Left Foot Forward spoke to PCS and the FDA about the government's recommended 2.8% pay rise for civil servants.

The government’s proposed 2.8% pay rise for civil servants is “not anywhere near enough” to address pay inequalities within the civil service, PCS union general secretary Fran Heathcote has told Left Foot Forward.

While PCS isn’t covered by the pay review body or bound by its recommendations, Heathcote said they provide “a bit of a steer” on the government’s stance on pay. She added, “If they are thinking about that [2.8%], that’s not going to be anywhere near enough to put right some of the inequalities that exist.”

Two weeks ago, government departments recommended a 2.8% pay rise for public sector workers, including teachers, NHS workers, and civil servants in 2025/26.

Several unions, including Unison, Unite, the BMA, and NEU, said the proposed increase, which is just above the Office for Budget Responsibility’s 2.6% inflation forecast for the upcoming year, is not enough.

‘A recommendation, not an offer’

PCS represents mainly lower-grade civil servants, many of whom are on minimum wage. Some are relying on food banks or juggling multiple jobs to make ends meet.

Each year, Heathcote said the focus of the government’s pay talks is on enforcing an uplift to ensure lower-grade workers continue to receive the minimum wage.

In an interview with Left Foot Forward, she said: “They’re skirting along at the minimum wage all the time, They have no opportunity for progression.”

On the proposed 2.8% increase itself, she noted: “There’s a long way to go yet before that’s the figure we end up discussing.”

Lucille Thirlby, Assistant General Secretary at the FDA, which represents senior civil servants, emphasised that 2.8% is a recommendation, not an offer.

“We will be saying to the pay review bodies you’re independent and should make your own considerations,” Thirlby told Left Foot Forward, adding that it’s likely that senior civil servants also see it “in that light”, as a suggestion, rather than a final pay award.

Delegation: ‘Robbing Peter to pay Paul’

The civil service pay problem is bigger than securing yearly, inflation-proof pay awards.

As there is no national collective bargaining system, PCS negotiates pay agreements with around 200 separate pay bargaining units.

Heathcote told Left Foot Forward that “delegation isn’t a good system” and that it disadvantages the lowest paid civil servants.

“You are constantly robbing Peter to pay Paul, so if you give one group of workers a decent increase, that’s at the expense of another group of workers because there isn’t really enough to go around,” she stated.

For example, in the 2024/25 pay settlement, Heathcote highlighted that the Department for Work and Pensions gave lower grades a below 5% pay rise so they could give higher grades more.

In addition, the lack of a pay differential between workers on the lowest grades and do different work for the same money, also creates “a lot of equal pay issues and is also fertile ground for disputes”.

“That’s when people start looking at their pay and saying ‘this isn’t fair’,” she said.

‘People can’t progress’

Thirlby said the FDA is focusing on the lack of pay progression, which “previous governments have failed to address”.

This means “people who have been in delegated grades get a promotion and they start on a higher salary than people who have already been in the Senior Civil Service a long time, which is common across the civil service.”

The FDA also wants to see the government increase the pay minima across the different Senior Civil Service bands to ensure staff are fairly compensated.

In a recent survey of senior civil servants, nearly a quarter of respondents said they manage staff that earn more than them. 

She added that “there is constant overworking and unpaid overtime being done and there is no recognition of that at all”.

Cautious optimism

Despite the structural pay issues, there have been positive developments, such as the government’s agreement to a 5% pay rise for 2024/25.

Heathcote said: “The 5% was clearly more than anybody had anticipated we would get had the Tories won the general election.”

She added that there was “cautious optimism” about Labour’s manifesto and the Employment Rights Bill, but warned it “could dissipate quite quickly if people don’t see any difference”.

She added that: “Unlike the Tories, they’ve been willing to meet and do engage”.

Thirlby said the FDA has had a similar experience so far: “We’ve definitely been getting better engagement with the cabinet office and more generally in terms of both delegated and Senior Civil Service pay”.

Looking ahead

Heathcote said that the biggest test for the government will be in April 2025 when the National Minimum Wage for over 21s is uplifted to £12.21.

She said that if after the uplift, “tens of thousands of our members don’t see any change and they’re still skirting along at the national minimum wage, that is when I think we will have a problem.”

PCS’ annual conference in May will provide an opportunity to discuss the issue further.

Heathcote said PCS “will always negotiate and try to avoid a dispute. Nobody takes strike action easily, […] but if they feel there’s no alternative and nothing’s really changing, I think there’ll be a move for further action”.

Thirlby said, “If there is no response to the systemic issues and they don’t listen, it will be more difficult for us to agree [to the pay offer].”

Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward

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