Millions of United Kingdom public sector workers are to see their wages rise next year, after the Government confirmed a pay freeze was to be lifted.
Delivering his annual Budget, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak said nurses, teachers and members of the armed forces would be among those to benefit.
“I have lifted a temporary pause in salary progression, introduced last November in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mr Sunak (pictured) said.
Treasury officials said exactly how much of a pay rise public sector workers would receive depended on the recommendations of independent pay review bodies, which set the pay for most front-line workforces.
Mr Sunak said the economic impact and uncertainty of the pandemic meant there had been a difficult decision last year to pause public sector pay.
“Now, with the economy firmly back on track, it’s right that nurses, teachers and all the other public sector workers who played their part during the pandemic see their wages rise,” he said.
However, observers have said that while there would be relief for some public sector workers, it might not be enough to lift the bitterness many felt during a year when key workers, often risking their health on the front-lines, had to cope with a real-terms pay cut.
The UK’s largest public sector union, Unison, said the pay freeze would continue “in all but name” unless Government Departments got extra money.
General Secretary, Christina McAnea said there was never a good time to freeze public sector pay but to do so at the peak of a pandemic was the height of folly.
“There can be no decent public services without the people to run them. Pay freezes don’t help employers hold on to experienced staff, nor attract new recruits,” Ms McAnea said.
“If the Chancellor doesn’t allocate extra money to Government Departments to fund the much-needed wage rises, the pay freeze will continue in all but name,” she said.
London, 28 October 2021
