Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster's letter to the Senior Salaries Review Body of 30 September 2024, whether public sector pay rises will be linked to productivity improvements in financial year 2025-26.

Pay for most frontline workforces are set through an independent Pay Review Body (PRB) process. The independent PRBs, including the Senior Salaries Review Body, provide evidence-based advice to the government on levels of pay, taking account of a range of factors including the need to recruit, retain and motivate suitably able and qualified people and the financial circumstances of the government.

As set out in the Autumn Budget, Departmental settlements for 2025-26 will need to fund the next round of public sector pay awards. Departments will set out their affordability evidence to the PRBs in the usual way, taking account of expected inflation over the next financial year, forecast by the OBR to be 2.6%. If the PRBs recommend pay awards above the level departments have budgeted for, the Government will have to consider the justification – for example where there are especially acute recruitment and retention demands, or where productivity improvements can unlock further funding.