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Meanwhile, this being a Labour government, UK unemployment continues to rise: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c98nqe0m008o

And sometimes words just fail me:

"Annual average earnings growth was 3.9% for the private sector and 7.6% for the public sector, across the three-month period."

Isn't it the case that public sector wages lag private sector wages - pay settlements tend to be based on historic rates of inflation. In fact, you can see that quite clearly here in Figure 4/5, with public sector wages well behind private sector during the post-COVID period: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/averageweeklyearningsingreatbritain/december2025

add pension contributions , cushy number , conditions etc and it is the opposite.

How long did you work in the public sector Malc?

Meanwhile, this being a Labour government, UK unemployment continues to rise: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c98nqe0m008o

And sometimes words just fail me:

"Annual average earnings growth was 3.9% for the private sector and 7.6% for the public sector, across the three-month period."

What public sector wage settlements between August and October are those? I don't recall any.

NHS medical staff got 4% this year and non-medical staff 3.6%. It was backdated to April but paid in August, so is that where the 7.6% comes from?

I honestly don't know. I don't know anyone getting 7.6%, let alone figures that make that an average. But this is from the BBC so I presume it is official statistics.

These people reckon 3.8% public sector versus 3% private.

https://www.theglobalrecruiter.com/public-sector-pushes-median-pay-award-above-3-per-cent/

blows the great private paid better crap, better pay rises and vastly better pension contributions , conditions on sick pay , etc etc

That must be why the public sector find it so easy to recruit.

I was in local Government which is different from the civil service and indeed it was my experience councils operated very differently from each other and the notion of a “local Government culture” is based on ignorance or prejudice or probably both.

On the professional side, councils often employed younger staff, assisting them with obtaining qualifications and CPD credits (where applicable) in the knowledge, once qualified, the surveyor, solicitor or accountant would move on to a much better paying role in the private sector and the process would start anew.

The councils paid less but provided experience which looked good on the CV and, let’s be honest, worked them hard to help them achieve their professional goals.

Meanwhile, this being a Labour government, UK unemployment continues to rise: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c98nqe0m008o

And sometimes words just fail me:

"Annual average earnings growth was 3.9% for the private sector and 7.6% for the public sector, across the three-month period."

Isn't it the case that public sector wages lag private sector wages - pay settlements tend to be based on historic rates of inflation. In fact, you can see that quite clearly here in Figure 4/5, with public sector wages well behind private sector during the post-COVID period: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/averageweeklyearningsingreatbritain/december2025

add pension contributions , cushy number , conditions etc and it is the opposite.

Good morning

Poor economic news this morning but absolutely no surprise

Handing huge public sector pay rises whilst at the same time clobbering business with additional taxes and awarding massive increases in the minimum wage to young workers results in devastating employment and prospects especially for the young

Why would any business employ young workers when they can, for the same wage engage mature and experience staff

Labour often talk about Truss, but Starmer and Reeves have done far more long term damage to the economy and it will be very difficult to reverse

Add in the workers rights bill and the country can now see why ''Labour is not working'

The workers rights bill has largely been fixed. 6 months before full rights kick in is fine. Day 1 was worse than 2 years, but 6 months is better than both.

As a small employer I'm comfortable with 6 months.

My beef is with the general disconnect between what Labour says and what Labour does. This is not a pro-business pro-growth government.

(But it's better than the currently available alternatives, whether from Labour back benches or reform)