June 25, 2008
Will MPs show pay restraint next week?
July 3 is the day when MPs will (perhaps reluctantly) back the new expenses regime (see my last blog).
They also get a choice on pay. Do they accept or reject the recent recommendations by Sir John Baker which amount to an inflation-busting 4.5 per cent pay rise?
Sir John has suggested £650 a year for three years to catch up with past pay-lag. He also wants MPs’ pay to be based on the public sector average earnings index. (Bear with me here).
But the government wants pay to be set at a lower index based on civil service median pay, something like 2.5 per cent.
Sir John suggested his index, which is higher (currently 3.5 per cent) to take into account the lack of any career path or promotion for most MPs. Which seems fair.
The only problem is, with hairshirt public sector pay restraint the order of the day, who will agree with him?
Possibly quite a few MPs, one tells me. He has been waiting to see the orders, which have not been forthcoming. For now no one knows what they will be voting on.
Until the government comes up with a new formula (it’s not good enough to talk vaguely about some new one based on civil service pay) this could be a tricky issue.
“MPs are very much in mind to vote against the government given that the Baker proposal is the only one that works,” he says.
Lack of career prospects? But stonking pension prospects.
Posted by: John Page | June 25th, 2008 at 8:37 pm | Report this commentI suspect union leaders will be praying that MPs vote for an inflation busting pay rise.
Posted by: Mark | June 27th, 2008 at 12:11 pm | Report this commentI definately think their is some mileage in performance related pay for MPs. There’s an argument (and quite rightly) that the really good people can earn a lot doing work in the private sector. I say give them the chance to do earn high pay, but only if they submit their pay to be voluntarily voted on at the next election.
Posted by: Ian Moss | June 27th, 2008 at 1:59 pm | Report this commentGiven a choice of voting someone’s pay at the election turn out will increase. Sure most people will vote 1/10 -> 4/10, but if someone’s really really good they’ve the potential to get 10/10 and their pay should rise non-linearly above 5/10. People should be presented with attendance statistics etc before the general elections.
[…] July 1, 2008 It will be interesting to see, given the current climate, which way MP’s will go when they look at proposals for their own pay on 3rd of July. […]
Posted by: Public sector pay « No Offences Disclosed | July 1st, 2008 at 9:00 am | Report this comment