Economy and Jobs Debate

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Department: HM Treasury

Economy and Jobs

Jack Dromey Excerpts
Thursday 29th June 2017

(7 years, 5 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Lord Hammond of Runnymede Portrait Mr Hammond
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Just to be clear, there is no change in the Government’s position. Our pay policy has always been designed to strike the right balance between being fair to our public servants and being fair to those who pay for them. That approach has not changed and we continually assess that balance.

Jack Dromey Portrait Jack Dromey (Birmingham, Erdington) (Lab)
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Consider Wayne Marques, the hero police officer who fought off three terrorists, the firefighters who ran up burning stairwells to save frightened families, and the nurses and doctors who then battled to save lives: how can the Chancellor begin to justify holding their pay down, squeezing the living standards of Britain’s best?

Lord Hammond of Runnymede Portrait Mr Hammond
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As I am sure the hon. Gentleman knows, after the financial crisis, public sector pay ran substantially ahead of private sector pay, and we are only just moving back to the point where public and private sector pay have moved back into balance. [Interruption.] It is not rubbish, it is a fact, so the suggestion that there is a backlog problem for public sector workers is simply not true. As I have said, the Government’s policy remains unchanged.