MPs set for pay rise above public sector wage cap

MPs are set for a 1.4 per cent pay rise - well above the 1 per cent cap imposed on public sector workers.

Westminster MPs are set for a pay rise. Picture: PA

The rise from £74,962 to £76,011, due to take effect in April 2017, follows another cap-busting increase of 1.3 per cent earlier this year.

And it comes two years after a massive 10 per cent hike from £67,000 to £74,000 in 2015, recommended by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa).

The announcement is likely to anger public sector workers like nurses, police and teachers, whose rises have been limited to a maximum 1 per cent for four years, following earlier freezes.

Under a system designed to take the issue out of political control, MPs’ salaries rise in line with the Office for National Statistics’ calculation of average overall increases in the public sector. The increase is automatic and not subject to approval in Parliament.

Ipsa confirmed that the ONS had issued a preliminary estimate of this year’s figure of 1.4 per cent. However, this may change when the statistic is finalised nearer the date of the pay-rise.

The figure is higher than the 1 per cent cap because it is calculated on the basis of all payments on public sector payslips, including items like bonuses and promotion-related rises.

Ministerial salaries, which are controlled by Government, have been frozen to 2020.