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| PM curbs pay for civil servants | |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| Senior civil servants, top NHS managers and judges will get a pay rise of 1.5% next year - lower than was recommended - Gordon Brown has announced. | Senior civil servants, top NHS managers and judges will get a pay rise of 1.5% next year - lower than was recommended - Gordon Brown has announced. |
| The prime minister said the economic crisis meant the 2009-10 rises had to be lower than suggested by the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB). | The prime minister said the economic crisis meant the 2009-10 rises had to be lower than suggested by the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB). |
| However, all military personnel were awarded the recommended 2.8% rise. | However, all military personnel were awarded the recommended 2.8% rise. |
| Senior public sector staff should "show leadership in the exercise of pay restraint," Mr Brown told MPs. | Senior public sector staff should "show leadership in the exercise of pay restraint," Mr Brown told MPs. |
| Doctors and dentists will also receive a pay rise of 1.5% for 2009-10, which is in line with the proposals of their pay review body, the Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration Review Body (DDRB). | |
| This pay rise is... appropriate acknowledgement of the burden our people are carrying on behalf of the nation Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup | |
| The news came following the announcement that MPs are to receive a pay rise of 2.33% from 1 April, bringing their annual salary to about £64,766. | |
| Rules introduced last year fixed the increase at the average received over the previous year by 15 different groups of public sector workers. | Rules introduced last year fixed the increase at the average received over the previous year by 15 different groups of public sector workers. |
| BBC political correspondent Carole Walker said senior civil servants were "disappointed" with the news, and said comparisons with the MPs' rise would "increase resentment". | |
| Bonus pots | |
| In Tuesday's announcement Mr Brown also revealed plans to "fundamentally reform" early retirement and severance terms for all civil servants. | |
| "The current arrangements have been in place since 1987 and are inflexible and expensive," he said. | |
| He said the new rules would require departments to cut costs, saving up to £500m over the next three years. | |
| The move is part of a plan to reduce the real-terms cost of running government by 5% in each of the next three years. | |
| On civil servants' pay, the SSRB had suggested that pay for senior civil servants should go up by 2.1%. Its recommendation that the bonus pot should be frozen was accepted. | |
| The SSRB said the judiciary should get 2.6%, and NHS managers 2.4%, but in all cases it was cut to 1.5%. | |
| The bonus pot for NHS managers will also be frozen. | |
| Strikes | |
| The head of the Armed Forces welcomed the decision to award military personnel a 2.8% rise, saying it reflected the "burden" they carried for the nation | |
| The Ministry of Defence said the rise, proposed by the independent Armed Forces' Pay Review Body (AFPRB), would give an Army private on operations a basic pay of between £16,681 and £25,887. | |
| Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, Chief of Defence Staff, said: "This pay rise is welcome and appropriate acknowledgement of the burden our people are carrying on behalf of the nation, and of their remarkable achievements in the face of great adversity." | |
| The government and some public sector trade unions have been clashing over plans to reform public sector pay. | |
| There has a series of strikes by workers angry at a 2% cap on public sector pay. |