Rishi Sunak to announce wage rise for public sector workers from next year
Millions of public sector workers are expecting a wage rise next year after the United Kingdom (U.K.) Government confirmed that the Chancellor of the Exchequer – Rishi Sunak will make the big announcement in his budget speech on Wednesday, October 26, 2021.
A temporary pause was introduced on pay rise in November 2020 owing to the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Nurses, teachers and members of the armed forces will benefit from this new rise. The exact amount of rise depends on the recommendations from the independent pay review bodies, who set the pay for most frontline workforces.
In a statement ahead of the budget, Sunak said, “The economic impact and uncertainty of the virus meant we had to take the difficult decision to pause public sector pay. And now, with the economy firmly back on track, it’s right that nurses, teachers and all the other public sector workers who played their part during the pandemic see their wages rise.”
Sharing the key points of upcoming budget, Sunak tweeted,
Ahead of tomorrow’s #Budget2021 and #SpendingReview watch the latest @hmtreasury explainer below.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) October 26, 2021
What’s devolved funding and how does it work? 👇 pic.twitter.com/2B3ujBOP2M
The Treasury said the temporary pause had helped ensure the gap between public and private sector pay did not widen further during the height of COVID-19. The public sector average weekly earnings rose by 4.5% in 2020-21 while the private sector wage increases were a third lower than they were pre-crisis, at 1.8%. As per the data by Office for National Statistics (ONS), workers and occupations hardest hit by the pandemic saw the biggest rebound in pay in 2021, with employees aged under 21 and those in low-paid work seeing the sharpest dip and recovery.
Unison, the U.K.’s largest union said that That if the Chancellor doesn’t allocate extra money to Government departments to fund the much-needed wage rises, the pay freeze will continue in all but name.
The General Secretary of Unison – Christina McAnea said while there was never a good time to freeze public sector pay, to do so “at the peak of a pandemic was the height of folly” while “staff were doing their all to keep under-pressure services running.”
The critics had also criticised the freezing of the wage rise in 2020 because frontline workers were the main performers during the COVID-19. They have called on the Government to ensure a fair settlement that reflects the vital work done by them.
Separately, Fuel duty is also likely to remain frozen for 12th year in a row. However, the Value Added Tax (VAT) on household energy would not be cut as the Treasury said there are other ways of helping the poor through schemes.
