Unions said many staff would quit rather than accept a pay cut in real terms, exacerbating recruitment and retention problems in key sectors such as teaching, nursing and social care and increasing waiting times for operations. With energy and food costs soaring, unions had demanded pay rises at least the rate of inflation – currently 9.1% but expected to rise to 11% later this year, according to the Bank of England – putting them on a collision course with ministers who have insisted that holding down pay is necessary to curb inflation. The awards cover teachers, NHS workers, doctors and dentists, police officers, prison officers, judges and members of the armed forces. In a series of ministerial statements on Tuesday afternoon, the government announced:
More than 1 million NHS staff including nurses, midwives and paramedics will get a £1,400 pay rise, equivalent to 4%, although cleaners and porters will get 9.3%. Doctors and dentists will receive 4.5%. Teachers have been awarded 5% – although new teachers get 8.9%, with starting salaries of up to £30,000, a pledge in the Conservatives’ 2019 manifesto. Police officers in England and Wales will receive a combined pay of £1,900, equivalent to a total rise of 5%
The awards come as workers grapple with a cost-of-living crisis and a record fall in living standards in recent months, a situation the TUC has described as the worst wage squeeze in modern history.
