Reeves signals 5.5% pay rise for public sector workers

Rachel Reeves has hinted at inflation-busting pay rises for public sector workers, highlighting the cost of industrial action from "not settling".

- ARCHIE MITCHELL

The chancellor has promised that “people won’t have to wait long” for a decision after reports that independent pay review bodies have recommended a 5.5 per cent rise for teachers and around 1.3 million NHS staff.

“There is a cost to not settling, a cost of further industrial action, and a cost in terms of the challenge we face recruiting,” she told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, adding: “We will do it in a proper way and make sure the sums add up.”

She said an announcement will be made by the end of July, alongside the publication of a Treasury review into the state of public finances. Schools and hospitals are unlikely to be able to finance a 5.5 per cent pay rise, more than double the current rate of inflation, from their existing budgets.