Public Spending: Inheritance
Debate between Nick Timothy and Rachel Reeves(2 months ago)
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Nick Timothy (West Suffolk) (Con)
Earlier, the Chancellor quoted Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, but she omitted the end of his comments. He said that half of the spending hole she claims is public sector pay
“over which govt made a choice”.
That is the truth, is it not? The Chancellor does a good shocked face, but she chose to create her own spending hole, did she not?
Rachel Reeves
It was the previous Government who set the mandate for the pay review bodies. It is extraordinary that they did not include in that remit a measure of affordability, but they did not, which is why the pay review bodies made these recommendations. The previous Education Secretary could have rejected those recommendations, but she let them sit on her desk, because the previous Government were not willing to make tough decisions. We have made those decisions, including making sure that a third of the cost of these pay awards is absorbed, but there is a cost to inaction: last year, there was a £1.7 billion cost to the NHS alone because of industrial action.