All 2 Debates between Chris Stephens and Mary Glindon

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chris Stephens and Mary Glindon
Thursday 8th December 2022

(2 years ago)

Commons Chamber
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Mary Glindon Portrait Mary Glindon (North Tyneside) (Lab)
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14. What assessment he has made of the state of industrial relations in the civil service.

Chris Stephens Portrait Chris Stephens (Glasgow South West) (SNP)
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16. What assessment he has made of the state of industrial relations in the civil service.

Public Sector Pay Policy

Debate between Chris Stephens and Mary Glindon
Tuesday 5th June 2018

(6 years, 6 months ago)

Westminster Hall
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Chris Stephens Portrait Chris Stephens
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I agree with that entirely. I will list the views of civil servants on the public sector pay cap a little later. The hon. Lady is absolutely correct that public sector workers across the board feel undervalued because the 1% pay cap has been in place for so many years.

Mary Glindon Portrait Mary Glindon (North Tyneside) (Lab)
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I am intervening as a member of the associate and retired members branch of PCS and as part of the parliamentary group. Further to what the hon. Gentleman said in response to the last intervention, does he think it is ludicrous that there will be civil servants and public sector workers in receipt of universal credit who will be under scrutiny by the Department for Work and Pensions to increase their income to comply with UC rules?

Chris Stephens Portrait Chris Stephens
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I agree with that entirely. The vice-chair of the PCS parliamentary group makes an excellent point. A recent survey at the Department for Work and Pensions showed that more than 70% of its staff have experienced financial difficulty in the last 12 months.

With the introduction of universal credit, the point has been made that civil servants who will be in receipt of universal credit due to low pay or being a part-time worker will be under scrutiny by their own Department to increase their income to comply with those rules. That is important, because 18 months ago I secured an Adjournment debate on low pay in the Department for Work and Pensions, which pushed the Department to act. At that time, incredibly, 40% of civil servants employed in the Department for Work and Pensions were in receipt of tax credits. I hope the Minister will look at that.