The FDA has today welcomed the recommendations made by the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB), and the government’s decision to accept those recommendations in full.

Assistant General Secretary Amy Leversidge described the recommendations as “both fair and reasonable” and “in line with the rest of the civil service and public sector”.

The main recommendations are:

• 5.5% consolidated pay uplift for all SCS
• An additional pot of 1% to address anomalies in SCS pay

In a Written Ministerial Statement, Minister for the Cabinet Office Jeremy Quin announced the government’s decision “to accept the recommendations of the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) on pay for the Senior Civil Service (SCS) for 2023/24”.

In response, Leversidge said: ““The FDA presented extensive evidence showing the chronic and long-standing issues with senior civil service pay, including significant disparities with comparable jobs in the private sector and no real reward for increased skills, knowledge and experience. We also commissioned economic analysis by the independent think tank Incomes Data Research debunking the myth that public sector pay awards contribute to inflation.

“If the government is to address the chronic issues facing our public services, the civil service needs to be able to recruit and retain talented, skilled and knowledgeable civil servants.

“Today’s report and recommendations also show the benefits of a robust and independent pay review body process that engages with, and considers evidence from, all parties, and can take a strategic approach to pay and workforce issues. Our public services are too important to be left at the mercy of political game-playing and short-term thinking.

“The government now needs to learn the lessons from the last twelve months of damaging disputes, by strengthening the role and independence of the pay review bodies, and tasking them with delivering the long term structural reform that will support the workforce strategies so desperately needed across our public services.”

In a message to SCS members, Leversidge raised the fact the SSRB also “made clear it is increasingly concerned about the lack of progress on the implementation of capability-based pay progression, which the government committed to in 2019”.

She wrote: “The absence of pay progression is having adverse effects in terms of incentives, unjustified pay disparities and a lack of recognition of expertise.
 
“Whilst the Minister has made clear he has withdrawn the proposals for capability based pay because he is concerned they would not deliver on their objectives, he has not provided the SSRB with any alternatives or a clear timeline for implementing any replacement.
 
“The Minister has agreed to further dialogue with the FDA over the Summer around capability based pay and a longer term reward strategy for the whole of the civil service. This will be a priority for the union, alongside a commitment to work at pace to introduce alternative arrangements.”

The FDA will be engaging with employers to ensure that the 5.5% is paid evenly across senior civil servants without exception and that the 1% is meaningfully used to start to address the anomalies in SCS pay.

If SCS members have any questions, queries or comments, they’re encouraged to get in touch with Amy or their National Officer. Contact details can be found on the Our Team page.