To consider the following Motion in the names of Councillors N Turner, A Pinnock, Burke, Marchington, Lawson, Eastwood and Wilkinson.
This Council notes:
1) In September 2017, the government announced that the 1% public sector pay cap would be lifted, which was confirmed in the Autumn Budget, with ministers given ‘flexibility’ about pay awards;
2) There was an announcement that police and probation officers would receive a small pay rise last year, although the pay increase will be met through existing departmental budgets;
3) In England, many public sector workforces are covered by independent Pay Review Bodies. In spring and summer 2018, Secretaries of State will consider the recommendations of Pay Review Bodies and will make final decisions on pay awards;
4) Pay bodies will take recruitment and retention difficulties into account when recommending pay increases and negotiations around pay rises will be partly linked to productivity improvements;
5) There has been no government announcement confirming pay rise increases for all public sector workers and there has been no allocation of specific funding to raise pay;
6) Public sector earnings have fallen by 4% in real terms since 2009-10 according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, while an Office of Budget Responsibility forecast shows that the average annual wage will be £1,000 lower in 2020 than predicted at the 2017 March Budget;
7) That the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) was 3.1% in November 2017.
This Council believes:
1) That the continuation of the public sector pay restraint is having an unreasonable effect on the living standards of many public sector staff, and is also affecting recruitment and retention across the public sector. Holding down pay has become the default position for making efficiencies, while workforce issues are being neglected;
2) Rising inflation shows how urgent it is to address the sense of unfairness around pay restraint, with public sector workers effectively receiving real-term pay cuts. The 2017 Autumn Budget has failed to deliver any substantial improvements for public sector workers;
3) The government’s current approach in relation to public sector pay is unfair and counter-productive, because:
· it is not sustainable;
· it is resulting in staff recruitment and retention issues;
· resources are being used to alleviate the issues resulting from recruitment and retention challenges, which includes millions of pounds being spent by schools and NHS trusts every month to pay for job adverts. Declining staff numbers are driving increased use of agency staff to plug the gaps at a significant cost;
4) Higher wages among public sector workers would lead to increased spending, additional tax revenues and benefits savings, with a significant portion of funding required to lift the cap returned to the Treasury;
5) The benefits of increasing public sector pay and the multiplier effect could be huge for the economy.
This Council, therefore, agrees that:
The Chief Executive should write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to request that:
· The recommendations of Pay Review Bodies and the results of negotiations with employers are implemented; and
· Subsequent pay increases be fully funded via the central government settlement, not through existing departmental budgets, which could result in further cuts to public services
Decision:
Item not considered (due to time constraints).