Doctors and teachers offered 4% pay rise in England and Wales

Doctors and teachers will be given a 4% pay rise after the government accepted recommendations from independent review bodies.

The salary increases, announced by ministers on Thursday afternoon, are 2.8% above what the government had originally budgeted for.

The 4% rise is just above the current rate of inflation, which increased from 2.6% in March to 3.5% in April.

It will apply to all doctors and teachers in England and Wales.

But both the British Medical Association (BMA) and National Education Union (NEU) have threatened further strike action following the announcement, claiming the increases do not account for historical pay freezes.

Other NHS workers in England, including nurses, midwives, and physiotherapists, will get a 3.6% pay increase effective from 1 April, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said.

He added that junior doctors would be offered an average increase of 5.4% as a result of a further £750 top-up.

Senior civil servants will get a 3.25% pay increase, the Cabinet Office added, but there are still changes to be made to higher salary bands within the civil service.

Prison officers and managers will get the same 4% pay rise as doctors and teachers, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said.

Military personnel are being offered a 4.5% rise following their own independent pay review. Senior military officers will get a slightly lower boost of 3.75%, with Defence Secretary John Healey saying the changes “recognise their dedication to keep Britain secure at home and strong abroad”.

Unions say offers are ‘woefully inadequate’

The government’s proposals on pay have been met with anger among healthcare unions, with the BMA describing its offer for doctors as “woefully inadequate”.

Professor Philip Banfield, chairman of the BMA council, said doctors are already considering striking again.

“Doctors’ pay is still around a quarter less than it was in real terms 16 years ago and today’s ‘award’ delays pay restoration even more, without a Government plan or reassurance to correct this erosion of what a doctor is worth,” he said.

Other NHS workers who belong to either the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) or GMB unions are being asked to vote on whether they will accept their offers or not.

RCN general secretary and chief executive Professor Nicola Ranger warned pay increases have already been “entirely swallowed up by inflation and do nothing to change the status quo – where nursing is not valued, too few enter it and too many quit”.

Schools will have to fund 1% themselves

While education unions have been less resistant, the NEU, which is the largest teacher union, threatened to “register a dispute” with the government if it does not fund all of the pay rises itself – as they are currently being offered as part of existing school budgets, which they insist are needed for pressing matters outside staffing.

Schools will be given an additional £615 million towards the pay increases this financial year, but they will be expected to find the final 1% of the 4% rise themselves – “through improved productivity and smarter spending”.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “I believe schools have a responsibility, like the rest of the public sector, to ensure that their funding is spent as efficiently as possible.”

General secretary of the TUC Paul Nowak said further negotiations with the government would be needed to resolve outstanding issues.

He said his and other unions want to “work with the government to address the recruitment and retention crisis gripping our public services”.

“Ministers need to talk directly to unions to address the root causes behind dedicated and experienced public servants quitting their professions,” he warned.

“We need a clear, jointly-agreed long-term strategy to improve public-sector pay, alongside other crucial issues such as better working hours, more manageable workloads and enhanced flexible working options.”