2-3% pay remit guidance means yet another crippling real-terms pay cut for civil servants

The government has today published its Civil Service Pay Remit Guidance which sets the envelope for pay rises in the civil service – it has set the range at 2-3%.

 

This is well behind the current rate of inflation and when energy bills are about to go up significantly.

Garry Graham, Deputy General Secretary of Prospect, responded:

“With inflation rocketing, a National Insurance increase coming in and energy prices going through the roof this 2-3% pay remit guidance means yet another crippling real-terms pay cut for civil servants.

“Once again the government is using civil service pay as a political football and attempting to balance the books by penalising the people who have delivered so much through the twin challenges of Brexit and Covid. And let’s not forget that civil servants have already had a 20% real terms pay cut since 2010.

“It’s time we took civil service pay out of the hands of politicians and gave it to an independent pay review body. MPs benefit from this process and have seen their pay increase far faster than the civil servants they rely on.

“It’s also time for individual government employers to step up to the plate and make the case for their workers to be paid what they deserve. You can’t get good government on the cheap.”