Public-sector pay

SIR – While I fully support fiscal responsibility, Rob Wilson’s article (Comment, July 7) seemed a desperate attempt to defend the 1 per cent public-sector pay cap.

Asserting that “public-sector workers are still better-paid than their equivalents in the private sector” is a sweeping generalisation. Which private-sector worker is equivalent to an A&E nurse or a firefighter?

The other argument used is the incremental payment structure in the NHS. The increments are not given for the passage of time, as Mr Wilson suggests. In a significant proportion of cases, they reflect increased skill, and responsibility. Being a Band 9 nurse is different to being a Band 5 nurse, so it is rational that the jobs should be remunerated differently.

The fact that there are 40,000 vacancies for nurses and midwives means that the money for pay rises needs to be found somewhere, while not increasing the fiscal deficit. Dr Amit Patel

Parramatta, New South Wales Australia