Senior civil servants pay rises curbed

LONDON – Prime Minister Gordon Brown awarded NHS bosses, senior civil servants and judges lower-than-recommended pay rises on Tuesday saying senior public sector staff had a duty of restraint during the recession.

Brown said the sectors would receive an increase of 1,5 per cent in 2009-2010, instead of the suggested 2,1 per cent to 2,6 per cent rises recommended by the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB).
‘The government has decided to accept some but not all of its recommendations,’ Brown said in a statement on the salary reviews.
‘It is important in the present economic climate that senior staff in the public sector show leadership in the exercise of pay restraint.’
The announcement came a day after ministers were told by Brown that they would have to forgo a pay rise of 2,33 per cent awarded to all MPs.
Brown said the cap on rises in some sectors formed part of a target to reduce costs for running the civil service.
He said he expected to deliver 35 billion pounds worth of cost savings by 2010-2011, with five per cent reductions in the cost of running departments over the next three years.
In Tuesday’s announcement Brown also revealed plans to reform early retirement and severance terms for all civil servants, at a saving of 500 million pounds in the next three years.
‘The current arrangements have been in place since 1987 and are inflexible and expensive,’ he said.
Doctors and dentists also received a pay rise of 1,5 per cent in line with expectations after their review body, the Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remunerations Body approved the increase.
However members of the armed forces including senior military personnel were given the recommended 2,8 per cent rise by the SSRB.
The head of the armed forces welcomed the government’s pay decision saying it reflected the sacrifices being made by the military.
‘This pay rise is welcome and appropriate acknowledgement of the burden our people are carrying on behalf of the nation, and of their remarkable achievements in the face of great adversity,’ said Air Chief Marshal Jock Stirrup, chief of the defence staff.
-Nampa-Reuters