With just 48 hours before parliament ends for summer, Theresa May gets a depressing end-of-term gift

With under 48 hours left before parliament goes on its summer holidays, Theresa May perhaps thought that things couldn’t get any worse. But she was wrong. Because the beleaguered Prime Minister has just received a frustrating end-of-term present. From her own experts.
The Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) – the body that sets the salaries for NHS managers, military officers, and top civil servants – has warned the government that the 1% public sector pay cap was causing staff to become “frustrated and demotivated”.
What’s the point?
The SSRB even went as far as questioning its own existence, given that the government seems to ignore its findings:
If the government continues to see value in having an independent body to advise on senior salaries, we believe that some serious reflection is required about how to make better use of it.
And it added that the continued cap would cause “recruitment and retention risks and fragile morale”.
And that’s at the top end
Meanwhile, it’s those at the other end of the spectrum that are really suffering under the cap. These include nurses and police officers forced to used food banks.
And it is also echoed in recruitment. There is such a shortfall of teachers in maths, physics and language jobs that the government is spending £10m to recruit and train teachers from overseas. And 12% of all NHS staff in England are non-UK nationals.
Read on...
Support us and go ad-freeGive it some teeth
When MPs were awarded a 1.4% pay rise by the parliamentary pay watchdog, they claimed they were forced to take it. This is because MPs aren’t allowed to vote on their own salaries; they have a clause that links them directly to the Office for National Statistics’ calculation of average public sector pay.
But no other public sector workers have the same security. A simple solution would be to give the pay review bodies some teeth. Take the control away from parliament and have public sector pay set fairly and accountably.
A government in crisis
The Conservatives are in crisis; squabbling amongst themselves over the public sector pay cap, Brexit, and pretty much everything on the political agenda. And with less than 48 hours to go before the end of parliament, the SSRB has given Theresa May yet another frustrating issue to really chew over while she’s on holiday.
Get Involved!
– Join The Canary and support our work.
Featured image via Flickr
Support us and go ad-freeWe know everyone is suffering under the Tories - but the Canary is a vital weapon in our fight back, and we need your support
The Canary Workers’ Co-op knows life is hard. The Tories are waging a class war against us we’re all having to fight. But like trade unions and community organising, truly independent working-class media is a vital weapon in our armoury.
The Canary doesn’t have the budget of the corporate media. In fact, our income is over 1,000 times less than the Guardian’s. What we do have is a radical agenda that disrupts power and amplifies marginalised communities. But we can only do this with our readers’ support.
So please, help us continue to spread messages of resistance and hope. Even the smallest donation would mean the world to us.