Pay freeze for civil servants
The Prime Minister has announced a pay freeze for thousands of senior civil servants, NHS managers, judiciary and military top brass under moves aimed at saving £3 billion over the next three years.Gordon Brown said in a speech in London that GPs and dentists will also have their pay frozen after a recommendation from the independent salary review body.
Senior Whitehall civil servants, NHS managers and consultants, judges, senior military staff as well as GPs and dentists are among those covered by the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) report.
The SSRB has already been told by Chancellor Alistair Darling there should be no pay rise for those groups of employees because of the recession and the state of the public finances.
A Cabinet Office spokesman said: "Given the economic challenges we face, civil servants have important roles to play in ensuring there is financial stability and excellent public services.
"In the last year, civil servants have been working harder than ever, continuing to deliver vital frontline services and ensuring that Britain emerges from the recession stronger, and all this has been done against the backdrop of major efficiency savings that have already put into place in the Civil Service.
"While the contribution of the Civil Service is highly valued, against the backdrop of the challenges facing all sectors of the economy it is right that senior staff should show leadership in pay restraint."
The review body recommended no general pay increase for a range of senior jobs for the financial year from April, including Permanent Secretaries.
But despite the call for a pay freeze, the review body said: "The fact remains that the public sector needs to pay sufficient to recruit, retain and motivate people of high calibre to lead and manage public services and serve in the judiciary and uniformed services.
"Otherwise it will become harder over time to fill senior posts with people of sufficient quality. Our concern is that in recent years our remit groups are increasingly gaining the impression that the Government takes their loyalty and goodwill for granted."
"In the last year, civil servants have been working harder than ever, continuing to deliver vital frontline services and ensuring that Britain emerges from the recession stronger, and all this has been done against the backdrop of major efficiency savings that have already put into place in the Civil Service.
"While the contribution of the Civil Service is highly valued, against the backdrop of the challenges facing all sectors of the economy it is right that senior staff should show leadership in pay restraint."
The review body recommended no general pay increase for a range of senior jobs for the financial year from April, including Permanent Secretaries.
But despite the call for a pay freeze, the review body said: "The fact remains that the public sector needs to pay sufficient to recruit, retain and motivate people of high calibre to lead and manage public services and serve in the judiciary and uniformed services.
"Otherwise it will become harder over time to fill senior posts with people of sufficient quality. Our concern is that in recent years our remit groups are increasingly gaining the impression that the Government takes their loyalty and goodwill for granted."
© 2012 Press Association