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Public sector workers will see their pay increase next year, the Chancellor has confirmed ahead of the Budget on Wednesday. The government will lift the pay freeze that was implemented in November 2020 in response to the pandemic’s impact on the public purse, Rishi Sunak will announce in his speech tomorrow. It will likely mean that 2.6 million public sector workers including teachers, police officers, prison officers and civil servants will get a pay rise next year, but how much they will receive will depend on what independent pay review bodies recommend. Sunak said: “The economic impact and uncertainty of the virus meant we had to take the difficult decision to pause public sector pay. “Along with our Plan for Jobs, this action helped us protect livelihoods at the height of the pandemic. “And now, with the economy firmly back on track, it's right that nurses, teachers and all the other public sector workers who played their part during the pandemic see their wages rise.” The pay freeze applied to most public sector workers, aside from NHS staff. It was implemented to help ensure the gap between public and private sector pay did not widen further during the height of the pandemic, which put significant pressure on businesses’ finances. The Treasury said that public sector average weekly earnings increased by 4.5% in 2020/21, while private sector wages only rose by 1.8%. In July, the Department of Health and Social Care announced that it would award a 3% wage increase fo