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Rishi Sunak has rejected allegations that the planned public sector payments freeze amounts to a return to austerity, insisting that the spending plans to be announced on Wednesday will result in more money for health, education and health. police.
With unions demanding that the chancellor make a last-minute reversal on his clearly stated intention to clamp down on the state’s wage bill and refusing to rule out strikes, Sunak said there would be significant increases in public service spending on next year.
The Guardian learned that Sunak’s plans include an additional £ 151 million to tackle hard sleep and prevent homelessness on top of the £ 103 million it announced in its March budget.
The chancellor will use the extra money to combat the UK homeless crisis, along with reconfirming funding for 40 new hospitals, 20,000 additional police officers, redevelopment of higher education universities and a rebuilding program. 10-year-old schools to defend themselves. criticism of the moderation of wages in the public sector.
Sunak said on Sunday: “This has been a difficult year for all of us. But we will not let it get in the way of delivering on our promises – the British people deserve outstanding public services and we remain committed to delivering on their priorities as we place our public services at the center of our economic renewal. “
Also in Wednesday’s package will be:
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New forecasts showing the economy is on track to contract more than 10% this year.
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A public sector wage freeze for all workers outside the NHS.
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An extra £ 3bn for the NHS to deal with a delay in operations caused by the Covid-19 crisis.
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Funding confirmation for 50,000 more nurses and 50 million additional GP appointments.
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A cut in the UK aid budget from 0.7% to 0.5% of national income.
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Plans for a new national infrastructure bank and a northern campus for the Treasury.
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A warning from the Chancellor that unlimited spending to deal with the twin health and economic emergencies is coming to an end.
In a private letter to the chancellor seen by The Guardian, the top leaders of 18 of the country’s largest unions warned that wage controls during the health emergency would damage the economy, hurt front-line workers and cause a personnel crisis. .
Instead, union bosses called for pay raises to be awarded to recognize the unique role played by public sector personnel during the Covid outbreak.
The letter says that a raise is a “matter of fairness” for firefighters, instructional assistants, care workers, garbage collectors and other key public sector personnel to reward them for their efforts during the crisis.
The letter was signed by the leaders of the UK’s three largest unions, Unison, Unite and GMB, as well as the NEU Teachers Union and representatives from prisons and healthcare.
Asked about the possibility of going on strike over the issue, the head of the TUC union federation, Frances O’Grady, refused to rule it out.
She told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “I am really aware of the feeling that governments only seem to recognize the true value of work when it retires … No one can discount anything at this point except what I am saying and What he asks is that the government support key workers, respect the contribution they continue to make, and recognize that this is an absolutely inappropriate time to talk about wage cuts. ”
Figures from the Center for Policy Studies, the right-wing think tank led by Robert Colvile, author of the 2019 Conservative Manifesto, suggest that a three-year wage freeze could save a cumulative £ 23 billion for the treasury, and Sunak did nothing. to quell speculation that action was imminent.
The Chancellor told Ridge: “I cannot comment on the future payment policy before the expense review, but what I would say is that when we launched the expense review, I told the departments that when we think of agreements it would be entirely reasonable to think in them in the context of the broader economic climate. That is reasonable.
“Second, I think it would be fair to also think about what is happening with wages, jobs, hours throughout the economy, when we think about what is right in the public sector.”
Sunak denied that this amounted to a return to austerity, which the government has said has ended.
“You won’t see austerity next week,” he said. “What you will see is an increase in government spending on daily public services, a fairly significant one, in addition to the increase we had last year. So there’s no way anyone can say that’s austerity. ”
Anneliese Dodds, the shadow chancellor, will say in a speech on Monday: “The British people should not have to pay the price for a government that does not know the value of public money, wasting it on outsourced contracts to linked conservatives, non-compliant companies. “.
In a speech to Reuters, Dodds will add: “The Chancellor’s irresponsible decisions and unacceptable delays are hurting the economy. That’s why we are in the grip of a job crisis, and it has Rishi Sunak’s name all over it. “
