The public sector salary increase must be held accountable – PM

[ad_1]

Sam Francis Political correspondent, BBC News June 26, 2023 13:04 GMT

Updated 1 hour ago

explain video,

Rishi Sunak vows to take “correct and responsible decisions” on public sector salaries

Rishi Sunak said he would take the “responsible” decision on increasing salaries of public sector employees, in order to control inflation.

Ministers confirmed that they are now studying a wage deal for next year, after several independent wage review bodies reported their findings.

Sunak said he would take the “right” decisions for the country.

But government sources warned that ministers would not be willing to increase borrowing to finance the generous grants.

The prime minister described the planned strikes by young doctors as “extremely disappointing” and claimed this would “make it difficult” to bring down NHS waiting lists – one of his main priorities for the government.

“I think people should be aware of the economic context we are in and I will take appropriate decisions for the country,” he said.

Speaking during a trip to Nottinghamshire, he said: “I think everyone can see the economic context we are living in with inflation that is higher than we would like, and in this context it is important for government to make the right and responsible decisions on matters such as public sector salaries.

“It’s not always easy, people may not like it, but it’s the right kind of stuff that keeps us in control of inflation.”

Almost half of all public sector workers are covered by pay review bodies – including police officers, prisons, the armed forces, doctors, dentists and teachers.

The Wage Review Board’s recommendations are not legally binding on the government and ministers can choose to reject or partially ignore the advice.

The BBC is aware that at least two pay review bodies are recommending increases that are lower than the rate of inflation – but higher than last year’s awards. It is unclear whether the government would consider these things too expensive.

Kate Bell, assistant general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), said any decision to ignore the Wage Review Board’s advice would be “driven by politics, not economics”.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today show that public sector wages had fallen “significantly behind inflation” and that there had been “pressure on wages for 15 years where wages had not kept pace with inflation”.

“It’s a little rich to hear them [the government] Now I say, “Well, we’re going to scrap those independent recommendations” when we haven’t seen them published yet. ”

The Telegraph reported that junior doctors in England would be offered an extra £1,000 a year plus a 6% pay raise in an effort to end upcoming strikes.

More than half a million appointments have been delayed by NHS workers’ strikes over the past six months, according to official figures.

The British Medical Association (BMA), which represents doctors, has demanded a 35% increase, saying it will offset 15 years of below-inflation increases.

The Treasury previously suggested that a payout of more than 5% could lead to an increase in inflation. But the BMA claimed the offer was not “credible”.

Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting has called on the government to resolve the dispute but has not put a figure on how much more money should be paid to doctors.

He added that calls from unions to restore wages could not be delivered “overnight”.

Doctors represented by the Medical Association voted to strike between 07:00 on Thursday 13 July and 07:00 on Tuesday 18 July – the longest strike by junior doctors ever. The association represents more than 46,000 junior doctors in the UK.

Junior doctors make up about half of all hospital doctors in England and a quarter of the doctors working in GP surgeries.

About 6% of all doctor positions in the NHS are unfilled – for nurses it’s almost twice that level.

Many argue there is still a shortage – with not enough training places or funded doctor positions in the NHS in the first place.

Mr Sunak announced on Sunday that the government was set to release plans for the “largest expansion of training and workforce” in the history of the NHS.

Speaking to the BBC, the prime minister said the plans would reduce “reliance on overseas-trained healthcare professionals”.

[ad_2]