No Extra Cash For Pay In The Public Sector, Warns Hunt

Jeremy Hunt has told ministers there will be no extra money to give millions of public sector workers an average 6% pay rise, which would potentially force departments to choose between raising salaries or cutting frontline services.

- Pippa Crerar, Dan Sabbagh

The Guardian understands the chancellor has ruled out providing a further cash injection beyond what is already budgeted if Rishi Sunak decides to implement the recommendations of independent pay review bodies that are expected as soon as tomorrow.

Government sources insisted the decision over whether to back the proposal for no extra funding would only be made once the prime minister was back from the Nato summit in Vilnius tonight and had gone over the figures. “There’s definitely still contention in this,” one said.

Cabinet ministers have been urging Sunak to agree to adopt the recommendations against a backdrop of the rising cost of living and amid concerns that public sector strikes money into people's pockets than any tax cut. And it means recognising that there can be no sustainable growth without eliminating the inflation that deters investment and erodes consumer confidence."

Sunak said on Saturday that giving unaffordable pay rises would be "short-sighted" and that any increases would have to abide by his principles of "fairness, affordability and responsibility".