Bradford Council faces forking out a one-off £13 million payment next year to its lowest-paid workers - most of them women.

The payment will compensate the likes of care workers, cleaners and catering staff who have traditionally been paid less for doing jobs similar to their male colleagues.

Unions say the authority's women workers outnumber male staff by about three to one, but most are in under-paid jobs.

City Hall bosses are now in talks over the so-called Single Status issue which could result in the landmark payment.

It is not known how many staff will be affected by the agreement or how much each Council employee will receive.

As with other local authorities, payments will be paid out to staff who have been in service for the last six years.

Council chiefs have asked the Government for permission to use the authority's reserve funds to help find the £13 million. But the deal also requires wage upgrades for affected workers which will take a further £10 million out of the Council's budget every year. That cash needs to be in place annually from March 2008 and all political groups at City Hall are now wrestling with the best way to set up the reserve.

Earlier this year Bradford Council's finance director Sue Mawson recommended £5 million be put aside in next year's budget to prepare for the Single Status issue, and £5 million the next year.

So far, only the Tory group has made its proposals public. The Tories have suggested easing the pain by paying £7.5 million into the fund next year using the extra £4 million it collected from council tax payers this year.

Bradford Council's executive member for corporate matters, Councillor Kris Hopkins (Con, Worth Valley), complained that local authorities were having to make the payout alone.

"The courts have made their decision on Single Status and we now have to implement it, but the Government has not made any financial provision for the Council," he said.

Coun Hopkins said the £13 million figure was an estimate based on information provided by the Council's finance officers

When the Telegraph & Argus asked Bradford Council how many staff would be affected and how much an average payment would be, a spokesman said: "It would be unfair to comment on the details of this figure while negotiations are ongoing between the Council and unions."

Patrick Kerry, the Council's representative for the public sector union Unison, said: "We realise the Council would be bankrupt if they paid everybody what they were due, so we are looking for compensation that is fair."

Labour group leader Councillor Ian Greenwood (Lab, Little Horton) said his group's proposals are being developed but added: "Single Status was brought in so that every worker for the Council was to be treated equally in terms of remuneration and we must all believe that is right."

Liberal Democrat leader Jeanette Sunderland (Lib Dem, Idle) said: "We will be supporting the use of £5 million. This is something that affects large numbers of women that work for the Council who historically have not been rewarded in the way they should be. This has been on the horizon for a number of years and because the Conservative leadership failed to deal with it, it has become a bigger problem."