Theresa May to unveil police and teacher pay boost - but no new cash from the Treasury
2 min read
A raft of public sector workers are in line for pay rises of up to 3.5% after years of austerity, Theresa May will announce today.
Ministers first imposed a two-year ban on public sector pay rises in 2010, with annual rises limited to just 1% since 2012.
According to the Sun, the Prime Minister will today signal the end of that cap by unveiling a batch of new pay awards for troops, doctors, prison officers, police and teachers.
The 2018-19 rises will be set at between 1.5% and 3.5%, with the Sun reporting that most staff are in line for a 2% hike.
A Whitehall source said: "Our outstanding public servants work hard for us all – that’s why we’re announcing new pay awards."
The move comes after the Government signed off pay rises for NHS staff of between 6.5% and 29%.
However, unlike the NHS rises, the latest increases will reportedly not be funded by any new money from the Treasury, meaning they will have to be paid for by savings elsewhere.
The move is likely to anger trade unions, who argue that years of below-inflation pay rises have left workers out of pocket.
School leaders' union the NAHT told ministers earlier this year that a "fully-funded" 5% pay rise was needed "across all grades for teachers and school leaders".
Meanwhile the Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, asked for a pay rise of 3.4% for its members.
The three main Whitehall trade unions are also currently locked in a battle with the Government over plans to cap civil service pay rises at 1.5% for another year.
The civil service's biggest union, PCS, announced on Monday that its members had voted for a walkout over pay - but had failed to meet the required turnout for legal strike action.
Eighty five percent of those who voted backed a strike, the union said, but only 41% of overall members cast their ballots, short of the 50% threshold required by law.
PCS Chief Mark Serwotka said: "Our members have delivered a huge yes vote for strike action and will feel palpable anger at not being able to exercise their democratic right to withdraw their labour."
Changes to the threshold were brought in under the Trade Union Act in 2015.
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