Cost of Living

The cost of things we need for our everyday lives – like food, clothing, and energy – has been going up. And we recognise the financial challenges that staff are facing. 

To help you this winter, our Cost-of-Living page provides information on the sources of support available to you, along with details of the discounts and savings you’re able to access as a member of staff at the University.  

Here you can find information on specific services to support your Financial Wellbeing.  

These include how to access our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) and Citizen's Advice and how to manage your overall wellbeing through our Five Ways to Wellbeing. There’s also details of other financial support and advice services available. 

Action for line managers: Please download and print the Cost of Living PDF for members of your team who are unable to access our intranet area. Please leave in staff communal/ break out areas for staff to read and keep.

Alongside this resource we have also awarded staff in grades 6 and above an additional temporary supplement of 2% of salary for this financial year (i.e., August 2022 – July 2023 inclusive). The supplement is in addition to the nationally agreed 3% rise that we have already implemented (with effect from August 2022) and is in addition to other salary increases such as automatic increments (also worth around 3% of salary) and additional discretionary pay related to performance or from recent promotions. The supplement will apply to this financial year only; it will be non-pensionable and will not be consolidated into base pay. The first payment was made this November (which was backdated to August 2022), and the payment will be made monthly thereafter until July 2023. 

Further details regarding this payment are available within the Salary Scales section on the staff Intranet.

This supplement is payable to staff in grades 6 and above only as we negotiate pay for support staff directly with local trades union representatives and have already agreed and implemented a pay increase for this group of staff of a minimum of 5%. The additional temporary supplement of 2% to staff in grades 6 and above therefore ensures that all staff at the University receive a minimum uplift of 5% for this financial year. 

The University is also pleased to confirm that following the recent announcement that the Voluntary UK Living Wage (VLW) is being increased to £10.90 an hour, we have increased the minimum Band 200 salary to match this. This is significantly above the government’s National Living Wage of £9.50 an hour. The increased Band 200 pay rate of £10.90 an hour has been implemented with effect from 1st November 2022 and payment commenced in November 2022 salaries. The revised Support Staff Pay Scale is available online.  

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