Government plans for postcode pay in
the public sector are unfair and would be bad for NHS patients and
schoolchildren in poorer areas, according to polling published by the TUC today
(Tuesday).
As a result almost two-thirds (65 per cent) of respondents
in the poll – carried out for the TUC by pollsters Survation – think that the
government’s proposals for local or regional pay for public servants should be
scrapped.
The TUC research is published as delegates at the annual
Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton prepare to debate the thorny issue of
local pay rates for public sector workers later this afternoon. Under these
plans teachers, nurses and other public sector workers who live in less
prosperous parts of the UK would be paid less than colleagues who work in
wealthier areas.
When asked what they thought of government plans for local
or regional pay – which are likely to mean a long-term pay freeze for public
sector workers outside London and the South East – almost two-thirds of voters
(61 per cent) thought that this would be unfair. Just 26 per cent of voters
believed that such a move would be fair. More than seven in ten (71 per cent)
of Liberal Democrat voters think the introduction of local pay would be unfair,
with just 22 per cent saying the plans would be fair.
Less than a fifth of voters in the TUC survey (19 per cent)
want the government to press ahead with plans to pay some public sector workers
less depending on where in the UK they live. Almost two-thirds (65 per cent)
want the government to drop the plans.
Even amongst people who voted for the Coalition in 2010
there is little support for regional pay. Three-quarters of Liberal Democrat
voters (75 per cent) want ministers to scrap their plans, while just 17 per
cent think the government should press ahead. Half of the Conservative voters
questioned (51 per cent) think the government should drop the idea of regional
pay, a third (33 per cent) think they should continue.
Opponents of a move away from national pay rates for public
sector employees – including a growing number of Coalition backbench MPs with
constituencies in less affluent parts of the UK – are concerned that the
introduction of local pay rates might make it more difficult in future for
hospitals and schools in poorer areas to recruit teachers and nurses.
On the impact that lower pay rates for nurses, doctors and
clerical staff working in different NHS hospitals might have upon patients,
just 6 per cent of survey respondents said they thought it would be good for
them. Almost two-thirds (65 per cent) of those responding said it would be bad
for patients, and just 18 per cent said they didn’t think it would make a great
deal of difference to people in hospital.
Similarly when survey respondents were told that the
government’s proposals would mean individual schools in parts of the UK could
leave national pay agreements and so be able to reduce teachers’ pay, more than
half (56 per cent) said the move would be bad for pupils. Only 6 per cent said
the plans would be good for schoolchildren, while almost a quarter (24 per
cent) thought there would be no impact.
Commenting on the findings, Midlands TUC Regional Secretary
Rob Johnston said: “Ministers
should be listening to those MP's who live in less affluent parts of the UK and
who are only too aware of the damaging impact that an even longer public sector
pay freeze could have on their local economies, which are already taking a
hammering as families rein in their spending and austerity bites hard.
“Apart from the obvious unfairness of paying a teacher in
Gateshead less than one teaching in Gloucester, wildly varying pay rates will
make it much harder for schools in poorer areas of the country to attract and
retain good quality staff.
“Similarly if individual hospitals are going to be told
that in future they are going to have to set their own rates of pay, the time
and complexity of the resulting wage negotiations, and subsequent problems with
recruitment, as staff that can migrate to parts of the NHS able to pay higher
salaries, could have a damaging impact on patient care.
“The government’s regional pay plans will not help create a
single new job in the private sector, and can only do harm to already
struggling local economies. The most sensible thing ministers could do is drop
these ill-thought out plans and concentrate instead on policies that will
tackle unemployment and increase the UK’s chances of creating economic growth.”
“In the Midlands five councils have voted against
introducing local pay as councillors – including Liberal Democrats – can see
the problems this would create for their local authorities. Councillors in
Erewash, Corby, Cannock Chase, Newcastle under Lyme and Mansfield have all
rejected the idea of lower pay for their staff with the associated loss of revenue
for the local economy.”
Chief Executive of Survation, Damian Lyons Lowe who
conducted the research said: “Our polling shows a great deal of public unease
at the government’s proposals on regional and local public sector pay.
Supporters of all parties are concerned that it would be unfair and harmful to
public services and regional economies.
“Public opinion has remained constant since our first
survey on this topic in March. If implemented this policy could make it
particularly difficult for parties wanting to reconnect with voters in key
marginal seats in the North, Midlands and the South West of England.”
