Public sector ‘must wait for pay rise’
THE Government is keen to boost public sector pay, as long as the economy can afford it, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling promised yesterday.
He fuelled expectations Theresa May is poised to end the long-standing one per cent cap on pay rises in the public sector.
Ministers are said to be considering staggering the cost with rises at least in line with inflation, starting in April for the lowest-paid and sectors such as nursing and top civil servants which struggle to keep staff. The cap would be lifted for others in spring 2019.
Mr Grayling said the Tories had learnt from June’s election – in which people’s weariness of austerity was seen as a factor in costing Mrs May her majority.
“We have listened to the lessons from the general election campaign,” he told the BBC. “We look carefully at the issues we face as a country, but when it comes to these big financial decisions they are things that have to wait for the Budget.
“All of us want to see a situation where we can provide people with additional pay, additional job opportunities. But in order to do that we have to have a strong, growing economy.”
The Treasury is due to set out within weeks next year’s remit for public sector pay review bodies.
Chancellor Philip Hammond, who delivers his Budget in the autumn, is under pressure to give flexibility to recommend more generous rises.