wrinkles said:
BBC reporting pay rise below inflation target of 2%, its 1.9% paid in full 1 Apr for Forces and staged for all other public sector workers
Hmmmmm! that's different to the FT:
Brown announces below-inflation pay rises
By Ben Hall, Political Correspondent
Published: March 1 2007 12:39 | Last updated: March 1 2007 12:39
More than 1m public sector workers are to receive average pay increases of 1.9 per cent this year, well below consumer price inflation which stands at 2.7 per cent, Gordon Brown told the Commons on Thursday.
Pay rises for doctors, nurses, prisons officers and senior civil servants are to be staged, with a 1.7 per cent increase from April and a 2.2 per cent increase from November, producing an average of 1.9 per cent for the year.
Members of the armed forces, except senior officers, will receive inflation-busting rises of 3.3 per cent for the year.
Mr Brown has repeatedly called for public sector pay increases to fall in line with the Bank of Englandâs 2 per cent inflation target.
His decision to stage the increases for public sector workers comes at a politically sensitive time, given the recent surge in inflation, now slowing, and the role of the public service unions in a possible Labour leadership election this year.
Government departments will give further detail of the rises for their staff later on Thursday.
The pay review bodies that recommend rises for public sector workers are understood to have proposed increases of less than 2.7 per cent but more than 2 per cent.
The staging of the increases underscores the chancellorâs determination to prevent a wage-price spiral and to make life easier for the Bankâs monetary policy committee, which sets interest rates.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007