Budget 2021: Public sector workers set for pay rise, says Sunak

 

At least 1.3m public sector workers are set to see their wages rise next year after the government confirmed their pay freeze is being lifted.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak will use his Budget on Wednesday to say nurses, teachers and members of the armed forces are among those set to benefit.

A "temporary pause" in salary progression was introduced last November as a response to the pandemic.

Labour says tax and price rises mean families face a cost of living crisis.

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The public sector pay freeze was part of the government's response to what it described as the "economic emergency" caused by Covid, with only the lowest-paid excluded.

In his spending review in November 2020, Mr Sunak said he could not justify an across-the-board increase when many in the private sector had seen their pay and hours cut in the crisis.

He said the pandemic had forced ministers to take extraordinary measures to protect people's jobs and incomes by "targeting our resources at those who need it most".