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Your article "Nottingham takes pay leap" ( THES , August 8) does not give a full account of the work that has been going on since mid-2001.

The university, as part of its Higher Education Funding Council for England approved human resources strategy, has been working towards an integrated pay and reward scheme. From the outset, Nottingham has sought trade union involvement, ranging from representation on steering groups to membership of job-matching panels. Detailed piloting of job-matching schemes has been undertaken (including review of the Higher Education Role Analysis and Association of University Teachers schemes with which the unions were involved).

Amicus worked constructively with the university on job-matching panels and has participated in more recent work to develop the reward scheme. The university regrets that the AUT and Unison have declined to participate. An invitation to the AUT and Unison to join in the shaping of the reward strategy was reiterated in a joint meeting on July 24.

The university believes that its approach is consistent with the principles in the national framework, and it remains ready to work with the unions to build on the investment of time and effort by staff and managers in developing the strategy.

We hope that union colleagues will take the opportunity to move from their current stance of opposition.

Keith Jones
Registrar
University of Nottingham