Luke Pollard, Member of Parliament for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, has today criticised the Government’s real-terms pay cut for millions of key workers including police, teachers and junior doctors in Plymouth.

The Government has announced that key workers across England will not be receiving a pay rise despite being on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic. Plymouth’s key workers in the Police, teachers and junior doctors have been excluded from a pay rise for the coming year. Where pay rises have been announced, for some NHS workers, then this will have to come from existing NHS budgets potentially meaning more cuts to pay for the pay rise.

Mr Pollard said the following in a statement criticising the proposed pay cuts:

“We’ve seen millions wasted in PPE contracts handed out to mates of Tory cabinet ministers, but now they’ll tell us there is nothing left over for our key workers. It simply isn’t good enough.”

 

“Handing our frontline workers a real-terms pay cut which leaves them worse off would be unacceptable in any year – but to do so in the midst of a global pandemic, in which this country has relied so heavily on its key workers, is downright indefensible. 

 

“The contributions made by our public sector workers – like police, junior doctors, teachers – has been amazing. They can’t pay their bills with claps but that is all Ministers are offering them. They deserve so much more than an insulting pay freeze, which effectively leaves them with less cash in their pockets.”

The latest research by one leading health think tank shows that NHS staff in England have suffered real-terms falls in their pay of up to £2,949 over the last decade.

The latest proposed pay rises would increase the salaries of certain NHS staff such as nurses and GPs by 3%, which could still represent a real-terms pay-cut when adjusted for inflation. For other public sector workers including police and teachers, no such pay rise has been announced. 

Luke is still arguing with Ministers over the last NHS pay rise that excluded thousands of Livewell workers across the south west.