George Osborne stuck with a public sector pay cap, despite being warned by civil servants it could trap some children in poverty, it has emerged. The former chancellor limited pay rises to 1% a year until 2019, in his 2015 Budget statement. Internal documents seen by the BBC reveal he was told the move would hit low income families.
The Treasury has released advice given by officials to ministers in 2015 after a request under the Freedom of Information Act by the GMB trade union. The analysis, seen by the BBC, spells out bluntly the predicted consequences of a squeeze on public sector pay. The document says protections for the lowest paid would help reduce the impact - but the plan would amount to a real-terms pay cut for many.
"Public sector workers' take home pay is not likely to keep pace with inflation," it says, adding "this could increase financial pressure on families of public sector workers, which may have a negative impact on family relationships."
The internal advice released under FOI points out that while the public sector workforce has many characteristics that are very similar to the workforce as a whole, "there are a higher proportion of female workers than across the whole economy" and "a slightly higher proportion of disabled people than the working population".
The document concludes: "This policy will make it more difficult for low income families with children to access essential goods, and will therefore make it harder for the government to hit the Child Poverty Act targets."
Despite this warning, the then Chancellor George Osborne announced a fresh clampdown on public sector pay in his first Conservative Budget.
"This damning document is a mark of shame on ministers who imposed years of real-term pay cuts on our members in the full knowledge that it would condemn families and children to poverty," Rehana Azam, the GMB General Secretary said.
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