LONDON (Reuters) – The British government has decided to accept pay rise recommendations for millions of public sector workers, Treasury Secretary John Glen said on Thursday, giving doctors and teachers raises of at least minus 6%.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks’ government announced its decision on Thursday, after considering recommendations from several independent commissions charged with estimating salary review levels in the civil service.
These pay rises are below inflation of 8.7%, but aim to limit the fall in real wages after months of social unrest across Britain.
Doctors in training will now benefit from a salary increase of 6% and a lump sum increase of 1,250 pounds (1,460.91 euros), while teachers will receive increases of 6.5%. The salaries of the police and the armed forces will be increased by 7% and 5% respectively.
“This is a significant pay rise, one of the biggest we’ve seen in decades, costing billions of pounds more than the government budgeted, which doesn’t is not without consequences,” Rishi Sunak said at a press conference.
Rishi Sunak added that the government would not borrow to finance wage increases and it would not raise taxes on citizens, although a tax paid by many immigrants would increase.
According to John Glen, the salary increases for teachers will no doubt be financed by a reallocation of the existing budget of the Ministry of Education.
The move risks angering unions, who say school and hospital budgets cannot afford the cost of wage increases without other spending being cut.
Wage increases could support inflation, although the Bank of England has so far focused on private sector wages, which have risen faster than public sector wages and have a more immediate impact on the economy. inflation.
The median wage agreement reached in the private sector in the three months to the end of April was 5.8%, compared to 5.0% in the public sector, a figure supported by an increase of at least 6.5% for most healthcare workers in Scotland, according to figures from wage data firm IDR.
(Report Muvija M, David Milliken, William James, and Suban Abdulla, French version Corentin Chapron, edited by Kate Entringer)
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