Strike ballots for Ofgem workers

In a dispute about pay and jobs, hundreds of employees at the energy regulator Ofgem will vote on strike action.

In the next few weeks, more than 700 members from the Public and Commercial Services Union in Glasgow (PCS), London and Cardiff (PCS) will vote on whether or not to launch a campaign of industrial action.

The voting began on 1 May, and closes on 12 June.

The PCS said that the dispute was caused by a “piecemeal” approach to pay, whereby recruitment and retention bonuses were paid to “a handful of people”, but not to others on a sporadic basis.

The union claimed that the regulator did not pay enough attention to the agreements they had made with the union in order to ensure that decisions affecting members are “made properly”.

The report said that stronger agreements were needed “that Ofgem cannot evade”.

A spokesperson for Ofgem said: “We were disappointed to hear that the PCS announced today they would be polling their members about possible industrial action.

Around a third Ofgem employees are PCS members and we continue to work with PCS on these important issues.

“As in the rest of public sector, we must be as efficient and as effective as we can for the businesses and households we serve. We also need to ensure we retain and attract the skills and people we require.

If industrial action is taken, we will prioritize serving energy consumers in Britain.

Fran Heathcote, PCS general secretary, said: “Ofgem management has been deliberately provocative with their dealings us.

“Rather than imposing a band-aid solution to organisational problems, they should come to an agreement with us first before making changes that could lead them into industrial action.

We’re willing to work with Ofgem if we can guarantee that our members’ interests will be protected. “They must be confident to plan their future.”

PCS spokeswoman told Personnel Today the pay at Ofgem is nearly 20% less than that of the department in charge (the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero). This, he said, had led to a retention issue. The loss of expertise made it difficult for Ofgem’s staff to maintain control over energy providers.

He said that the employer’s plan to offer retention allowances wouldn’t solve a structural problem within an organisation. The criteria for receiving an allowance were also “so vague” that some members said they looked like senior managers wanted to give money to their friends without any accountability.

PCS also said that it wanted assurances about redundancies from the employer, but they refused to give them.

According to the most recent annual report, Ofgem employed an average of 1,721 people in 2023-24.

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