UK public sector workers secure significant pay rises amid budget cuts

British public sector workers such as teachers and doctors are to receive pay rises worth 9.4 billion pounds ($12.1 billion) that will put pressure on public finances but help avoid disruptive strikes, the government said on Monday.

The new Labour government has announced cuts to public spending in other areas to fund the pay rises, with Finance Minister Rachel Reeves blaming the previous Conservative administration for hiding the true state of the public finances. “Today I have set out our decision to meet the recommendations of the Pay Review Bodies because the previous government did not prepare for those recommendations in their departmental budgets,” Reeves told parliament.

These pay rises come at an additional cost of £9 billion this year. The pay rises, based on advice from independent pay review bodies, are designed to ease financial pressures while addressing concerns about social unrest and retaining staff. Although governments are not bound by these reviews, they have historically accepted them.

Over the past two years, strikes by doctors, nurses, teachers and civil servants over pay have put pressure on key public services such as the NHS. The Trades Union Congress has warned of potential strikes if the new government does not adequately raise workers’ pay. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party secured a landslide victory in the July 4 election.

Some 1.3 million NHS workers, including nurses and paramedics, and about 500,000 teachers will receive a 5.5% pay rise. Junior doctors, who have staged numerous strikes since the start of last year, will receive an average 22.3% pay rise over two years. Armed forces personnel will receive a 6% pay rise. ($1 = £0.7785)

(Based on information from the agency.)