Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Join
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Join
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today

PoliceNHSLocal authoritiesMilitaryEducation

Public sector pay rises targeted at NHS and low income staff

by Ashleigh Webber 25 Nov 2020
by Ashleigh Webber 25 Nov 2020 Shutterstock
Shutterstock

Public sector pay increases are to be targeted at those who need them most, the chancellor has confirmed.

Delivering his Spending Review this afternoon, Rishi Sunak said pay increases will be applied for one million frontline staff in the NHS next year, as well as low income staff in the wider public sector, although just how much they will rise by is yet to be confirmed.

How Covid-19 has affected pay

A fifth of pay awards remain frozen

Pay rise budgets axed as employers slash costs

How can HR address concerns over Covid-19’s impact on pensions?

Some 2.1 million public sector workers on annual salaries of £24,000 or less will be guaranteed a pay rise of at least £250, he said.

However, many other employees will see their pay frozen. Sunak said the pandemic had had “deepened the disparity between public and private sector wages”, as public sector wages had risen by nearly 4% in the six months to September, while private sector pay had fallen by 1%.

As a result he “cannot justify a significant, across-the-board pay increase for all public sector workers”, noting that sectors such as hospitality and retail have been hit hard by the pandemic.

Labour’s shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds criticised the decision to freeze pay for most public sector staff, particularly as the nation had been clapping for the NHS and other key workers earlier this year.

He had “taken a sledgehammer to consumer confidence” by freezing many of their wages, she said.

The TUC said it was a “kick in the teeth” for public sector workers.

After a decade of standstill pay, yet another pay freeze is a kick in the teeth for the key workers in the public sector who kept the country going in this crisis. #SpendingReview

— Trades Union Congress (@The_TUC) November 25, 2020

Dave Prentis, general secretary of the Unison, which has more than 1.3 members in the public sector, said: “This is austerity plain and simple. A decade of spending cuts left public services exposed when Covid came calling. The government is making the same disastrous mistake again.

“The chancellor wants to pause the pay of care, school, council and other public service workers who’ve been on fast forward all year. Extra money in pockets gets spent locally. Less than a pound more a week for some won’t save the thousands of ailing shops and leisure, arts and hospitality venues across the country.”

Damage to recruitment and retention

The pay freeze is likely to impede the public sector’s ability to recruit, said Mike Clancy, general secretary at Prospect.

“This freeze will cause huge damage to recruitment and retention in key areas, such as environmental agencies and health and safety, and will be a bitter blow to people who have gone above and beyond to deal with the twin challenges of coronavirus and Brexit,” he said.

John Apter, national chair at the Police Federation, described the freeze as “nothing short of a disgrace”.

“A handful of officers will get the additional £250 for the lowest paid workers, but only those who are already on an appallingly low starting salary for the dangerous job they do,” he said.

A handful of officers will get the additional £250 for the lowest paid workers, but only those who are already on an appallingly low starting salary for the dangerous job they do” – John Apter, Police Federation

“I appreciate the devil will be in the detail, but the headlines from today’s announcement does nothing to show appreciation to police officers and other public sector workers who have kept the wheels turning during 2020.”

The Treasury’s Spending Review document, which was published shortly after Sunak’s speech, said: “In 2020, published data shows the median salary in the public sector was £1,770 higher than in the private sector, and the public sector has benefitted from several years of pay rises above inflation.

“In 2019 public sector remuneration including pensions was approximately 7 per cent higher than in the private sector, rising from 5 per cent in 2017, even after accounting for differences in employee and job characteristics. Public service pensions are generous, with most enjoying Defined Benefit schemes where employer contributions are around 20 per cent of earnings – around double the typical contribution rate in the private sector.”

It adds that the public sector pay bill represents around a quarter of total government expenditure.

“Pausing headline pay awards next year for some workforces will allow the government to protect public sector jobs and investment in public services to respond to spending pressures from Covid-19. It will also avoid further expansion of the gap between public and private sector reward,” the document says.

The NHS Pay Review Body and Doctor and Dentist’s Review Body will report as usual next spring, and the government will take their recommendations for pay increases into account, it adds.

HR opportunities in the public sector on Personnel Today


Browse more HR opportunities in the public sector

Ashleigh Webber
Ashleigh Webber

Ashleigh is editor at OHW+ and part of the Personnel Today editorial team. Prior to joining Personnel Today in 2018, she covered the road transport sector for Commercial Motor and Motor Transport.

previous post
Chancellor launches Restart scheme to help jobless
next post
National living wage April 2021: 23-year-olds to receive increase

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

You may also like

New law protects emergency and retail workers from...

4 May 2022

Gap between pay and inflation largest since 1984

27 Apr 2022

Home Office civil servants angry at Rwanda asylum...

22 Apr 2022

Department for Education staff told to return to...

22 Apr 2022

Record £850k payout for teacher assaulted by pupil

14 Apr 2022

Union brands civil servant pay rise an ‘insult’

1 Apr 2022

Public sector organisations yet to report as gender...

1 Apr 2022

NHS staff survey: morale, pay satisfaction and wellbeing...

30 Mar 2022

Free Covid tests for workers in ‘high risk’...

30 Mar 2022

Police forces must develop black talent, says racism...

22 Mar 2022

  • The importance of being an ethical leader and how to become one PROMOTED | What is ethical leadership?...Read more
  • RPO Report: 2022, The Year to Outsource PROMOTED | Employers should be overwhelmed with choice...Read more
  • Report: Enabling organisational agility through talent & people success PROMOTED | Work has been challenged...Read more
  • Employee Trends 2022 report PROMOTED | Edenred research on employees analysed the key employees’ trends for 2022...Read more
  • How finance apprenticeships can boost business PROMOTED | As the world’s most forward-thinking professional accountancy body...Read more
  • Paul Devoy: Showing appreciation to the Investors in People community PROMOTED | Ask most people what comes to mind when you mention Investors in People...Read more
  • White paper: How digitalisation can support evolving occupational health PROMOTED | Download this free white paper to discover how digitalisation can help occupational health meet emerging challenges...Read more

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Join
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today