Pay and the Public Service Workforce
Article
This report analyses the level of growth in the public sector workforce and levels of public sector pay.
Some of the most important political battles that continue to be fought between the main political parties concern the quality of public spending.
Labour has argued that a combination of fiscal discipline, sound macro-economic management and effective labour market policies has 'cut the costs of failure', leaving more resources available to meet public service priorities.
The Conservative response is partly to claim credit for a sound basis for the public finances, and partly to claim that the new spending on public services is being wasted on recruiting 'bureaucrats' and funding excessive public sector pay awards.
This report aims to get to the bottom of this debate.
Related items
Facing the future: Progressives in a changing world
Progressive parties need a new set of defining and guiding ideas to challenge the populist radical right.Singapore on the Clyde?
Sir Tom Hunter is not happy.Scotland, he laments, is in “managed decline”. The UK and Scottish governments are “punishing the entrepreneurial community with more tax” and, inevitably, “no country has ever taxed its way to growth”. Change…Fixing the foundations: The case for investing in children's health
For decades, governments of all stripes have promised to give children a better, healthier start to life. But despite this – and some notable policy successes – the UK continues to fall short on childhood health outcomes.