Thousands of Scottish public sector workers to have pay rises capped

THOUSANDS of public-sector workers in Scotland will have pay increases for this year capped at 1 per cent after finance secretary John Swinney laid down an "affordable pay policy" for staff under his control.

Employees of nine government bodies will see salary awards limited, after Mr Swinney said pay should be kept "under tight control".

And he announced the overall pay bill for the bodies, which include VisitScotland, should not increase by more than 2 per cent in 2010-11.

The policy will affect 6,000 staff in Scotland, but the majority of public-sector workers will not be covered, with around 70,000 employed in areas such as local government and the NHS subject to separate pay negotiations.

The chief executives, chairmen and board members of the quangos involved will have their pay policy published shortly by the Scottish Government.

But Liberal Democrat finance spokesman Jeremy Purvis said the pay policy was a "colossal missed opportunity" by the government.

He argued: "A 1 per cent pay increase for someone on 80,000 puts an extra 800 in their pocket. Yet the same increase for someone on low pay is significantly smaller, just 180 for someone on 18,000.

"Our approach, offering a 400 pay rise to all, would be much fairer for the lower paid. This would be more progressive and save taxpayers' money."

The Lib Dems have lodged amendments to the Public Sector Reform Bill that would compel quangos to launch a review of bosses' pay and ban bonuses for two years.