Scottish Government & associated bodies

Members working in the devolved Scottish sector have been informed that Scottish Ministers intend to lift their own self-imposed pay cap from next year. This is welcome, but the removal of the cap should now be used to address the fall in wages since 2010 and reflect the additional work now being undertaken by FDA members.

We must ensure that the voices of hard working public servants like you are not lost amid the current national discourse around public sector pay. Politicians need to know that there can be no cherry-picking - all public servants deserve a fair and fully funded payrise for the vital work they do.

We therefore urge you to write to your elected representatives in both the House of Commons and the Scottish Parliament, asking them to support a fair and fully-funded pay rise right across the public sector. Click the links above to find your representatives.

When writing to your elected representatives, here are a few points you may wish to include:

• A brief description of the work you do, how long you have been a public servant and the value of your work to the wider public.
• The fact your annual salary has lost {inPercentage}% of its value due to pay restraint.
• Some context of pay restraint in the civil service: pay has been frozen or increases capped at 1% since 2010; in that time employee pension contributions have increased by up to 6.55% and National Insurance by around 1.4%, while rail fares have increased by almost a third over the same timeframe.
• The fact that you are not alone with your concerns regarding pay, as the 2017 FDA Pay Survey of almost 2,000 public sector leaders shows that 83% are unhappy with overall pay arrangements in the civil service, and more than two-thirds (68%) are aware of recruitment and/or retention difficulties in their organisation.
• Any specific examples of recruitment/retention problems in your department or workplace.
• The amount your workload has increased while your pay has stood still. Our latest Working Hours Survey found that more than 90% of staff across all departments say they regularly work longer than they are contracted to work each week, with more than a quarter telling us that they work more than an entire day's worth of additional hours every week.

Here are some additional points members in the Senior Civil Service may wish to highlight:

• The Government's own figures show that the bulk of the SCS - Deputy Directors - are almost £14,000 a year worse off than they were in 2010, and now earn 46% less than their private sector counterparts – even when pensions are taken into account. The pay gap rises to a staggering 71% at Director-level.
• As the SSRB is tied to a remit set out by the Treasury it has not been able to make recommendations outside the pay cap for a number of years. It has, however, repeatedly called for a fundamental review of pay in the SCS and highlights problems with recruitment of new civil servants, retention of skills and experience and extremely low morale due to the current approach.

Welsh Government & associated bodies

Members working in the devolved Welsh sector are not bound by the Treasury pay cap, although the Welsh Government has chosen to apply it. The Welsh Government now says that it wishes to end the cap. That is a welcome move, but it must now ensure that any rise addresses the fall in wages since 2010; reflects the additional work now being undertaken by FDA members; and is not funded by cuts elsewhere.

We therefore urge you to write to your elected representatives in both the House of Commons and the Welsh Assembly, asking them to support a fair and fully-funded pay rise right across the public sector. 

When writing to your elected representatives, here are a few points you may wish to include:

• A brief description of the work you do, how long you have been a public servant and the value of your work to the wider public.
• The fact your annual salary has lost {inPercentage}% of its value due to pay restraint.
• Some context of pay restraint in the civil service: pay has been frozen or increases capped at 1% since 2010; in that time employee pension contributions have increased by up to 6.55% and National Insurance by around 1.4%, while rail fares have increased by almost a third over the same timeframe.
• The fact that you are not alone with your concerns regarding pay, as the 2017 FDA Pay Survey of almost 2,000 public sector leaders shows that 83% are unhappy with overall pay arrangements in the civil service, and more than two-thirds (68%) are aware of recruitment and/or retention difficulties in their organisation.
• Any specific examples of recruitment/retention problems in your department or workplace.
• The amount your workload has increased while your pay has stood still. Our latest Working Hours Survey found that more than 90% of staff across all departments say they regularly work longer than they are contracted to work each week, with more than a quarter telling us that they work more than an entire day's worth of additional hours every week.

Here are some additional points members in the Senior Civil Service may wish to highlight:

• The Government's own figures show that the bulk of the SCS - Deputy Directors - are almost £14,000 a year worse off than they were in 2010, and now earn 46% less than their private sector counterparts – even when pensions are taken into account. The pay gap rises to a staggering 71% at Director-level.
• As the SSRB is tied to a remit set out by the Treasury it has not been able to make recommendations outside the pay cap for a number of years. It has, however, repeatedly called for a fundamental review of pay in the SCS and highlights problems with recruitment of new civil servants, retention of skills and experience and extremely low morale due to the current approach.

UK Government

We must ensure that the voices of hard working civil servants like you are not lost amid the current national discourse around public sector pay. MPs need to know that there can be no cherry-picking - all public servants deserve a fair and fully funded payrise for the vital work they do.

We're asking you to write to your local Member of Parliament to explain the negative impact pay restraint has had on you and your work, and urge them to support fair pay for public services.

Click here to write to your local MP.

When writing to your MP, here are a few points you may wish to include:

• A brief description of the work you do, how long you have been a public servant and the value of your work to the wider public.
• The fact your annual salary has lost {inPercentage}% of its value due to pay restraint.
• Some context of pay restraint in the civil service: pay has been frozen or increases capped at 1% since 2010; in that time employee pension contributions have increased by up to 6.55% and National Insurance by around 1.4%, while rail fares have increased by almost a third over the same timeframe.
• The fact that you are not alone with your concerns regarding pay, as the 2017 FDA Pay Survey of almost 2,000 public sector leaders shows that 83% are unhappy with overall pay arrangements in the civil service, and more than two-thirds (68%) are aware of recruitment and/or retention difficulties in their organisation.
• Any specific examples of recruitment/retention problems in your department or workplace.
• The amount your workload has increased while your pay has stood still. Our latest Working Hours Survey found that more than 90% of staff across all departments say they regularly work longer than they are contracted to work each week, with more than a quarter telling us that they work more than an entire day's worth of additional hours every week.

Here are some additional points members in the Senior Civil Service may wish to highlight:

• The Government's own figures show that the bulk of the SCS - Deputy Directors - are almost £14,000 a year worse off than they were in 2010, and now earn 46% less than their private sector counterparts – even when pensions are taken into account. The pay gap rises to a staggering 71% at Director-level.
• As the SSRB is tied to a remit set out by the Treasury it has not been able to make recommendations outside the pay cap for a number of years. It has, however, repeatedly called for a fundamental review of pay in the SCS and highlights problems with recruitment of new civil servants, retention of skills and experience and extremely low morale due to the current approach.

 

Northern Ireland Civil Service and associated public bodies

We're asking you to write to your Westminster Member of Parliament to explain the negative impact pay restraint has had on you and your work, and urge them to support fair pay for all public services.

When writing to your elected representatives, here are a few points you may wish to include:

• Staff numbers in the NICS have dramatically decreased over the last few years, mainly as a result of the Voluntary Exit Scheme, which came to an end last year. With these staff departing and the suppression of the majority of vacant posts, the workforce is now approximately 20% smaller than a few years ago, which has generated massive wage bill savings of around £100m so far.
• NICS staff have, however, not seen a commensurate 20% reduction in workload or priorities. Quite the contrary in fact, as they have been required to deliver an increasing workload with ever changing priorities and unprecedented levels of uncertainty (no Northern Ireland Assembly, RHI scandal/public inquiry, and Brexit to contend with, to name just a few at the moment).
• These overworked staff are finding their situation further frustrated by very limited promotion and development opportunities as well as the further pressures that reducing from twelve to nine departments has created, and which they are still working their way through. In other words, they are still delivering the same, if not more outcomes, with fewer staff, resulting in individual workloads increasing.
• Staff goodwill is not boundless, and needs and deserves recognition with a proper pay increase. The grades FDA represents have not received a proper pay increase in nearly a decade. Last year’s 1% consolidated increase, (although a small and welcome step in the right direction), did little to address the huge 20% gap that has opened up due to the pay restraint of 1% since 2008, which in practice was a pay freeze for the majority of staff who were not promoted.

Here are some additional points members in the Senior Civil Service may wish to highlight:

• The purchasing power of the salaries for the SCS grades FDA represents in the NICS has gradually been deteriorating since 2008 when the gap between CPI and RPI has continued to grow. This was further compounded by the top of the scale /rate for the job being reduced by 40% in 2012.
• In other words, the purchasing power of salaries has been seriously eroded since the global economic crisis and recession hit nearly a decade ago. Nearly a decade of austerity and pay restraint is too long as the SCS grades FDA represents in the NICS have already sustained a massive hit to their take home pay.