Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the policy paper entitled Fixing the Foundations: Public Spending Audit 2024-25, published on 29 July 2024, CP 1133, what estimate his Department has made of the total cost of civil service salaries in the (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26 financial year (i) before and (ii) after the decisions on (A) civil service pay increases and (B) the size of the civil service set out in that policy paper.

Pay for civil servants outside of the Senior Civil Service is not set centrally; rather, departments and bodies have freedom to make decisions on pay within the parameters of the Pay Remit Guidance published annually by the Cabinet Office. The Pay Remit Guidance for 2024/5 can be found using the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-pay-remit-guidance-2024-to-2025/civil-service-pay-remit-guidance-2024-to-2025

The pay remit sets a percentage maximum by which bodies can increase their average paybill. Each department will need to consider how they intend to apply the award to their workforce, before implementing it. The final cost of the civil service pay award for 2024/25 and estimates for 2025/26 will not be confirmed until this is concluded.

Data on the size of the Civil Service is available through the ONS Public Sector Employment publication, and can be found using the following link: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel