The 1 % cap
on public sector pay will help bring some fairness to the public sector / private sector pay gap.
A Number 10 source said the Government was responding to the recommendations
of public sector pay review bodies which are currently reporting to ministers «on a case - by - case basis».
Some of it is the legacy of the 60s and 70s when
public sector pay rise conflicts dominated politics and resulted in crippling strikes.
But simultaneously they will cut the deficit by freezing
public sector pay at one per cent and thereby cut growth.
Details of the majority of
public sector pay reviews, including for the military, doctors and the prison service, could be published as early as this week.
Details of other
public sector pay awards have also been revealed following the recommendations of a number of different pay review bodies.
The government have already announced some measures to cut the deficit, like a two -
year public sector pay freeze.
The Conservatives have attacked the government for proposing a freeze on
senior public sector pay in the middle of their party conference.
But he warned the government would continue to make the «hard decisions» needed to keep it that way, standing by his pledge to
restrict public sector pay awards.
The independent pay review bodies will look at
how public sector pay can be made «more responsive» to local markets - making the regional economies more «balanced».
The government is currently under pressure to announce more funding for schools after it lifted the one - per - cent cap
on public sector pay.
Meanwhile, official statistics show that in the first three months of this year,
public sector pay rose by 1.4 per cent - whereas private sector pay did not rise at all.
Gordon Brown today issued a strong defence of his handling of the economy, and underlined his tough line by calling yet again for restraint
in public sector pay rises.
Kuwaiti oil sector employees sit in a shaded area on the first day of an official strike called by the Oil and Petrochemical Industries Workers Union
over public sector pay Continue Reading
A Department of Education spokesperson said: «We recognise and value the hard work of teachers which is why we have accepted the pay deal proposed by the independent School Teachers» Review Body, in line with the 1 per cent
public sector pay policy.
Their members will take part in a one - day strike on July 10th, but the participation of Unite members would add to the challenge to the Government's policy of
limiting public sector pay rises.
Hammond, who has faced calls from fellow cabinet ministers to scrap the 1 % freeze on
public sector pay increases, said that the government must continue the «right balance» between what is fair for workers and taxpayers.
The Financial Times suggested that in order to find additional cuts of # 30 - 40bn, the incoming government might have to
cut public sector pay by 5 per cent, freeze benefits for a year, means - test child benefit, abolish winter fuel payments, and cut free TV licences and bus passes.
And, in the meantime, poorer people will be protected
against public sector pay conditions; their children will get a pupil premium; and they will gain disproportionately from tax cuts - as well as, of course, from the welfare state.
Local government and devolved administration budgets are also likely to be slashed,
while public sector pay is also likely to bear a big burden of the cuts.
Today's Daily Telegraph splashes with the news that
public sector pay continues to grow under Labour: «The Office for National Statistics disclosed that, in the three months to October, state workers received an average annual rise of 2.8 % This was close to triple that seen in the private sector, where pay edged up by 1.1 %.
Unite, Britain's biggest union, has branded Chancellor, George Osborne's plans to introduce
local public sector pay bargaining as a «blueprint for privatisation».
In office, Labour will not reverse the coalition's spending cuts — and that includes
public sector pay which remains all but frozen.
We have therefore agreed that there will need to be: - a significantly accelerated reduction in the structural deficit over the course of a Parliament, with the main burden of deficit reduction borne by reduced spending rather than increased taxes; - arrangements that will protect those on low incomes from the effect of
public sector pay constraint and other spending constraints; and - protection of jobs by stopping Labour's proposed jobs tax.
Most working - age benefits - including jobseekers» allowance, employment support allowance and income support - will be uprated by just one per cent for the next three year, just
like public sector pay.
It also criticised the government's controversial decision to
stage public sector pay awards, warning savings will be modest and on - off, do little to fight inflation and undermine the credibility of the pay review body process.
With inflation rising and set to rise further, the Tories» plan to
raise public sector pay by one percent a year to 2020 is likely to mean real terms cuts.
The 50p rate was a last - ditch stunt by the outgoing Labour government, designed to place the incoming administration in a quandary: why should the rich get a tax cut
when public sector pay was being squeezed?
And shadow cabinet members from Corbyn down are even following more conventional rules about what they say in relation to contentious issues: McDonnell refused my invitation to support illegal
public sector pay strikes on my show yesterday, for example.
My recent post on
public sector pay elicited a lot of comments, including a fair few based on the right - wing premise that the public sector is an unproductive burden on the private sector.
But she adds: «We can't pretend that we can
keep public sector pay capped at 1 % for 10 years, because that will have consequences.»
«It is one of the reasons
why public sector pay has risen at twice the rate of private sector pay over the last four years.»
There was a sudden conversion to lifting the one
percent public sector pay cap, but for the most part it was recycled or re-announced.
Resisting the temptation to offer a traditional pre-election bribe, Osborne also announced that he was continuing with a freeze on
public sector pay until 2017, meaning public sector workers will have seen their pay held back below inflation for seven years.
The strongly supported strike is over the government's policy to cap
public sector pay below inflation which is leading to pay rises of 1.5 % in the department and is part of a week of action across civil and public services over below inflation pay, which also saw 5,500 Land Registry staff walk out for two hours today.
The new coalition government in Britain has begun a process of attacking working class living standards through public spending cuts, slashing public services and
reducing public sector pay, jobs and pensions.
And in exchange we will ask for your help in solving Labour's Debt Crisis by keeping the cost of
public sector pay only as high as the country can responsibly afford.
... despite reports Govt backtracking on regional pay, D.Gauke is standing by it:» we must
ensure public sector pay reflects local conditions»
Liberal commentator Will Hutton has unveiled his report
into public sector pay, calling for the ability to track and publish the pay multiples of both public and private companies.
Although the two parties will hold talks tomorrow, Gordon Brown has made it clear he will not sanction
large public sector pay deals which risk exacerbating inflation.
Phrases with «public sector pay»