PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
PAY AT DEPARTMENT FOR WORK AND PENSIONS (6 September 2015)

That this House notes with concern that the pay of public servants employed by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was frozen in 2010 and 2011 and increased by a maximum of one per cent from 2012 to 2015, and pay has therefore fallen in real terms over the last five years; further notes that pay rises will be restricted to one per cent for the next four years; notes that the Government has refused to provide funding to enable DWP staff to progress through their pay scales during this period; understands that average pay for a DWP employee is below the national average; notes that 40 per cent of DWP staff earn less than £19,500 per year and 40 per cent have to rely on in-work benefits in order to survive; does not see why hon. Members should receive a 10 per cent pay rise when public servants on much smaller wages are permitted only one per cent; observes that staff at DWP are being asked to deliver huge operational changes and that DWP's annual operating cost has been slashed by £2.5 billion since 2010; notes the irony that staff in a Department which has become notorious for inflicting misery on the ill, disabled and unemployed are themselves often also struggling financially; believes that all Government employees should receive a pay rise that is in line with inflation and should have the chance to progress through their grade; and further believes that all Government employees should be paid enough to live on without needing in-work benefits.

Sponsored by:
Mr Roger Godsiff (Labour)