Public Sector Pay 2024-25

Ian Byrne Excerpts

Wednesday 17th January 2024 Westminster Hall

[Ian Byrne (Liverpool, West Derby) (Lab)]

It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Sir Robert. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Cynon Valley (Beth Winter) for securing this important debate, and for her excellent speech.

Many public sector workers have, as a last resort, had to take industrial action over their pay, pensions and job security. I have been proud to stand on the picket lines in Liverpool with teachers, nurses, doctors, junior doctors, civil servants and many other public servants. The Government should not have put the workers in this position. The wave of strike action follows pay offers that amounted to real-terms pay cuts, and comes at the same time as high inflation and the worst cost of living crisis that many of us have ever known. Since 2009, the value of the average public sector worker’s wage has declined by 25%, and the total cash value lost as a result of wages failing to keep pace with inflation is £65,000. That figure is staggering. Just imagine the difference that £65,000 could have made to people’s lives, and their local economies.

The Government’s brutal and unrelenting austerity has cut our vital services to the bone, and declining real wages have forced many who deliver those services into poverty. Let us be clear: austerity was a political choice; it was the wrong one, and so it will always be. Analysis by Feeding Liverpool shows that one in three people in my great city are experiencing food insecurity and hunger, and I know from speaking to many constituents that this includes teachers, nurses, civil servants and many more public sector workers.

On civil servants specifically, a PCS union survey of its members found that 35% had skipped meals because they had no food, 18% had to miss work because they could not afford transport or fuel to get there, 85% said the cost of living crisis had affected their physical and mental health, and 52% were worried about losing their home. What we are putting them through is staggering.

Declining public sector pay and conditions have also created a recruitment and retention crisis. It is utterly heartbreaking to hear from public sector workers in West Derby, such as teachers and nurses, who feel that they have no choice but to leave the career they have worked in their whole life, and care so much about, because of a combination of low pay, poor conditions, funding cuts, staff shortages and huge workloads.

Recent polling shows that two thirds of the public want the Government to invest any fiscal headroom in public services, such as schools and hospitals, and the people who serve in them. People have had enough of the Tory austerity programme. I completely agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Cynon Valley, who described so well the three key things that the Government must do next. First, there must be greater transparency around pay review bodies, along with greater collective bargaining arrangements in the trade union movement. Secondly, the upcoming pay settlement must deliver at least an inflation-proof pay rise. Thirdly, the Government must commit to a principle of pay restoration, and put right a decade of real-terms pay decline for public sector workers. They deserve nothing less, and our communities deserve nothing less.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ian Byrne Excerpts

Tuesday 20th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Griffith]

I respect the hon. Member for raising this issue. It has however, been raised many times before in this House, and answered from this Dispatch Box as well.

[Ian Byrne (Liverpool, West Derby) (Lab)]

2. What fiscal steps he plans to take to help reduce the impact of recent increases in the cost of living on households.

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

5. What recent assessment he has made of the potential effects of his policies on inflation on the cost of living.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Jeremy Hunt)]

We know the pain that households up and down the country are going through as a result of the cost of living pressures at the moment, and have announced one of the largest support packages in Europe, worth around £3,300 per household this year and last.

[Ian Byrne]

The latest report from Which? highlights that even supermarkets’ own budget brands of food have increased in price by 26.6%. There are security locks on baby formula milk, at the same time as corporations are making vast profits. The Government have signed up to the United Nations’ sustainable development goal of eradicating poverty by 2030. Surely, in the light of those commitments, now is the time for the Chancellor to act. Will he cap essential food prices and tackle the grotesque profiteering in the food industry that is driving many of my constituents in Liverpool, West Derby into poverty?

[Jeremy Hunt]

I totally respect the hon. Gentleman for raising the concerns of his constituents in the way that he has done. I do not believe that capping prices is the right long-term solution, but we are doing a lot, including payments of £900 per household for people on means-tested benefits, £150 for households with someone disabled living in them and £300 for households with pensioners living in them, precisely because we want to help the people that the hon. Gentleman is talking about. I will be meeting the regulators next week to talk further about what needs to be done with respect to supermarkets.

--- Later in debate ---

[Ian Byrne (Liverpool, West Derby) (Lab)]

T2. I recently met the Minister for Schools to present him with a costed proposal for piloting universal free school meals in Liverpool. He said that he was not ideologically opposed to that but all roads lead to the Treasury, so here we are. Will the Chancellor work with me and that Minister to enable this pilot, which would transform the education, health and wellbeing of thousands of children across my great city?

[Jeremy Hunt]

I will be happy to write to the hon. Gentleman to talk to him about that initiative. We are making great progress in our schools—we have risen to fourth in the global league table for reading—but we can always do more.

Corporate Profit and Inflation

Ian Byrne Excerpts

Tuesday 16th May 2023 Westminster Hall

[Ian Byrne (Liverpool, West Derby) (Lab)]

It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Sir Mark. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds East (Richard Burgon) for securing this incredibly important debate.

Two thirds of my constituents in West Derby are having to cut back on hot water, heating and electricity. One in three in my city are in some kind of food poverty, and 3.7 million children across the UK—one in five—have eaten less, skipped meals or gone without meals for an entire day. Meanwhile, Unite the union’s analysis of the industries that together have the biggest impact on inflation has found industry profit increases of over 20,000% for the big eight shipping firms, 366% for oil refineries, 255% for giant agribusiness food corporations and 84% for the big four energy companies. While many of my constituents have been forced into fuel poverty, oil and gas company BP has made a record $28 billion profit and doubled the salary of its CEO to £10 million. The immorality of this position—leaving the most vulnerable hungry while corporations are awash with profits—shames this place.

Let me touch on corporate profits and food poverty specifically. In the past 12 months, there have been extreme rises in the cost of staple foods: cheese is up 50%, two pints of milk is up 40%, eggs are up 28% and white sliced bread is up 21%—and there are locks on baby formula milk. Tragically, the rises affect the poorest households most of all, because they spend a larger percentage of their household income on food. The poorest fifth of the population would need to spend 43% of their disposable income on food to afford the recommended healthy diet in the Government’s “Eatwell Guide”. With so many other pressures, that is simply not achievable.

Unite the union highlights:

“Despite the rise in wholesale prices, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda still managed to increase their profits by an astonishing 97% in 2021…Profiteering is happening right along the food supply chain”.

Eight of the UK’s top food manufacturers made a combined profit of £22.9 billion—up 21% since before the pandemic. The four giant agribusiness corporations ADM, Bunge, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus made $10.4 billion, which is up 255%—absolutely staggering profits.

In the food industry, the workers who grow, distribute and supply our food are left unable to purchase the very food that they produce. The latest survey from the Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union found that four in 10 food workers are forced to skip meals, and over 60% of respondents said that their wages are not high enough to meet their basic needs. One worker wrote:

“I don’t have running hot water, so I can’t wash my hands thoroughly. Either trying to keep warm in bed or running on the spot. Staying at work longer to keep warm.”

In a letter I received this week, the Minister for Food, Farming and Fisheries told me:

“It is not for the UK Government to set retail food prices nor to comment on day-to-day commercial decisions by the companies.”

That is a cowardly response.

However, at a recent Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee session, we heard evidence from the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to food, who told us that corporations have a significant amount of power in markets, and there is not much being done to hold them accountable. Food prices are at the mercy of speculation, but Governments have the tools to stabilise prices. The inequality and levels of profiteering we are seeing are not inevitable. They are a result of a political decision by this Government—a Government that could intervene if they had the political will to do so.

It is one of the gravest and most frightening crises seen in our lifetimes, and yet many of my constituents tell me that they feel abandoned and ignored by a Government who are supposed to protect them. The situation cannot go on. I urge the Minister to heed the advice of the United Nations special rapporteur and use the tools to tackle this injustice. Do not leave the most vulnerable at the mercy of the greed and morality of those corporations.

Cost of Living Increases

Ian Byrne Excerpts

Tuesday 25th April 2023 Commons Chamber

[Ian Byrne (Liverpool, West Derby) (Lab)]

I would like to raise the terrifying consequences of the declining living standards experienced by my constituents in West Derby and by people across the city of Liverpool. One third of the people in my city are now in some kind of food poverty. Two thirds of my constituents are having to cut back on hot water, heating or electricity. The crisis was not inevitable; it has been fuelled by political choices—the political choice of Tory Governments to privatise our utilities and infrastructure; the political choice to allow profiteering in supermarkets and the oil and gas companies; the political choice of this Government to inflict 13 years of brutal austerity on my constituents; and the political choices to cut our vital public services to the bone, to decimate the social safety net and state pension, to strip away workers’ rights and to create a crisis of insecure contracts and low pay. The Government’s political choices have destroyed the services that can be the difference between life and death for many of my constituents in these times of crisis.

The rise of 19.2% in the price of food in the past year is the highest since 1977, and it is alongside the sharpest fall in real wages since 1977. The Resolution Foundation calculated that had wages continued to grow as they were before the financial crash of 2008, the average worker would make £11,000 more a year than they do now, taking rising prices into account—imagine where we would be. Recently, the Food Foundation reported that child food poverty has doubled in a year: 3.7 million children—one in five—have eaten less, skipped meals or gone without meals for an entire day. We are in danger of losing a generation of children through no fault of their own. Those who will shape the future of our nation will not reach their full potential because of the preventable scourge of hunger.

It is a disgraceful injustice that many of my constituents and so many children across this country are in this situation, yet at the same time inflation has been fuelled by “greedflation”, with supermarkets, food manufacturers and shipping companies protecting shareholder dividends by giving extra lifts to prices. Unite the union has highlighted:

“Despite the rise in wholesale prices, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda still managed to increase their profits by an astonishing 97% in 2021.”

At a recent sitting of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, we heard evidence from the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, who told us:

“Corporations have a significant amount of power in markets”,

but

“Governments have tools in place to stabilise prices.”

In West Derby, there are nurses, educators, firefighters, postal workers, rail staff and civil servants all using food banks. This is one of the most grave and frightening crises we have seen in our lifetimes. The situation simply cannot go on, so I ask the Minister to intervene now to support my constituents and services in West Derby, and curb the selfish profiteering by some companies in the food supply chain and energy industry.

I also call on the Minister to make food a legal right for all, to enshrine the right to food in legislation, and to end the scandal of hunger and food banks once and for all, beginning by providing universal free school meals for every primary and secondary pupil in state education. Let us heed this evidence, and invest in our communities and our children. We do not need sticking plasters and tinkering around the edges. We need the kitchen sink throwing at this dire situation for millions to transform the future of our nation. We should demand nothing less and settle for nothing less.

The Growth Plan

Ian Byrne Excerpts

Friday 23rd September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Eleanor Laing)]

And finally, the prize for perseverance and patience goes to Ian Byrne.

[Ian Byrne (Liverpool, West Derby) (Lab)]

We have a Budget for the 1% from a grim, bankrupted Thatcherite tribute act. One in three people in my great city are in food poverty now. I have constituents who are unable to put the heating on, take a hot shower or put a meal on the table—and that is with prices at current levels, which are meant to double from January. This statement does absolutely nothing for them, so will the Chancellor actually focus on the people who face a humanitarian disaster across all our communities, instead of playing to the rich bankers who bankroll his party? Will he meet and sit down with me to discuss how a right to food could right some of the wrongs in society?

[Kwasi Kwarteng]

As a Minister I have always been open to colleagues on both sides of the Houses and people have spoken to me. Regrettably, sometimes some of my conversations are leaked to the press, but I would be happy to speak to the hon. Gentleman on an issue of concern to his constituents.

Economy Update

Ian Byrne Excerpts

Thursday 26th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[Rishi Sunak]

This is the right decision at the right time. We are providing up to £1,200 of support to the most vulnerable third of households in this country. As I have said, that is roughly similar to the average energy bill increase that we are likely to experience over this year.

[Ian Byrne (Liverpool, West Derby) (Lab)]

Can the Chancellor tell me if the Treasury has estimated the basic cost of living per week for a single adult, and for different-sized households—yes or no? If it has, how much is it?

[Rishi Sunak]

I am not sure that I followed the hon. Gentleman’s question, but I know that while many families are facing difficult times, we are providing significant support for them—in total, £37 billion, or 1.5% of GDP. The support we announced today and in February is worth up to £1,200 for a typical vulnerable household—a third of the country.

Tackling Short-term and Long-term Cost of Living Increases

Ian Byrne Excerpts

Tuesday 17th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[Ian Byrne (Liverpool, West Derby) (Lab)]

Last week should have been an extremely sobering moment in this House. The Food Foundation figures widely quoted in this Chamber should chill the souls of every Member who serves here, with millions going hungry in our communities. A few days before the Queen’s Speech was delivered, I spoke to a disabled constituent who explained to me how the cost of living and the huge increase in energy bills had left him choosing between heating his home or powering his electric wheelchair. The fifth richest country in the world! There was nothing in the Queen’s Speech to make sure he does not have to face that unjust situation a day longer.

Instead of sober reflection on how we fix the crisis, we had grotesque suggestions from those on the Tory Benches on cookery classes—maybe an hour with Mary Berry would fix the problem of millions of going hungry. We had the Government suggesting that it is the fault of the person in poverty and that they just need to pack in their zero-hour minimum wage contract job and maybe become the CEO of Apple. We need to hear less condescending rhetoric that lays the blame on people facing hardship and poverty from commentators and politicians who have got about as much experience of poverty as I have of attending the annual reunion of the Bullingdon club.

Let us be clear that the blame for this crisis lies with this failing Government, who could make the political decisions that are needed if they wanted to. The Government could decide to put a right to food into legislation. They could ban fire and rehire, ban zero-hours contracts and raise the level of universal credit, legacy benefits and the minimum wage. They could protect pensioners and deliver justice for the 9,000 women in Liverpool, West Derby who have been impacted by the change to the women’s state pension age.

Hunger is a political choice. Fuel poverty is a political choice. Those choices are currently being made by this Government. This is an emergency—life and death for many—that demands serious solutions, not tinkering with a system that is utterly broken for millions. That is why we need to legislate for the right to food. We need enforceable food rights so that the Government of the day are accountable for making sure that nobody goes hungry. They must be prevented from making decisions that lead to people being unable to afford to put a meal on the table or to put the heating on.

That is why I have tabled an amendment to the Queen’s Speech to enshrine a right to food in UK law. I thank every Member from right across the House who has supported it, and I urge all others to do so.

Financial Statement

Ian Byrne Excerpts

Wednesday 23rd March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Rishi Sunak]

With regard to supporting those who are homeless, the spending review in the autumn increased support for homelessness by 85%, compared with 2019 levels—to over £640 million, I think, a year. We are currently seeing the number of rough sleepers at very low levels, compared with the last several years, and hopefully at the lowest level in a decade by the end of this Parliament.

[Ian Byrne (Liverpool, West Derby) (Lab)]

I have asked this of the Chancellor on numerous occasions. On Monday, I led a delegation to Downing Street to deliver a letter urging him to grant a right to food. With millions having to choose between starving or freezing in their homes because of the cost of living crisis, when will the penny drop with the Chancellor that hunger is a political choice, and it is he who controls the levers to eradicate it? Does he agree that it is a dereliction of his duty to the security of every household that we all serve not to enshrine into UK law access to food for all?

[Rishi Sunak]

We have actually invested more than £200 million a year in the holiday activity and food programme to provide both food and enriching activities to hundreds of thousands of children across the country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ian Byrne Excerpts

Tuesday 1st February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)]

1. What fiscal steps he plans to take to help reduce the impact on households of the rise in the cost of living.

[Ian Byrne (Liverpool, West Derby) (Lab)]

5. What recent assessment he has made of the impact of inflation on trends in the levels of living standards.

[Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab)]

8. What fiscal steps he plans to take to help reduce the impact on households of the rise in the cost of living.

--- Later in debate ---

[Rishi Sunak]

I am proud of this Government’s track record in supporting pensioners. Thanks to the triple lock, in place since 2010, pensions are, relative to earnings, the highest they have been in more than three decades. However, I recognise the anxiety that many pensioners will feel about rising energy bills, and we are always looking at the best way to support people. To help with exactly that phenomenon, the winter fuel payment provides up to £300 for everyone over the state pension age.

[Ian Byrne]

With the cost of living crisis upon us, millions across our country must choose between heating their home or putting a meal on the table. Hunger is a political choice made by this Government and the buck stops with the Chancellor. Last week, he wrote off £4.3 billion of covid fraud. If he has the will, he can end the crisis of food insecurity for millions across our nation. Will he use his spring statement to implement a right to food, including universal free school meals and setting social security payments and the living wage at rates calculated to take account of the rising cost of food?

[Rishi Sunak]

On providing food for those who most need it, I am pleased that the recent spending review confirmed £200 million of extra funding for the holiday activity and food programme to provide support to families and children outside term time. The national living wage, which the hon. Gentleman mentioned, is going up by 6.6% to £9.50 in April, putting an extra £1,000 in the pockets of hard-working people up and down the country.

Oral Answers to Questions

Ian Byrne Excerpts

Tuesday 7th September 2021 Commons Chamber

[Ian Byrne (Liverpool, West Derby) (Lab)]

16. What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the impact on the Exchequer of ending the £20 uplift to universal credit.

[Stephen Timms (East Ham) (Lab)]

18. What discussions he plans to have with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the impact on the Exchequer of ending the £20 uplift to universal credit.

--- Later in debate ---

[Rishi Sunak]

The hon. Gentleman talks about those in poverty. The statistics most recently published show that 200,000 fewer people are living in absolute poverty in the United Kingdom than when this Government came into office. With regard to the economic impacts, I think all colleagues in the House can see the strength in our labour market: the need for businesses to find people and the fact that this Government are giving them the skills they need to get those jobs. That is the right strategy to help people and that is the economic strategy this Government are pursuing.

[Ian Byrne]

While the Chancellor was pondering the colour of the tiles for his new swimming pool and the site of his new tennis court for his country mansion this summer, back in the real world 20% of my constituency of Liverpool West Derby are facing a £20 a week cut to universal credit and sleepless nights about how they will survive. Can the Chancellor tell me what assessment the Government have made of the impact of the cut, and how many of the 12,530 people in Liverpool West Derby they estimate will be forced into poverty?

[Rishi Sunak]

I do not accept that people will be forced into poverty, because we know, and all the evidence and history tells us, that the best way to take people out of poverty is to find them high quality work. We are creating jobs at a rapid rate, with eight months of continuous growth in employment supported by this Government: traineeships, sector-based work academies, apprenticeships, kickstart. You name it, we are delivering it to help those people in Liverpool to get the skills and the jobs they need to help support their families.