The biggest Whitehall trade union has restated its opposition to the introduction of regional public sector pay after civil service chief executive John Manzoni indicated the government was again considering the reform.
The Public and Commercial Services union told CSW that any move towards regional pay would be a “gimmick” at a time when the government was under pressure to end the 1% limit on public sector pay increases.
The union was responding to comments by Manzoni that a regional approach to pay would need to be considered.
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Speaking at the Civil Service Live conference organised by the Cabinet Office and CSW’s parent company, Dods, Manzoni said that he and perm sec counterparts were very aware that most staff had seen their pay frozen from 2010-2012 and had annual rises capped at 1% for the subsequent five years.
He added that “personally, I don’t think it can go on for ever”, but suggested any future relaxing of constraints on pay could take a more fragmented form than merely increasing the level at which the cap is set.
While civil service pay levels were a problem, there were parts of the country where its pay and reward offer was “very competitive”, he said.
He added: “We’ve got to think regionally at some stage.”
Following Manzoni’s comments, a government source told the Daily Mail that chancellor Philip Hammond had asked officials to look at the case for linking pay awards to the local cost of living.
The possibility of regional pay rates was last considered under the coalition government in 2012, but abandoned after concerns from trade unions.
Responding to Manzoni, a PCS spokesman stated the opposition to the plan remained in place.
“Regional pay was looked at by the coalition government and we opposed it. It was clear from the plans then that it wasn’t about improving living standards, and the Tories must think we’re all idiots if they’re going to try and argue again that this would be fair,” he said.
“Public sector workers have had pay cuts for seven years, in some cases for longer. They now need and deserve proper pay rises, not tricks and gimmicks.”