A COMPENSATION fund for underpaid female council employees has swollen to £9.5m in just three years – prompting fears it is spiralling out of control.

The Equal Pay Back Pay Provision fund, set up in 2011, has ballooned by £5m to £9.5m – even though the value of the reserve was predicted to be £6m this year and £7m in 2016.

Critics say it is running wild at a time of widespread cutbacks following years of legal wrangling and interest charges. Independent Cllr Mark Ralph said: “If our delays have resulted in an increase of the penalty to the council and therefore the council tax payer then that would appear to be mismanagement. If the fund has ramped up by 25% a year that’s out of order.”

The fund was launched after an employment tribunal ruled the council had sexually discriminated against female employees including teaching assistants, carers and refuse workers by not paying them as much as male colleagues.

Each case has to be dealt with on an individual basis and will involve an employment tribunal.

On Tuesday, councillors spent an hour debating a 1.9% hike to council tax, which will raise around £1m for civic centre coffers. More than 50 jobs are also set to be axed after this year’s £127m budget was rubber stamped.

Reading’s Lib Dem leader, Cllr Ricky Duveen, said he was disgusted by the delay, and added: “You would’ve thought at some point that someone would do something about it. They know they are going to have to pay up so why don’t they get on with it? It’s just crazy.”

But Tory leader, Cllr Richard Willis, said: “It’s a lot of money but the council has got no option. Clearly, from the councillors’ point of view we’re custodians of public money as well as employers of a number of people who haven’t had fair pay, so we’ve got to play fair on both sides.”

Council spokesman Oscar Mortali stressed the council has an equal pay policy for all staff, in accordance with national and legal requirements. He added: “Making provision in the budget for possible historic equal pay claims is not something unique to Reading.

“When they arise, historic equal pay claims are dealt with on a case-by-case basis through the employment tribunal system.

“As a consequence, they do take some time to resolve and as a responsible local authority the council does need to make allowance for this.”