United Kingdom Public Servants have been given a one-off 3.1 per cent pay rise for 2020 — and told they can expect much less in future years.
Shortly after announcing the pay rise, the Treasury launched its Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), warning “we must exercise restraint in future public sector pay awards”.
The Treasury’s comments will come as a blow to public sector workers who have seen real-terms pay cuts for most of the past decade, but signal the first indication of the consolidation likely in future to deal with record deficits in the public finances.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Stephen Barclay (pictured), in a letter to Ministers, said that given the impact COVID-19 there would need to be tough choices in other areas of spending at the review.
“Departments should therefore be identifying opportunities to reprioritise and deliver savings as part of their preparations for the CSR,” Mr Barclay said.
His warning will dismay doctors, teachers, nurses and the military, already disappointed that the 3.1 pay increase did not go further.
For this year alone, Chancellor, Rishi Sunak has accepted the recommendations of the public sector pay review bodies in full, leading to pay rises significantly ahead of inflation, which stood at 0.6 per cent in June.
In a statement, Mr Sunak said the past months had underlined that public sector workers had made a vital contribution to the country.
“It’s right, therefore, that we follow the recommendations of the independent pay bodies with this set of real-terms pay rises,” Mr Sunak said.
London, 23 July 2020
