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
Taken to heart: Inequalities in heart disease in Scotland
More than 7.6 million people across the UK live with cardiovascular disease (CVD), around twice as many as live with Alzheimer’s disease and cancer combined.Skills passports: An essential part of a fair transition
This month, government will publish its Clean Energy Workforce Strategy. This plan covers two aims. First, filling the growing demand for skills in clean energy industries is essential to keep on track to reach the government’s clean power…Fixing the leak: How to end the £22 billion annual taxpayer losses at the Bank of England
The Bank of England increased its interest rates over recent years, aimed at reducing inflation. But this has also had an unintended effect on the Bank of England’s massive government bond buying – ‘quantitative easing’ – programme.