Birmingham Council Pay Scales 2026/27: Grades and Take-Home
Birmingham City Council pay grades 2026/27 - salary, hourly rate on its 36.5-hour week and take-home after tax, NI and LGPS at every spine point.
Grades at a glance
From Annex 2, effective 1 April 2025. Each grade covers a span of national spine points; the council decides the span, the NJC decides what each point is worth.
These are 1 April 2025 rates. Birmingham published them in a 2026/27 document, and the money is the national spine as it stood at that date for SCP 3 to 43; the points above SCP 43 are the council's own local points. The 3.3% award for 2026/27 is backdated to 1 April 2026 and the national spine it produced was published on 24 August 2026, so an uplift and arrears are due on every figure below. We do not restate them here on the council's behalf - see the national spine for the 2026/27 points.
Birmingham does not use spine points 10, 41. Those points exist nationally; this council simply does not place any grade on them.
| Grade | Spine points | Salary range | Hourly range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade A | SCP 3 to 11 | £24,796 to £28,142 | £13.03 to £14.79 |
| Grade B | SCP 12 to 23 | £28,598 to £34,434 | £15.03 to £18.09 |
| Grade C | SCP 24 to 33 | £35,412 to £44,075 | £18.61 to £23.16 |
| Grade D | SCP 34 to 42 | £45,091 to £53,460 | £23.69 to £28.09 |
| Grade 6 | SCP 43 to 49 | £54,495 to £64,811 | £28.63 to £34.05 |
| Grade 7 | SCP 50 to 58 | £66,627 to £85,845 | £35.01 to £45.11 |
- Grades A to D replaced the old Grades 1 to 5 on 1 October 2025.
- Points marked "from 1 April 2026" are marked in the source "not available until 1 April 2026", so before that date a grade's ceiling in practice was lower than its top point.
- Grade 6 starts at SCP 43, the top of the national spine, and everything above that point in Grades 6 and 7 is locally set.
Every point, and what it nets
Take-home assumes England, the 2026/27 tax rules, full-time hours and LGPS membership in the main section. The pension band steps up as pay crosses £29,001, £47,301, £59,801 and £84,001, which is why take-home flattens at those points.
| Grade | SCP | Annual | Hourly | LGPS | Take-home | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade A | 3 | £24,796 | £13.03 | 5.8% | £20,222 | £1,685 |
| Grade A | 4 | £25,185 | £13.23 | 5.8% | £20,484 | £1,707 |
| Grade A | 5 | £25,583 | £13.44 | 5.8% | £20,752 | £1,729 |
| Grade A | 6 | £25,989 | £13.66 | 5.8% | £21,026 | £1,752 |
| Grade A | 7 | £26,403 | £13.87 | 5.8% | £21,305 | £1,775 |
| Grade A | 8 | £26,824 | £14.09 | 5.8% | £21,588 | £1,799 |
| Grade A | 9 (from 1 April 2026) | £27,254 | £14.32 | 5.8% | £21,878 | £1,823 |
| Grade A | 11 (from 1 April 2026) | £28,142 | £14.79 | 5.8% | £22,476 | £1,873 |
| Grade B | 12 | £28,598 | £15.03 | 5.8% | £22,783 | £1,899 |
| Grade B | 13 | £29,064 | £15.27 | 6.5% | £22,934 | £1,911 |
| Grade B | 14 | £29,540 | £15.52 | 6.5% | £23,252 | £1,938 |
| Grade B | 15 | £30,024 | £15.78 | 6.5% | £23,576 | £1,965 |
| Grade B | 16 | £30,518 | £16.04 | 6.5% | £23,906 | £1,992 |
| Grade B | 17 | £31,022 | £16.30 | 6.5% | £24,242 | £2,020 |
| Grade B | 18 | £31,537 | £16.57 | 6.5% | £24,586 | £2,049 |
| Grade B | 19 | £32,061 | £16.85 | 6.5% | £24,936 | £2,078 |
| Grade B | 20 | £32,597 | £17.13 | 6.5% | £25,294 | £2,108 |
| Grade B | 21 | £33,143 | £17.41 | 6.5% | £25,659 | £2,138 |
| Grade B | 22 | £33,699 | £17.71 | 6.5% | £26,031 | £2,169 |
| Grade B | 23 (from 1 April 2026) | £34,434 | £18.09 | 6.5% | £26,522 | £2,210 |
| Grade C | 24 | £35,412 | £18.61 | 6.5% | £27,175 | £2,265 |
| Grade C | 25 | £36,363 | £19.11 | 6.5% | £27,810 | £2,318 |
| Grade C | 26 | £37,280 | £19.59 | 6.5% | £28,423 | £2,369 |
| Grade C | 27 | £38,220 | £20.08 | 6.5% | £29,051 | £2,421 |
| Grade C | 28 | £39,152 | £20.57 | 6.5% | £29,673 | £2,473 |
| Grade C | 29 | £39,862 | £20.94 | 6.5% | £30,147 | £2,512 |
| Grade C | 30 | £40,777 | £21.43 | 6.5% | £30,759 | £2,563 |
| Grade C | 31 | £41,771 | £21.95 | 6.5% | £31,423 | £2,619 |
| Grade C | 32 | £42,839 | £22.51 | 6.5% | £32,136 | £2,678 |
| Grade C | 33 (from 1 April 2026) | £44,075 | £23.16 | 6.5% | £32,962 | £2,747 |
| Grade D | 34 | £45,091 | £23.69 | 6.5% | £33,640 | £2,803 |
| Grade D | 35 | £46,142 | £24.24 | 6.5% | £34,342 | £2,862 |
| Grade D | 36 | £47,181 | £24.79 | 6.5% | £35,037 | £2,920 |
| Grade D | 37 | £48,226 | £25.34 | 6.8% | £35,619 | £2,968 |
| Grade D | 38 | £49,282 | £25.89 | 6.8% | £36,322 | £3,027 |
| Grade D | 39 | £50,269 | £26.41 | 6.8% | £36,979 | £3,082 |
| Grade D | 40 | £51,356 | £26.98 | 6.8% | £37,767 | £3,147 |
| Grade D | 42 (from 1 April 2026) | £53,460 | £28.09 | 6.8% | £39,294 | £3,275 |
| Grade 6 | 43 | £54,495 | £28.63 | 6.8% | £39,941 | £3,328 |
| Grade 6 | 44 | £56,181 | £29.52 | 6.8% | £40,850 | £3,404 |
| Grade 6 | 45 | £57,883 | £30.41 | 6.8% | £41,768 | £3,481 |
| Grade 6 | 46 | £59,581 | £31.31 | 6.8% | £42,683 | £3,557 |
| Grade 6 | 47 | £61,295 | £32.21 | 8.5% | £42,982 | £3,582 |
| Grade 6 | 48 | £62,988 | £33.10 | 8.5% | £43,878 | £3,657 |
| Grade 6 | 49 | £64,811 | £34.05 | 8.5% | £44,842 | £3,737 |
| Grade 7 | 50 | £66,627 | £35.01 | 8.5% | £45,803 | £3,817 |
| Grade 7 | 51 | £68,466 | £35.97 | 8.5% | £46,776 | £3,898 |
| Grade 7 | 52 | £70,614 | £37.10 | 8.5% | £47,912 | £3,993 |
| Grade 7 | 53 | £72,847 | £38.28 | 8.5% | £49,093 | £4,091 |
| Grade 7 | 54 | £75,157 | £39.49 | 8.5% | £50,315 | £4,193 |
| Grade 7 | 55 | £77,546 | £40.74 | 8.5% | £51,579 | £4,298 |
| Grade 7 | 56 | £80,026 | £42.05 | 8.5% | £52,891 | £4,408 |
| Grade 7 | 57 | £82,589 | £43.39 | 8.5% | £54,247 | £4,521 |
| Grade 7 | 58 | £85,845 | £45.11 | 9.9% | £55,248 | £4,604 |
Basic pay only. Excludes overtime, unsocial hours, market supplements and any local allowance, and assumes no student loan.
Where we differ from the council's own document
- SCP 32 is printed as £44,075 (£23.16 an hour) in the source document. That is the national SCP 33 salary. SCP 32 is £42,839 nationally, and no council can vary a national point. The national figure is shown above.
- SCP 33 is printed as £35,412 (£18.61 an hour) in the source document. A duplicate of the Grade C SCP 24 row. SCP 33 is £44,075 nationally, which is also what the council's own progression tables by grade and spine point show as the top of Grade C. The national figure is shown above.
Salaries on spine points 3 to 43 are set nationally by the NJC, so a council cannot pay a different figure for one. Where its published table disagrees with the national circular, the circular is what governs your pay.
Why the hourly rate looks high
Birmingham's full-time week is 36.5 hours, not the national 37. The annual salaries are the national ones for 1 April 2025, so the shorter week produces a higher hourly rate for the same money: spine point 3 is £13.03 an hour here against £12.85 in the national circular. If you are comparing two councils' job adverts, compare the annual figure - the hourly one is not measuring the same week.
Points above SCP 43 (£54,495) are not NJC points. The national spine stops there, and Green Book Part 2 paragraph 5.4 leaves posts paid above the maximum but graded below deputy chief officer to be set locally, then moved by whatever the NJC agrees. Birmingham runs 15 such points, up to £85,845, which nets about £55,248 a year.
The 2026/27 award
The 2026/27 award settled at 3.3%, backdated to 1 April 2026, and it took five months. The national employers offered it on 24 March 2026 as a full and final offer; Unite, GMB and UNISON all rejected it and the employers declined to reopen negotiations on 9 June 2026. UNISON's industrial action ballot then missed the turnout threshold, and UNISON and GMB both accepted, as GMB's noticeboard recorded on 21 August 2026. Acceptance by two of the three unions is enough for a joint union position; Unite had not announced a final position.
The national spine those salaries sit on was uplifted and published on 24 August 2026. The salaries above are the ones Birmingham has published, at 1 April 2025, so the increase is owed on top of them as backdated arrears until the council restates its own document.
The full picture, including the spine itself and how the round played out, is on our NJC pay scales page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the lowest pay grade at Birmingham?
Grade A, at spine point 3. From 1 April 2026 the national spine pays that point £25,614 a year, which is £13.46 an hour on the council's 36.5-hour week. Birmingham's own published scale shows the 1 April 2025 figure of £24,796 (£13.03 an hour), which the backdated 2026/27 award replaces. Spine point 2 was deleted on 1 April 2026.
Are Birmingham pay scales the same as other councils?
The money on each spine point is, because the National Joint Council sets it nationally. The grades are not: Birmingham decides through its own job evaluation which points each grade covers, so the same job title can sit in a different grade at the council next door. Compare spine points, not grade letters.
What is take-home on £24,796 at Birmingham?
About £20,222 a year, or £1,685 a month, after Income Tax, National Insurance and a 5.8% LGPS contribution. The LGPS is a net pay arrangement, so the contribution reduces the pay you are taxed on but not the pay your National Insurance is charged on.
When do Birmingham pay scales go up?
The 2026/27 NJC award settled at 3.3% in August 2026, backdated to 1 April 2026, so an uplift and arrears are due. The national spine it produced was published on 24 August 2026; the figures on this page are the ones Birmingham itself published, at 1 April 2025, because we do not restate a named council's scale on its behalf. The national 2026/27 points are on our NJC pay scales page.