Today, our Conservative Government has announced that almost a million public sector workers including police officers, teachers, doctors and soldiers will get inflation-busting pay rises for the second year in a row.
Public sector workers deliver Britain’s world-class public services and should be properly rewarded – this pay award is in recognition of the hard work of millions of people, and will help us recruit and retain the best staff.
We are able to afford these pay rises because our balanced approach to the economy means we have reduced our debt while investing in public services, including pay.
It is thanks to our balanced approach to the economy that we have been able to announce today’s increases:
- Teachers – the average classroom teacher will see a 2.75 per cent pay increase, worth on average £1,000.
- Armed Forces – a soldier at Corporal level on average wages will see a 2.9 per cent raise worth £995, while the starting salary for an officer will rise by £769.
- NHS – Doctors and dentists will receive an increase of 2.5 per cent, with hospital doctors seeing an average £1,500 more to their salary. Nurses are seeing a pay increase of 6.5 per cent over three years, as agreed as part of a 3-year deal in 2018.
- Police – police constables will see a 2.5 per cent average pay increase, earning up to £978 more this year.
- Prison officers – prison officers will get at least a 2.2 per cent rise this year, with many receiving 3 per cent.
Under the Conservatives we have been helping hardworking people with the cost of living so they can spend more money on the things that matter to them:
- Cut taxes for 32 million working people – so people keep more of what they earn. A basic rate taxpayer is now over £500 better off compared to 2016 (HM Treasury, Autumn Budget 2018, 29 October 2018, link).
- Giving the National Living Wage its biggest ever increase – taking the total annual pay rise for a full time worker to over £2,750 since its introduction in 2016 (HM Treasury, Autumn Budget 2018, 29 October 2018, link).
- Freezing fuel duty – saving the average driver £450 since 2016 (CRD Analysis of HMT and OBR data, 29 October 2018, link).
- Increased Universal Credit work allowances – helping 2.4 million working households save £630 a year (HM Treasury, Autumn Budget 2018, 29 October 2018, link).
Because of our approach to the economy, we have seen nine years of solid economic growth and the fundamentals of the British economy remain strong:
- There are more people in work than ever before and unemployment is at its lowest level since the 1970s (ONS, UK Labour Market, 16 July 2019, link).
- Wages are rising at their fastest pace in 11 years meaning people have more money in their pockets - Average weekly earnings for employees increased by 3.6 per cent compared with a year earlier, growing by 1.7 per cent after adjusting for inflation – boosted by strong growth in wages of public sector workers (ONS, Labour Market Overview, 16 July 2019, link).
- The deficit is down by over 80 per cent since 2010. Public sector net borrowing has decreased from £153.1 billion in 2009-10 to £23.6 billion in 2018-19 (OBR, Public finances databank, Column L, 4 June 2019, link).
- The national debt is beginning to fall for the first time in a generation – so we spend less on debt interest and more on the public services everyone needs (HM Treasury, Autumn Budget 2018, 29 October 2018, link).
Photo by Bruno Martins on Unsplash
