Top civil servants, army officers, judges get 1% pay rise

Top civil servants, army officers, judges get 1% pay rise

Senior civil servants, military chiefs and judges will be held to a 1 per cent salary rise this year, ministers said today - as a top mandarin warned that the pay cap cannot 'go on forever'.

The government underlined its determination to hold the line on the limit - for now - by warning that splurging on wages would cost jobs.

Damian Green, Theresa May's effective deputy, insisted that the contribution of public sector workers was 'greatly valued' and ministers wanted to 'recruit, retain and motivate staff'.

Damian Green, Theresa May's effective deputy, insisted that the contribution of public sector workers was 'greatly valued' and ministers wanted to 'recruit, retain and motivate staff'. He is pictured filling in for Mrs May at PMQs last week

'However, there is a trade-off between pay and jobs in many public services, and pay restraint is one of the many difficult choices the Government has had to make to help put the UK's public finances back on track,' he said. 

'Senior public sector workers, like everyone else, will have to continue to play their part to ensure we deliver job security for working people across the country. 

'This will help us to strike the right balance between protecting people's jobs, being fair to public sector workers and being fair to those who pay for it.

The announcement, accepting the re commendations from the Senior Salary Review Body, is the latest sign that Chancellor Philip Hammond is winning the argument inside government about the need to maintain spending discipline. 

Last week teachers were awarded a 1 per cent rise despite the CPI inflation rate running at more than double that figure.

Mr Hammond lashed out at Cabinet colleagues for briefing against him over the weekend after he was accused of saying privately that public sector workers are 'overpaid'. He insists state employees still enjoy a 10 per cent premium over private sector counterparts, even after years of austerity aiming to tackle the deficit.

At a Whitehall conference last week, John Manzoni, the civil service's chief executive, said he was 'very conscious' of the impact the 1 per cent threshold was having.

The Chancellor, pictured on the BBC's Andrew Marr show at the weekend, has been fighting to hold the line on the 1 per cent pay cap

'Personally, I don't think it can go on for ever, but it is fair to say that we're very conscious of it and we need to be continuously alert to it,' Mr Manzoni reportedly told the Civil Service Live event.

But he backed a regional system, insisting that in some areas salaries were still 'very competitive'.

'We've got to think regionally at some stage,' he said.

Mr Manzoni also warned that the public sector would never be able to compete with private sector packages in many areas.

'So, therefore, we've got to work on the importance of the job; we've got to work on the flexibilities of the employment terms and conditions,' he said.

Civil Service chief executive John Manzoni backed a regional pay system, insisting that in some areas salaries were still 'very competitive'

'We're excellent, I think, in allowing people flexibility in the way that they work â€" more so than the private sector, having spent most of my life in the private sector.'

Cabinet secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood also struck a cautious note at the conference.

'This is not an issue that we are ignoring,' he said according to the Civil Service World website.

'We want the civil service to be treated fairly â€" that's our job. We discuss this quite frequently, particularly as inflation has ticked up.

'We've got to be part of the government's pay policy. We can't just ... do our own thing because we're part of a broader public sector.'

 

 

 

 

 

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