The pay of NHS managers, civil servants and top judges would be frozen next year under government plans to scale back public spending over the next five years, according to the Times.
The three-year deals negotiated for nurses and other public sector workers are likely to remain in place until they end next year, after which workers can expect just minimal pay rises, ministers have also proposed.
Ministers are determined to tackle the pay of some of the UK’s top public sector chief executives, whose salaries top £200,000 plus pension entitlements.
Papers setting out the government’s submission to the independent pay review bodies are still being finalised, but it is understood they back pay freezes for senior managers and small rises for the rest.
The review bodies will submit their reports to Downing Street early next year, but details of what the government is proposing may be published before the Pre-Budget Report in November.
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
Speaking at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton on Tuesday, communities secretary John Denham said the average pay of local government workers had risen by £6,000 in seven years, but for chief executives it had increased by £40,000. He told the conference this had “to stop”.
Earlier this year local government workers accepted a 1.25% pay rise for the lowest paid workers.
