To rule out even a modest pay increase for staff who have given so much is simply wrong

This has been an incredibly busy time for our members working in public services. Prospect members have been at the forefront of dealing with the challenges of the pandemic and Brexit.

They have literally helped keep the country moving, been at the sharp end of dealing with the pandemic and supporting work on finding a vaccine.  They have also been ensuring our nation’s defence is maintained, our food supplies are safe, and safety regulation is not compromised in key industries. Our members in HSE have had to deal with the huge challenge of seeking to ensure workplaces across the economy are safe, against the backdrop of depleted resources – there are more MPs than there are main grade HSE inspectors.

The pandemic and Brexit have highlighted the importance of the skilled work our members undertake across the civil service and wider public sector. We are proud of how our members have stepped up to the plate and how hard they have worked, sometimes in the most trying of circumstances.

The announcement by the Chancellor that pay is to be “paused” for the coming year for the majority of public servants will be seen by many as a slap in the face. To rule out even a modest pay increase for staff who have given so much over the past year is simply wrong.

The Chancellor has sought to justify the freeze on grounds we believe that cannot be justified.

First – he has sought to suggest that public sector workers have received pay increases of 4% over the past year. This simply does not accord with the experience of our members and has been rightly met with derision.

Second – he has suggested that pay deals and pay rates have actually fallen in the broader economy on the six months leading to September. This is an abuse of statistics and a very partial rendition of what has actually happened across the economy. IDR point to the fact that private sector pay settlements are actually running in the region of around 2%.

To add insult to injury the Chancellor has sought to give an assurance that pay progression payments can still be made when it was his department that oversaw the withdrawal of pay progression arrangements across the majority of the civil service and wider public sector.

Rishi Sunak has also suggested that a pay freeze is merited because public sector workers enjoy job security. This will come as news to our public sector members working in heritage and other areas of the public sector where there are very real concerns about job security and compulsory redundancies.

Prospect’s first steps have been to set the record straight. To rule out pay increases for those who have contributed so much is, we believe, economically illiterate. What the economy needs at this point is demand and confidence. Freezing pay will suck demand from the economy and make things worse not better. Not one private sector job will be created by freezing pay for public sector workers and many will be lost as result of a lack of demand and confidence.

Also, when the Chancellor talks about notions of fairness it is clear his memory is short and interpretation of the notion of fairness highly partial. Over the past decade pay awards in the public sector have lagged significantly behind the private sector (by around 17%). He has sought to perpetuate a myth that workers in the public sector are better rewarded than their counterparts in the private sector. Particularly for Prospect members, this does not survive scrutiny. The evidence is clear, the more skilled or specialist your role and the more senior you are, the more your pay has lagged behind private sector colleagues.

None of this is news. Many organisations were already struggling to recruit the skilled workforce that they need. Demand across the economy for those with STEM skills and experience of dealing with safety critical and regulatory issues is likely to increase as a result of the pandemic and Brexit. Recruitment and retention challenges across the public sector are likely to be magnified – freezing pay will only compound this.

Over the coming months Prospect will be working with other unions seeking to hold the UK government to account and challenge its approach. We have been engaging with the Scottish government already and it is clear that they intend to take a different and more positive approach. We are also engaging with the Welsh Government. We have meetings planned with the Cabinet Office alongside other civil service unions and we are working more broadly with other public sector unions.

Over the coming week and months, your Public Services Executive will be working with branches and members building a unified campaign to put as much pressure on the UK Government as possible and putting the public record straight on what has happened to members’ pay over the past decade. To achieve this we will need your support and your views. We will be in touch again shortly. Getting a fair deal for members and recognition for everything they contribute has never been more important. Politicians clapping your contribution is just not enough.