Improve productivity for more pay, public sector told
Public sector workers will only get above inflation pay increases if they improve productivity, Downing Street has said.
Unions have reacted with anger to proposals for a 2.8% pay increase for teachers, NHS staff and senior civil servants next year.
The British Medical Association (BMA) said there was a âvery real riskâ of further industrial action if âpay erosionâ was not addressed, while Unisonâs Helga Pile said the proposal was a âbitter pillâ.
But Downing Street said it was âvital that pay awards are fair for both taxpayers and workersâ.
The government said departments would have to fund 2025-26 and future pay increases from their own budgets.
âFor pay awards to go beyond inflation they will have to be met by productivity improvements,â Sir Keir Starmerâs spokesman told reporters.
Inflation â which measures price changes over time â is predicted to average 2.6% next year.
The pay recommendations will now be considered by public sector pay review bodies and a final decision made by the government next year.
Asked about strike threats, the PMâs spokesman said the government âclearly valuesâ public sector workers and had given them their âfirst meaningful pay increases for several years in Julyâ.
But, he added, the government had been âupfrontâ about the need to take âtough decisionsâ to after inheriting a ÂŁ22bn âblack holeâ in the public finances from the previous government.
A spokeswoman for Sir Keir said the Conservativesâ âscorched earth approach and failure of leadershipâ had led to strikes in the NHS.
But unions say pay is still failing to keep pace with the rising cost of living.
The BMA has said the recommended pay rise for 2025/26 âindicates a poor grasp of the unresolved issues from two years of industrial actionâ.
Royal College of Nursing general secretary and chief executive Prof Nicola Ranger described the pay recommendation as âdeeply offensiveâ.
The National Education Union said it fell âwell short of the urgent action neededâ.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: âWe all know the pressure on public finances from the mess the Tories left things in.
âBut as the governmentâs evidence acknowledges, the recruitment and retention crisis in our public sector has been driven in part by pay.â
He said it was âhard to see how you address the crisis in our services without meaningful pay risesâ.
And he called on the government to hold a âserious conversationâ with unions and workers about pay and public service reform.
Asked whether there are plans for ministers to meet union general secretaries to discuss pay, Sir Keirâs spokesman said: âThere will always be engagement throughout the pay review body process that is usual, and weâll obviously conduct the process in a collaborative way.â