Public Sector: Pay
The question
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the public purse was of public sector pay deals since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Darren Jones
As set out in the 'Fixing the Foundations' document, which was published alongside the Chancellor’s Statement on 29 July, the 2024-25 pay awards for Pay Review Body workforces and the delegated Civil Service grades create an estimated further pressure of £9.4 billion in 2024-25 on top of what the previous government set aside for public sector pay awards. The previous government had only planned for 2% awards when setting budgets at the 2021 Spending Review, and then neglected to set aside the funds that were likely to be needed for these awards.
Since the Chancellor's July Statement, resident doctors accepted the Government’s pay deal to provide an additional pay uplift worth an average of 4.05% on top of their existing pay award for 2023-24, which has an estimated cost impact of approximately £350 million per year. This offer has brought an end to industrial action by resident doctors. Industrial action in the NHS alone has cost taxpayers £1.7 billion since April 2023 and cost patients nearly 1.5 million cancelled appointments under the previous government.
The government has also agreed pay mandates for rail staff at train operating companies and Network Rail. The total cost of these pay deals over the three-year period is significantly less than the economic impact strikes have had so far - not to mention the increased costs if industrial action continued.
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