Government recommends 2.8% pay increase for public sector workers.

Government departments recently proposed to raise salaries of public sector workers such as teachers, NHS staff and senior civil servants by 2.8% over the coming year. Unions expressed disappointment that such an amount is proposed; one even threatened strike action as a response. British Medical Association (BMA) officials warned of an increasing “risk” of further industrial action unless “pay erosion” was addressed immediately, while Unison representative Helga Pile called this proposal a “bitter pill”. These recommendations will now be examined by public sector pay review bodies. Shabana Mahmood, Justice Secretary, stressed the move was only the “start” of a process and unions should acknowledge the “extremely challenging” financial landscape inherited from Conservative rule. Inflation, which measures price changes over time, is projected to average 2.6% this year and government departments were told they must fund 2025-26 and future pay increases from their individual budgets. As opposed to previous years, recommended pay awards that exceed what departments can afford will no longer incur additional expenditure, the government said. Instead, officials will need to assess if additional expenses could be covered through savings or productivity enhancement. On Wednesday, the prime minister’s spokesperson stressed the need for pay awards to be equitable for taxpayers as well as workers, saying any exceed inflation threshold must be offset through productivity improvements. After being elected, the new Labour government agreed to offer above inflation pay raises to public sector workers for 2024-25 – ending decades-old strikes and industrial action. According to BMA President Sir Glyn Davies and Royal College of Nursing Chief Executive Prof Nicola Ranger respectively – these recommendations for above inflation pay were deeply offensive.” “Today the Government announced to nursing staff they are only worth up to PS2 more a day – less than the price of coffee!” she stated. Fair pay must also include structural reform; let us open direct talks now in order to avoid disputes or ballots in future.” Helga Pile of BBC’s Today programme expressed her concerns that these proposals might lead to staff leaving NHS, which in turn will lower morale ahead of an “incredibly tough winter”.The Department for Education stated the 2.8% raise would maintain competitive pay levels among teachers despite challenging financial climate the government faces. However, the National Education Union stated it fell “well short of providing urgent action needed”. “Since 2010, teacher pay has seen significant reductions, undermining teacher living standards and weakening its competitive standing against other graduate professions. Eight pay review bodies make annual recommendations to ministers regarding pay for around 45% of people working in the public sector; ministers ultimately have final say and are free to ignore or change these recommendations at will. While evidence can come from various sources, unions argue the bodies have their hands tied due to government restrictions including funding levels allocated per department and similar issues.