Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the process for (a) finalising and (b) publishing pay review body remit letters is; and which Departments have a role in that process.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Pay Review Body (PRB) remit letters, PRB reports and the Government’s responses to those reports for previous years are published on gov.uk.
Remit letters, which commence the pay round were sent out on the 20th December to PRBs covering the major frontline public sector workforces, asking them to consider and make recommendations on the pay of their workforces as normal for 2024-25.
Departments are working on their evidence to PRBs which will be submitted in due course. The Government has outlined the requested date to receive the PRBs reports in the remit letters for this year.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Answer of 4 July 2023 to Question 191405 on Pay, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies on tackling the cost of living of the findings in the Competition and Markets Authority report entitled Price inflation and competition in food and grocery manufacturing and supply, published on 29 November 2023.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Bringing down inflation remains a government priority. UK food price inflation has been driven largely by global factors including a spike in energy prices and international agricultural prices.
However, UK food price inflation has already fallen from 19.6% in April 2023 to 10.1% in October 2023 and external forecasts expect it to continue to fall. Across the economy we have halved inflation from 10.7% in late 2022 down to 4.6% in October 2023.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of the report by Oxfam entitled, Climate equality: A planet for the 99%, published 20 November 2023.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to a pragmatic, proportionate, and realistic approach to meeting all our net zero commitments that eases the burdens on families.
In keeping with Green Book guidance, HMT considers the distributional impacts of policy where there may be significant redistributive effects. The Net Zero Review, published in 2021, included analysis to help understand households’ exposure to the net zero transition.
The UK is also delivering on our commitment to spend £11.6bn International Climate Finance between 2021/22 and 2025/26, ensuring a balance between adaptation and mitigation and including at least £3bn on protecting and restoring nature. The OECD has indicated that it is likely that donors met the $100bn climate finance goal for the first time in 2022, based on preliminary data. We regret that the $100bn goal is being met later than expected. However, it is important to recognise that significant progress has been made.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to fund pay increases for public sector workers at the rate of inflation or greater in the Autumn Statement 2023.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Pay for most frontline workforces is set through an independent Pay Review Body (PRB) process. The PRBs consider a range of evidence when forming their recommendations, including the need to recruit, retain and motivate suitably able and qualified people; the financial circumstances of Government; the Government's policies for improving public services; and the Government's inflation target.
The Government values the expert advice of the PRBs and accepted their headline recommendations in full for the 2023-24 pay round, leading to some of the highest public sector pay uplifts in three decades. We will be remitting the PRBs for the 2024-25 pay round in due course
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to increase public sector pay in 2024-25 by at least the September 2023 growth in average earnings.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Pay for most frontline workforces is set through an independent Pay Review Body (PRB) process. The PRBs consider a range of evidence when forming their recommendations, including the need to recruit, retain and motivate suitably able and qualified people; the financial circumstances of Government; the Government's policies for improving public services; and the Government's inflation target.
The Government values the expert advice of the PRBs and accepted their headline recommendations in full for the 2023-24 pay round, leading to some of the highest public sector pay uplifts in three decades. We will be remitting the PRBs for the 2024-25 pay round in due course
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Treasury is taking to implement the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Treasury will make provisions for implementing the Neonatal Care (Leave and Pay) Act 2023 when it comes into effect in April 2025.Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to return public sector pay to the real terms level of 2009-10 over the next five years.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Pay for most frontline workforces is set through an independent Pay Review Body process. These independent bodies consider a range of evidence when forming their recommendations, including the need to recruit, retain and motivate suitably able and qualified people; the financial circumstances of government; the Government’s policies for improving public services; and the government’s inflation target.
The Government recognises that public sector workers play a vital role in the running of our economy and in delivering world-class public services. That’s why, the Government accepted the headline 2023/24 pay recommendations of the independent Pay Review Bodies (PRBs) in full. For most workforces, accepting these recommendations has delivered the highest pay uplifts for their respective workforce in three decades.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to set public sector pay at the real terms value of that pay in January 2020.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Pay for most frontline workforces is set through an independent Pay Review Body process. These independent bodies consider a range of evidence when forming their recommendations, including the need to recruit, retain and motivate suitably able and qualified people; the financial circumstances of government; the Government’s policies for improving public services; and the government’s inflation target.
The Government recognises that public sector workers play a vital role in the running of our economy and in delivering world-class public services. That’s why, the Government accepted the headline 2023/24 pay recommendations of the independent Pay Review Bodies (PRBs) in full. For most workforces, accepting these recommendations has delivered the highest pay uplifts for their respective workforce in three decades.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to peg future public sector pay growth to at least the rate of inflation.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Pay for most frontline workforces is set through an independent Pay Review Body process. These independent bodies consider a range of evidence when forming their recommendations, including the need to recruit, retain and motivate suitably able and qualified people; the financial circumstances of government; the Government’s policies for improving public services; and the government’s inflation target.
The Government recognises that public sector workers play a vital role in the running of our economy and in delivering world-class public services. That’s why, the Government accepted the headline 2023/24 pay recommendations of the independent Pay Review Bodies (PRBs) in full. For most workforces, accepting these recommendations has delivered the highest pay uplifts for their respective workforce in three decades.
Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with which providers he has held recent discussions on uprating of savings rates; and when these discussions took place.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
On the 28 of June the Chancellor met with regulators including the Financial Conduct Authority. An agreement was secured to ensure that regulators act urgently in areas where consumers need most support and to ensure they are treated fairly. The Chancellor also regularly meets with senior bank representatives, and discusses a range of issues; as reported in the press he raised savings rates with bank chief executives at his mortgages roundtable on 23 of June.