National pay rates will be scrapped in budget

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/budget/...-in-budget.html

 

George Osborne will say that public sector employees in poorer parts of the country should have their pay frozen until it is brought into line with local private sector workers.

 

Mr Osborne originally intended to introduce local pay rates in April 2013, but has decided to bring the plans forward by a year in an attempt to boost growth.

 

The move is likely to be met with a furious response from unions, which are already threatening industrial action over cuts to pensions.

 

The Chancellor will publish figures that show that in some parts of England and Wales public sector workers earn almost a fifth more than those in equivalent jobs in the private sector.

 

The Treasury argues that the pay gap leaves private companies struggling to compete for the best staff against public sector organisations, whose workers also enjoy better pensions and job security.

 

Officials believe that introducing local pay for public sector workers will make it easier for companies to hire staff and stimulate growth. “George really wants to 'up’ it on this,” said a Treasury source. “It should help some firms to hire staff in areas where public sector pay is much higher.”

 

Under current national pay deals, public sector workers performing the same role receive the same salary across England and Wales, with an additional allowance for working in London. Mr Osborne’s reforms will lead to workers outside the South East being paid less.

 

The plans will initially affect 160,000 civil servants working in Jobcentres, the Driver and ­Vehicle Licensing Agency and border guards at ports and airports.

 

However, Mr Osborne will announce plans to roll out local pay rates affecting six million public sector workers — including teachers and hospital staff — from next year.

 

Officials will begin negotiating local pay deals with most civil servants after they reach the end of a two-year pay freeze in July, with any pay settlements likely to be backdated to February.

 

The move could result in the pay of public sector workers in some areas being frozen for a number of years.

 

The Treasury’s analysis highlights the stark difference between public and private sector pay in England and Wales.

 

In Wales, public sector workers are paid on average 18 per cent more than private sector workers doing the equivalent job. In Yorkshire and the Humber and the East of England the difference is 13 per cent, while in the North East the pay gap is 11 per cent. The difference in the South East is only 0.5 per cent.

 

The imposition of local pay negotiations will anger unions, which criticised the proposal when it was unveiled in last year’s Autumn Statement.

 

Brendan Barber, the TUC general secretary, said the move would “suck demand out of local economies, increase joblessness and worsen the North-South divide”.

 

Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union, which represents civil servants, overwhelmingly rejected the Government’s latest offer on pensions yesterday, setting the stage for a fresh round of industrial action.

 

Nine out of 10 of those who took part in the ballot rejected the proposals for a new pension scheme. More than seven out of 10 backed continuing the campaign, including further industrial action.

 

The National Union of Teachers said it was calling a one-day strike in London on March 28 as the next step in its pensions campaign. Mr Osborne, however, is determined to push ahead with the reforms to pay and pensions. The Treasury wants to base the plans on a local-pay system introduced for staff in courts under the previous government.

 

The Coalition’s plans were backed by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which said local pay rates would be more “efficient”. However, it warned that local pay rates would need to be carefully implemented because of variations in different occupations. Doctors and dentists will be unaffected.

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...And they seek to impoverish the workers even further... Howabout you RAISE the minimum wage to bring people in the private sector out of the "working poor" poverty trap you bast*rds....? Is this what Ian Duncan Donut calls "making work pay"..?? What a joke... This is the sort of stuff that's happening to workers in Greece, Ireland and Portugal... This stinks of Technocrat, Neo-Liberast bullshit....

 

The workers yet again being forced to pay for the mistakes of the financial sector... Who are getting away Scot-free with their massive bonuses and Tax Avoidance schemes.... This DISGUSTS me..... <_< <_< <_<

 

I fully expect to see Tory and Lib Dem Cabinet members and MPs taking pay cuts and cuts to their pensions in that case.... Oh, mind you, the likes of Cameron, Osborne and Clegg could actually afford to work for free given they're all f**king minted anyway and come from money...... <_< <_<

The general principle makes sense. After all, regional pay rates apply in large parts of the private sector. Why should a teacher living in the south west have to take a cut in their standard of living to move to a job in the south east, even, potentially, if they get a promotion?

 

IF (and it's a big if) it is implemented by giving people in some parts of the country a higher increase than those in other areas (rather than imposing pay cuts in some areas) then I don't think it's unreasonable.

The general principle makes sense. After all, regional pay rates apply in large parts of the private sector. Why should a teacher living in the south west have to take a cut in their standard of living to move to a job in the south east, even, potentially, if they get a promotion?

 

IF (and it's a big if) it is implemented by giving people in some parts of the country a higher increase than those in other areas (rather than imposing pay cuts in some areas) then I don't think it's unreasonable.

 

So effectively raising the pay levels for the regions with the lowest wages rather than lowering it for those with the highest? I'd be in favour of that far more than these plans. It makes no sense for pay to be cut when it's worsening peoples' standards of living, as it just means they spend less and put less money back into the economy - growth will be stunted at best, so even ignoring the moral principle it's economic suicide.

So effectively raising the pay levels for the regions with the lowest wages rather than lowering it for those with the highest? I'd be in favour of that far more than these plans. It makes no sense for pay to be cut when it's worsening peoples' standards of living, as it just means they spend less and put less money back into the economy - growth will be stunted at best, so even ignoring the moral principle it's economic suicide.

No, I mean raising pay for people in the more expensive parts of the country faster than in the less expensive parts. Of course, with the current restrictions on public sector pay, it will take a long time to achieve anything very much. That's why I'm worried that Osborne will try to achieve it by cutting pay in the less expensive regions thereby, as you say, stunting growth.

No, I mean raising pay for people in the more expensive parts of the country faster than in the less expensive parts. Of course, with the current restrictions on public sector pay, it will take a long time to achieve anything very much. That's why I'm worried that Osborne will try to achieve it by cutting pay in the less expensive regions thereby, as you say, stunting growth.

 

It's Gideon Osborne. He's a Tory w*n**r, what do you think he's gonna do....?

 

We need to have a general strike now... This is just getting ridiculous, we'll end up like workers in Greece if we let this crap continue....

Woah woah woah. There's a lot of talk about pay being frozen in that article and promoting growth. Those two things are inversely related. You want to promote growth in the economy you need to give people more MONEY to put into it. It's so basic it'd be an insult to common sense to call it that.

Woah woah woah. There's a lot of talk about pay being frozen in that article and promoting growth. Those two things are inversely related. You want to promote growth in the economy you need to give people more MONEY to put into it. It's so basic it'd be an insult to common sense to call it that.

 

This is part of that there "Expansionary Fiscal Retraction" that Yon Gideon Twat-features was talking about, isn't it...? :lol:

 

 

This is part of that there "Expansionary Fiscal Retraction" that Yon Gideon Twat-features was talking about, isn't it...? :lol:

 

That's possibly the stupidest policy name I've heard in my life.

That's possibly the stupidest policy name I've heard in my life.

Quite fitting for the stupidest Chancellor we've ever had then innit.

Quite fitting for the stupidest Chancellor we've ever had then innit.

 

Quite... :rolleyes: