Around half (45 per cent) of all public sector pay awards are decided by the Government, often based on the recommendations of independent pay review bodies. However, the Government has the final say and is not bound by the recommendations.
The Government formally launched the pay process for 2025/26 pay awards in September, and the decision-making process is ongoing, but opposition to potential pay increases is already stirring.
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The independent pay review body representing 514,000 teachers has recommended a pay rise of close to 4 per cent, The Times has reported.
One teaching union, the National Education Union (NEU), has described the 2.8 per cent pay increase as “unacceptable” and “unfunded”. It is calling for an above-inflation pay rise.
Pay rise recommendations for NHS workers are reportedly higher than the amount the Government has budgeted for (Photo: Carlos Jasso/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Nurses
The independent pay review body, which represents 1.38 million NHS workers, has recommended a pay rise close to 3 per cent, according to The Times.
The recommendation of a 3 per cent increase is also above the amount the Government was considering.
He said: “We’re all about putting more money into the pockets of working people, but we do also have to ensure that we are balancing the books, and we’ve got to work in terms of public sector pay within fiscal constraints.”
Junior doctors on strike (Photo: Sopa/LightRocket via Getty Images)The deal resulted in a 22.3 per cent pay uplift over two years, consisting of an additional average 4.05 per cent for the pay year 2023/24 on top of the previously awarded average 8.8 per cent, taking last year’s pay uplift to an average of 13.2 per cent, which was backdated to April 2023.
At the time, the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, said he was “pleased” that the Government’s offer had been accepted.
Responding to the news that the Government recommended a 2.8 per cent uplift for doctors, dentists and other NHS workers in December, the BMA’s chair of council, Professor Philip Banfield, said it indicated “a poor grasp of the unresolved issues from two years of industrial action”.
Police officers were awarded a pay increase last summer (Photo: Max Mumby/Getty)Police
But ahead of a decision on the annual uplift in police pay, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) has recommended a 3.8 per cent increase for officers from September 2025. It is also requesting that the Government increase the starting salary for police constables. Staff associations for chief officers, superintendents, and chief superintendents have recommended a higher pay uplift of 4.8 per cent.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood (Photo: Danny Lawson/PA Wire)This resulted in a base pay increase of at least 5 per cent for all prison staff between operational support grade and governors, which was backdated to 1 April 2024.
Civil service
In its pay guidance for 2024-2025, the Cabinet Office outlined that departments could make average pay awards up to 5 per cent.
The Government also raised the starting salary to £25,200, up 7.5 per cent, to “bring it into line with the National Living Wage”.
Train drivers
The deal, which resulted in a pay increase worth 15 per cent over three years, was overwhelmingly accepted by members of the train drivers’ union ASLEF.
Members of the RMT also voted in favour of pay increases in excess of 4 per cent.
But Labour could face a new headache after ASLEF boss Mick Whelan told The i Paper the union would demand an increase over and above the 2024 offer to make up for lost earnings due to the cost-of-living crisis.
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