Ministers to be asked about pay deal costs

Saturday 28th April 2007, 12:00AM BST.

EVERY minister will be asked about the impact of the £4m extra cost of the public sector pay deal on their department on Tuesday.

The retail price index, announced on Wednesday, set the level of the 2007 pay deal at 4.4% which means the States need to find another £4m to fund annual pay rises beyond the 2.5% they budgeted for. Impact Deputy Geoff Southern has tabled a written question for all ten ministers, asking what they will do to deal with the impact of the £2.5m worth of cuts they will have to fund – the rest is being paid out of existing funds. The Deputy says that the policy of setting a maximum amount for wage negotiations in the previous Business Plan makes wage negotiations a sham, and that it could lead to service cuts every year, as well as serious industrial disputes.

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