Public sector workers are enjoying bumper pay deals at taxpayers’ expense even as their private sector counterparts face a tightening squeeze.
Official figures published on Tuesday revealed that state-funded employees saw their pay go up by an average 6.6 per cent in the three months to September.
That was the strongest since 2023.
Yet private sector counterparts – representing four-fifths of the UK workforce – are making do on pay increases of 4.2 per cent, barely above the rate of inflation and the weakest since 2021.
The revelation sparked fury from the Conservatives and the Taxpayers’ Alliance.
Tory business spokesman Andrew Griffith said: ‘The fact that public sector pay roars ahead at a time of falling productivity and when the private sector has to make do with less tells you everything about Labour’s wrong priorities for the economy.
‘And that’s before whatever next dollop of socialism the Chancellor has in store in her Budget.’
Public sector pay is up by 6.6% but private sector workers get rises of just 4.2%
John O’Connell, chief executive of the Taxayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Taxpayers will be fuming that while their own pay barely moves, the public sector is raking in bumper rises.
‘Private sector workers are staring down the barrel of higher taxes and weaker pensions while footing the bill for these wage hikes – a warped economic strategy that props up the unproductive public sector while punishing those who drive growth.
‘The government needs to get tough, rein in the public payroll and prove it’s on the side of taxpayers by cutting the near-record tax burden.’
The bumper pay deals for the likes of nurses and teachers come despite recent figures showing public service productivity – the efficiency with which work gets done – tumbling since Labour came to power.
It was down by 0.7 per cent in the three months to June compared to the same period last year.
The discrepancy between private sector and public sector pay is likely to frustrate those working for Britain’s private sector businesses, especially at a time when the Chancellor looks set to squeeze them further with a Budget income tax hike.
They will also bear the brunt if Rachel Reeves decides to raid pensions – with many in the public sector insulated as they enjoy so-called gold-plated schemes that guarantee their retirement incomes.
And it will add to the impression that while workers are being asked to contribute more, Labour’s union paymasters and Left-wing MPs have been able to protect those on the taxpayer payroll from much of the pain.
Bosses in the private sector are also likely to be frustrated since many have said they have no choice but to keep a lid on wage increases thanks to Labour’s raid on employer national insurance while no such restraint seems to be holding back public sector employers.
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