Budget 2012: Regional Pay Deals Expected But Coalition Wrangles Continue

PA/The Huffington Post UK  |  By   |  Posted: 17/03/2012 09:51 Updated: 17/03/2012 10:36

Budget Regional Pay Deals

Civil servants could be moved to regional pay deals from as early as next month under Budget proposals that risk inflaming trade union anger.

As political wrangling continued over the final details of the package to be unveiled by Chancellor George Osborne, more details emerged of some expected changes.

North Sea oil firms are to be offered guarantees of long-term tax breaks for decommissioning old rigs in a bid to encourage billions of pounds of investment. And controversial moves to recalculate public sector pay rates to better reflect local variations in the private sector are expected to be accelerated.

Some of the more highly contentious aspects of Wednesday's Budget were discussed in a conference call by the so-called "Quad" of senior Conservative and Liberal Democrat figures at lunchtime. David Cameron, Mr Osborne, Nick Clegg and Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander are due to gather in person on Monday to put the finishing touches to the measures.

It is understood that the Budget "scorecard" has been presented to the Office for Budget Responsibility so it can calculate the economic impact of the changes.

But although that met the deadline set for the independent body to start crunching the numbers, Downing Street indicated that the negotiations would continue into next week.

Full Budget Coverage On HuffPost

Those wrangles are mainly over tax cuts for top earners amid reports the Chancellor will set out moves to scrap the top 50p income tax rate on £150,000-plus salaries. While that would be hugely popular with Tory MPs as a stimulus to growth and a victory within the coalition, the Lib Dems want extra taxes on the rich and help for the lowest paid in return.

The Independent reported that Mr Clegg, whose party was previously opposed to lowering the rate, had struck a deal that a drop to 45p would be countered by a "tycoon tax" on the super wealthy.

His proposal would set a minimum floor on the percentage of overall income paid by the wealthiest. But Labour leader Ed Miliband denounced an income tax cut "targeted at the richest people in Britain" as the "wrong priority" - saying youth unemployment should be the prime focus.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "Moving to regional pay will not just reduce the pay of millions of public servants, but hit regional economies outside London and the South East as people have less to spend. This budget is shaping up to be a giveaway for the super-rich and a takeaway from Britain's hardest hit regions."

Business Secretary Vince Cable said care needed to be taken over how local pay was implemented to protect career progression in the civil service. He said: "The idea of having more flexibility in the public sector is surely right.

"What we are trying to do is to make sure that throughout the public sector there is more genuine decision making at a local level and you have to take into account pay and conditions.

"But it has got to be done very carefully because in the civil service, for example, you have to have career progression and that kind of national consideration has to be woven into the story as well."

Public and Commercial Services union general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "Driving down pay even further at the same time as cutting public sector salaries and pensions, and planning to cut the 50p tax rate, would not only be cruel it would be economically incompetent and counterproductive.

"Local economies - already suffering from Tory-led, politically motivated butchery - are crying out for investment, not more cuts.

"It appears that next week's budget is shaping up to include the exact opposite of what our communities need to help them get back on their feet."

FOLLOW UK POLITICS

Civil servants could be moved to regional pay deals from as early as next month under Budget proposals that risk inflaming trade union anger. As political wrangling continued over the final details...
Civil servants could be moved to regional pay deals from as early as next month under Budget proposals that risk inflaming trade union anger. As political wrangling continued over the final details...
 
 
  • Comments
  • 104
  • Pending Comments
  • 0
  • View FAQ
Comments are closed for this entry
View All
Favorites
Recency  | 
Popularity
Page: 1 2 3  Next ›  Last »  (3 total)
12:01 on 18/03/2012
If this 'Cynical' move is 'supposed' to lift depressed areas 'Out of poverty' It's a strange way of going about it. All I can see is the gap between rich and poor getting Wider, and the North-South divide getting wider too. Has he NO vision ?? Well, the Electorate will remind him at the first possible oppurtunity. NO, this is about 'Leaking' very bad False news of the Budget, then the Real Budget won't seem so bad, at least this is what i hope this is.
00:30 on 18/03/2012
Divide and rule. So many jealous postings on here from people who probably failed to reach the grade to get a job in either the police, fire services, NHS, teaching, social services and any other jobs where intelligence and skills required are high.

If you pay peanuts you get monkeys.

Why would anybody move in their job for less pay. All work in the public servcie requires a change of personnel over the years in order to build experience and improve working practices. Regional pay will reduce this so that old practices will remain the same.

Just illustrates how little the likes of Osborne understands about work as both him and Cameron never had a worthwile job until they became an MP
photo
casual agent
Advocate for social justice
02:48 on 18/03/2012
Ossie-boy' folded towels in a department store'....Maybe he ought to have lessons in throwing the Towel in uh?..This guy couldn't count to 20 without taking his bloody socks off..Let alone manage the counties finances.lol
16:21 on 18/03/2012
I didn't realise he had that amount of work experience
This user has chosen to opt out of the Badges program
photo
23:51 on 17/03/2012
nursing assistant for nhs things that have gone up in price council tax gas electric diesel water shopping clothes no pay rise for four years so where does the extra money come from it doesnt we just have to do without,always said i wouldnt strike but changed my mind bring it on get ready to look after your own relatives or get david cameron to get up 6.30 to wash dress and feed the eldery so they can stay in there own homes
23:42 on 17/03/2012
me thinks that this is the straw that broke the camels back.
photo
casual agent
Advocate for social justice
02:58 on 18/03/2012
One might think you're correct'...?...I certainly do'
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
butterfly123
23:00 on 17/03/2012
More strikes on the way then!
photo
casual agent
Advocate for social justice
02:58 on 18/03/2012
Looks like it eh?
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
nicholspongo
22:01 on 17/03/2012
I would like to see the seat of politics moved to Mosside and get the local wages.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
nicholspongo
21:59 on 17/03/2012
I vote moving parliment to Moss side and see if they like the regional pay then.
21:43 on 17/03/2012
Osborne's answer to the 'North South Divide' = Make it bigger.
Osborne's answer to the 'Gap between Rich and Poor' = Make it bigger
What will all this do to our Deficit (you guest it !) = Make it Bigger.
If only all he thought about got bigger.
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
nicholspongo
22:23 on 17/03/2012
It did '' the working mans lot''
21:34 on 17/03/2012
The government gets us all fighting among ourselves and then gives itself a nice little rise.In northern ieland the mla over here just voted themselves a five thousand pound rise.Where is this money coming from to pay for this if there is no money.We are all in this togather remember.Strike anyone.Now when do the olympics start.
20:26 on 17/03/2012
Don't Worry in the North you will soon have an option to join a real democracy when Scotland gets its independance
20:05 on 17/03/2012
These public servants have been earning far too much and most should be on the minimum wage since that makes the rich richer and the poor poorer.

They could always get rid of Diversity Officers in most towns and those educationalists who still love the league tables while parents grovel and crawl to get their little brats into top of the league table schools when all the school did was to manipulate statistics and make sure the less able kids were away during the school inspections.

However, thye lowering of salaries should not apply to our glories MPs who thanks to the EU have the responsibilties not unlike those of a Parish Councillor now that Europe makes most of the rules and regulations.

Whenever I hear that word "talent" bieng used either in repect of MPs, bankers or so-called captains of industry one can be sure there is only one talent, and that is to be good with ones mouth such that they receive a constant clapping of hands when on BBC's Question Time.

One should not blame these talented individuals however, because it is not them who do the clapping it is us who after all these years still vote for the same boring three main political parties just as our grandparents did. No realization regarding the changing circumstances and paremeters - just go out to our old Polling Station and do the same as if it were 1952 rather than 2012.

Time to think outside of the box.
19:27 on 17/03/2012
I presume the MPs for Hull, Burnley and other UK " holes " will be paid accordingly,
approximately £5 an hour.
21:47 on 17/03/2012
Come on, be fair, they deserve the minimum wage ! (Oh, i see, the Tories have scrapped the minimum wage ! well, they would wouldn't they !)
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Janet Logan
Brit, Left-to-Moderate, compassionate, pragmatic
19:22 on 17/03/2012
If social mobility was bad before, this will put the tin lid on it. Why would anybody re-locate to the north if the full knowledge that they'll never be able to re-locate back down south if that's where work or family needs to take them? It's already an issue, this will just make it worse.
19:03 on 17/03/2012
Septic calling
Cannot reply to your comment below no reply button

Just for the record I work in the private sector in management, secondly I am not a Labour voter and last they received 38% of the vote on a 63% turn out meaning they received about 22% vote from the population as a whole.
18:44 on 17/03/2012
Regional pay, no its the old Tory trick of divide and control. First the split the public sector by imposing this on a small section of public workers in different regions then next year to the teachers and hostpital workers and the British worker stokes the race for the bottom.
If anyone in the private sectoer, and I am one in the private sector, thinks it will have no impact on them think again, this move devalues the job market in all areas. Already rates in the private sector are falling through redundancies and pay freezes and the only thing that stops total stagnation and reverse is the private sectors need to compete in the jobs market. The Torys by removing that competition by job losses and now interfering with the free market drive down the pay and conditions of the working person, yet still the British worker fuels the race for the bottom
Secondly this move will drive down pay in the most deprived even futher creating a larger north south divide, and why should someone doing the same job in Sunderland receive the same as one in London
Finally the Torys tell us the bankers pay should remian unchecked to attract the best talent, why not then a teacher nurse or job centre manager hospital cleaner, hypocrisy, or are they saying those jobs are not worth it
18:51 on 17/03/2012
Typo post should read:
Secondly this move will drive down pay in the most deprived areas even futher creating a larger north south divede, and why someone in Sunderland not receive the same as someone in London, regionalism