1% pay rises confirmed for top judges and civil servants

Top judges and other service workers are to get a pay increase.

The Government announced that it has accepted the recommendations of the Senior Salaries Review Body, which said that pay should rise in line with the maximum 1% permitted by the public sector pay cap.

The below-inflation rise is in line with those received earlier this year by other groups including teachers and nurses, extending the period of 0% and 1% pay hikes which has lasted since 2010.

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Prime Minister Theresa May and Chancellor Philip Hammond are coming under intense pressure from Labour and the unions to lift the cap, which is currently due to remain in place until 2019/20.

An unconfirmed report in The Times suggested that the Chancellor is examining a compromise under which pay review bodies could be instructed to shape future awards so the lowest-paid workers receive a bigger annual rise than higher-earning colleagues without increasing overall staff budgets.

Announcing the Government’s response to the Senior Salaries Review Body recommendations in a written statement to Parliament, First Secretary of State Damian Green said: “The Government greatly values the important work that public servants do in delivering essential public services. We understand the need to ensure that we are able to recruit, retain and motivate staff with the right skills and experience.

“However, there is a trade-off between pay and jobs in many public services, and pay restraint is one of the many difficult choices the Government has had to make to help put the UK’s public finances back on track.

“Senior public sector workers, like everyone else, will have to continue to play their part to ensure we deliver job security for working people across the country. This will help us to strike the right balance between protecting people’s jobs, being fair to public sector workers and being fair to those who pay for it.”