Single status: the story so far Based on information from 98 councils - together accounting for more than 700,000 (58%) of the employees covered by the deal - our survey finds that progress in implementing the single-status agreement has been patchy. Reasons given include problems with job evaluation, difficult negotiations with the trade unions, and a lack of financial resources to do the job. Three years after the deal was signed, just seven of our respondents have carried out job evaluation and put a new harmonised grading structure in place. However: 71 % of respondents have chosen a job evaluation scheme; 70% of those that have selected a scheme have opted for the scheme designed specifically for the purpose by local authority employers and trade unions; and 36% of our sample have agreed pay protection arrangements to cover the transition to new grading structures. Local govermnent unions are preparing to lobby the Government for more money to fund the implementation of the agreement. More ominously, the unions are warning those councils they beheve are dragging their feet on job evaluation that litigation on equal pay for work of equal value remains an option.