Public sector pay cap is matter for future budgets, says Grayling
I was chatting to someone at a northern rural unitary on Tuesday. Tasked with saving approaching £200million over the next 3 years we reflected on that the increase in local authority might mean in terms of the double bind of greater pay leading to fewer jobs in many councils where the core of key staff is already hollowed out. This article really does point to some really difficult choices assailing the public sector without a rounded focus on budget rather than just pay growth. It tells us:
Chris Grayling, the transport secretary, has dampened hopes of an imminent lifting of the 1% public sector pay cap for teachers, police and prison officers, saying the issue was a matter for future budgets.
He said a decision on the future of the cap would be taken collectively by the cabinet at the next budget in the autumn, despite signals from some senior Tories – including Michael Gove, Boris Johnson, Justine Greening and Jeremy Hunt – that they would like to see a quicker easing of the controls.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Grayling acknowledged there had been divisions within the cabinet over the issue, as they were “not all clones”. But he insisted it was “a matter to be addressed at future budgets”.