MPs to receive 1.8% pay rise next April to £77,379 per year

Latest increase means parliamentary wages have risen 17.7% since Conservative-led coalition introduced widespread austerity programme in 2010

(AFP)

MPs are set to receive a 1.8 per cent pay rise in April 2018, taking their basic salary to £77,379 a year.

The increase is set automatically in line with the annual change in average weekly earnings across the public sector in October, calculated by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) at 1.8 per cent. The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority said the final figure would depend on whether the ONS revises its calculation in a review due to take place in February.

If confirmed, the increase would be well above the 1 per cent annual cap imposed on most public sector workers during the past seven years, which ministers have indicated they are now willing to relax. But it would still lag behind inflation, currently running at a six-year high of 3.1%.

MPs enjoyed a 1.4 per cent rise in their basic salary in 2017 to the current £76,011 and a 1.3 per cent rise in 2016.

If the latest increase is confirmed, their salary will have risen by a total of 17.7 per cent since the introduction of the Government's austerity programme, including public sector pay freezes and caps, in 2010.

PA