Public sector pay rises 'unaffordable', says transport secretary

Mark Harper said the government want to try to give public sector workers "decent" pay rises but there is no “bottomless pit” of money to meet inflation-busting demands of workers.

His comments come as the UK faces a series of strikes by train staff, civil servants, teachers and postal workers over pay and conditions.

Members of unions want pay rises in line with the surging cost of living, with inflation having risen to a 40-year high of 11.1%. 

Harper told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme: “Inflation-matching or inflation-busting pay rises are unaffordable. We want to try and give all the workers in the public sector who work very hard decent pay rises, but they can’t be inflation-busting pay rises.

“There simply isn’t the money to pay for those given the context, we haven’t seen those in the private sector either, the private sector pay rises have generally been settled below the level of inflation, which I accept is difficult for people.”

He said that striking rail workers need to accept reform before they see a pay increase to "free up" funding to do this.

“The train operating companies and Network Rail will have the ability to reach a deal, but we have to be able to have that reform package negotiated, because it’s only that, that throws up the savings. I do not have a bottomless pit of taxpayers’ money to throw at this problem,”

The RMT announced eight days of strikes over the next two months covering the run-up to the Christmas period.

Strikes will be staged across four 48-hour periods on 13-14 and 16-17 December, and 3-4 and 6-7 January.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) general secretary Mick Lynch met with Harper last week.

Harper said there had been "quite a lot of progress" in negations between the trade unions and train operating companies and Network Rail.

But the union boss said the RMT was “no closer” to calling off the upcoming strikes, insisting no such movement would happen until it had a “reasonable offer on the table” to put to its members.