (https://www.sgul.ac.uk/about/governance/documents/salary-scales-Aug-21.xlsx).
Kingston UCU believes:
- Kingston University has one of the lowest figures for London Weighting across London universities.
- Actioning the London Weighting pay claim is necessary in the context of the continuing growth in cost of living.
- Actioning the London Weighting pay claim is especially urgent given the real terms pay cut to staff over the last decade.
- Addressing the real decline in London Weighting will ensure Kingston University staff are remunerated according to the standards of other geographically located universities in a high cost of living environment.
- Increasing London Weighting to a competitive level will help with recruitment and retention of quality staff.
- Increasing London Weighting will especially benefit Kingston University staff on lower pay grades.
Kingston UCU requires Kingston University to raise the London Weighting for its employees to £5,000 per year, pro-rata, and to continue to apply national pay awards to this figure.