Public sector staff will suffer most from this autumn Budget

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Public sector staff are earmarked for pay rises of no more than 2 per cent for the next two years (PA)

After a decade of austerity-linked pay freezes and below-inflation rises (effectively pay cuts) public sector staff are earmarked for pay rises of no more than 2 per cent for the next two years when inflation is still likely to be close to double figures.

I, like thousands of others, work for local authorities whose budgets – and therefore staffing levels – have been cut to the bone. I work far in excess of my contracted 37 hours per week, often close to 50, with these additional hours being unpaid. I volunteered during Covid to work with rough sleepers to keep them and the public safe – and caught Covid and community-acquired pneumonia. Yet we are the default target group when it comes to making cuts, whilst the non-doms and banker bonuses are protected.

It makes me laugh when you hear the chancellor on one hand promising to provide high-quality public services, and with the other cutting back the wages of those he expects to deliver them.