PUBLIC SECTOR
Government announces freeze of senior public servants' pay
The pay of the senior civil service (SCS), senior military personnel, the judiciary and very senior NHS managers has been frozen for 2010/11.
The Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) said there was "no justification for general pay increases". It did propose rises for some NHS managers and civil servants, but they were rejected by ministers.
The 32nd report of the Review Body on Senior Salaries was published 10 March 2010.
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Prime Minister Gordon Brown in a speech on the economy in London on 10 March said:
“Last week I said that the parliamentary and ministerial salaries of all paid government ministers would be frozen. We must take an equally disciplined approach to pay and benefits right across the public sector. So today I can announce that after the reports of the review bodies we will also freeze the pay of senior staff in the civil service, senior staff in the military, the judiciary, senior managers in the health service and the pay of consultants, GPs and dentists.
These measures, along with the new controls on pay which I announced in December, will save money immediately and by 2013-14 save more than £3 billion.”
DOCUMENT EXTRACT
Hansard text
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Baroness Royall of Blaisdon): My right honourable friend the Prime Minister has made the following Statement.
The 32nd report of the Review Body on Senior Salaries (SSRB) is being published today. This makes recommendations about the pay of the senior civil service (SCS), senior military personnel, the judiciary and very senior NHS managers. Copies have been laid in the Vote Office and the Library of the House. I am grateful to the chairman and members of the review body for their work.
The Government have decided to accept some but not all of its recommendations. It is important in the present economic climate that senior staff in the public sector show leadership in the exercise of pay restraint.
Senior Civil Service
For the SCS, the Government have accepted the recommendation of the review body that for 2010-11 there should be no increase in base pay or the non-consolidated performance-related pot.
The Government have not accepted the review body's recommendation that the minimum for SCS Pay Band 1 should be increased to £61,500.
These tough decisions complement existing measures to reduce the cost of the Civil Service and protect frontline services, including savings of £500 million over three years from reforms to the Civil Service Compensation Scheme; savings of £100 million annually within three years from reducing unnecessary Civil Service bureaucracy and the cost of the SCS; and Ian Smith's new review into the scope for further Civil Service relocations, building on the relocation of more than 20,000 posts since the 2004 Lyons review.
Senior Military Personnel
The Government have accepted the review body's recommendations that there should be no increase in the senior military pay scales for 2010-11 recommended in last year's report, and that the bottom step of the senior military two-star scale should be removed.
Judiciary
The Government have accepted the review body's recommendation that the salaries for the judiciary should remain unchanged.
Very Senior NHS Managers
For very senior NHS managers, the Government have accepted the review body's recommendation that there should be no increase in base pay for those whose current salary is £81,800 or more, and no increase in the non-consolidated pay pot.
The Government have not accepted the review body's specific recommendations that there should be a 2.25 per cent increase in base pay for those whose total salary is less than £80,000, and that there should be an increase in base pay so that the total salary of those currently paid between £80,000 and £81,799 rises to £81,800.
Ministers
The effect of the Government's response to the SSRB's recommendations on SCS pay is that there will be no increase in ministerial pay for 2010-11. All paid Ministers will also waive any increase in their pay as an MP to which they are entitled.
Other Review Body reports for 2010-11
My right honourable friends the Secretaries of State for Justice, Health and Defence are making Statements today on the reports of the Prison Service Pay Body, the Doctors and Dentists Review Body and Armed Forces Pay Review Body in respect of pay for the relevant workforces for 2010-11. The Government's response to those reports is consistent with the need for senior staff in the public sector to show leadership in the exercise of pay restraint.
Looking ahead, the Government announced in the 2009 Pre-Budget Report (Cm 7747) that they would seek a 1 per cent cap on basic pay uplifts across the public sector for 2011-12 and 2012-13, generating savings of £3.4 billion a year by 2012-13.
I also announced in Putting the Frontline First: Smarter Government (Cm 7753) a series of fundamental reforms to the scrutiny of senior salaries in the public sector, with new requirements for ministerial approval of salaries in excess of £150,000 and bonuses greater than £50,000; improved disclosure arrangements above these levels; and a review of senior pay across the public sector led by Bill Cockburn, chair of the SSRB.
--> Source: Hansard, 20 March 2010.
Want to know more?
Title: Review Body on Senior Salaries: 32nd Report on Senior Salaries 2010.
Availability: You can download the report in PDF format from the Office of Manpower Economics web site at www.ome.uk.com/SSRB_Reports.aspx.