A NEW equal pay scheme at a Gwent council could hit its budget by £4 million, a report says.

Monmouthshire Council is negotiating with the Unison and GMB unions on changes to the authority’s pay system.

The scheme will ensure men and women get paid equally for doing jobs of similar standing - such as refuse collection and school catering staff.

Its cabinet will be asked to agree to a draft “single status agreement” today, but council papers said the ongoing costs of putting it into practise could cause a “major budget strain”.

Officers wrote that the current draft agreement is “considered to be beyond the strict limit of affordability given the likely future financial scenario for local government.”

Salary bills would increase by £4.5 million in 2010/11, rising to an increase of £8.2 million in 2013/14, the report said.

The agreement could see some employees receive a pay rise, with the increase backdated to April 1 2009.

A minority of employees, the cabinet report said, would see their pay reduced but under the agreement those who do would have their pay rate protected for three years from April last year.

Monmouthshire’s single status agreement is similar to many agreements negotiated across Britain to meet a deal made between unions and councils more than a decade ago.

The deal sought to iron out some perceived differences in pay between male and female workers, putting pay structures in line with equal pay legislation, but councils have been slow in putting the deal into practice.