Unions push for above-inflation pay rises for senior civil servants

Top
civil servants will press for above-inflation pay rises, arguing that sweeping
public-sector reforms cannot be achieved unless the Government pays for top
managers to implement them.

The
First Division Association union (FDA), which represents senior civil servants,
will make its case to the senior salaries review board next month, reports the
Financial Times (FT).

It
will say the aim of Andrew Turnbull, cabinet secretary, to have 30 per cent of
senior civil servants entering directly from outside the service by 2012, is
out of reach, unless pay rises steeply to make up for years in which it has
trailed the private sector.

Jonathan
Baume, general secretary of
the FDA, told the FT: "There are very strong arguments for increases in
senior civil service pay. We have pointed out for the past three years that
senior civil service pay is falling behind the wider public sector, let alone
the private sector."

Although
there are only 3,500 senior civil servants out of a Whitehall
payroll of 530,000, large pay rises would be hard to justify politically when
the Government has just announced plans to cut 100,000 jobs.

There
have also been strikes by Department of Work and Pensions staff, where the axe
will fall most keenly, cutting 30,000 jobs.

By Daniel Thomas

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