Chancellor announces inflation-busting pay rise for almost a million public sector workers on the front line against coronavirus
- Doctors, police officers and teachers are among those to receive increases
- Teachers and doctors see the largest boost – 3.1% and 2.8% respectively
- Rishi Sunak said: ‘These past months have underlined what we always knew, that our public sector workers make a vital contribution to our country’
The Chancellor has today announced an inflation-busting pay rise for almost a million public sector workers on the front line against coronavirus.
Doctors, teachers and police officers are among those who will see extra money in their pay packet after a testing few months since Covid-19 hit the UK.
More than 300 NHS workers have died in England alone after contracting the deadly virus, police have been enforcing social distancing rules and some teachers have continued looking after the children of key workers.
The above-inflation pay rise announced on Tuesday will see 900,000 workers benefit, with teachers and doctors seeing the largest increase at 3.1% and 2.8% respectively, according to the Treasury.
More than 300 NHS workers have died in England alone after contracting the deadly virus. Doctors will see the largest increase after teachers, with 2.8% (pictured: Doctors, nurses and NHS staff outside the William Harvey Hospital, in Ashford, Kent, to salute local heroes during Thursday’s nationwide Clap for Carers)
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: ‘These past months have underlined what we always knew, that our public sector workers make a vital contribution to our country and that we can rely on them when we need them.
‘It’s right therefore that we follow the recommendations of the independent pay bodies with this set of real-terms pay rises.’
Each award is recommended by independent pay review bodies, and this year the Government has accepted the suggested rise for each workforce.
Police, prison officers and National Crime Agency staff will be given a 2.5% rise in pay as a result and members of the armed forces will receive a 2% uplift.
Meanwhile, members of the judiciary and senior civil servants will also see their pay topped up by 2%.
The pay awards for the armed forces, prison officers, senior civil servants and NHS staff will be backdated to April, whereas the pay rise for police and teachers starts in September due to those professions operating on a different pay schedule running from September to August.
Britain’s Chancellor of Exchequer Rishi Sunak wearing a face mask visits the Jobcentre Plus in east London last week
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady called for social care workers to join the ranks of those being offered a pay rise.
‘These rises are welcome, but there’s still a long way to go to restore pay after a decade of real terms cuts,’ she said.
‘Many public sector workers, like job centre staff and local government workers, aren’t getting these rises. They deserve a decent pay settlement too.
‘And the Government should urgently announce a pay rise for social care workers, who put their lives on the line to care for others during this pandemic.’