RISHI SUNAK’s public-sector pay rise has been branded a “cynical ploy” after he quietly dropped warnings of future pay restraints and cuts within hours of the announcement. 

The Chancellor revealed today that 900,000 front-line workers, including doctors, police and teachers, will receive a pay rise of up to 3.1 per cent — but not social care or council workers. 

Making the announcement Mr Sunak said he recognised the “vital contributions” of public-sector workers to Britain. 

But no sooner had the “above-inflation” pay rise been announced, the Chancellor quietly dropped a letter to the leaders of government departments warning of future pay restraints. 

The letter, outlining plans ahead of the comprehensive spending review, which will be published in September, also warns of “tough choices” in other areas of spending, prompting fears of cuts. 

It reads: “Furthermore, this financial year’s public-sector pay awards will be significantly more than the average in the private sector… therefore for reasons of fairness, we must exercise restraint in future public-sector pay rewards. Departments’ pay modelling should reflect this fairness.”

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady described the Treasury’s announcement of a pay rise as a “cynical ploy to disguise plans for more pay restraint.”

She said: “In the last decade, we learned the hard way that austerity and pay restraint slow down recovery.

“If ministers take this failed approach again, the key workers who saw us through the pandemic will be denied the pay rises they have earned. That’s no way to thank key workers.”

Labour’s shadow Treasury chief secretary Bridget Phillipson also warned against pay restraints following Mr Sunak’s comprehensive spending review announcement.

She said: “In particular, the government faces choices about public services and the pay of public servants.  

“We have all seen what happens when vital services are cut to the bone, and front-line workers have proved their worth thousands of times over in this crisis. We need a proper settlement and proper investment to build resilient public services.”

And unions warned that only one in five care workers would benefit from the raise, given the dominance of privatised and outsourced service delivery in the sector.

Those who will benefit include teachers in England and dentists and doctors across Britain, with an increase of 3.1 per cent and 2.8 per cent respectively. 

Police, prison officers and National Crime Agency staff in England and Wales will be given a 2.5 per cent rise, while members of the armed forces will get 2 per cent. Members of the judiciary and senior civil servants will also see their pay increase by 2 per cent. 

But others, including social care and council workers, won’t receive an extra penny while doctors and teaching unions said they had hoped for better. 

Unison assistant general secretary Christina McAnea said: “Care workers deserve nothing less than a complete overhaul of their sector to show they’ll no longer be underpaid and undervalued.

“Until that happens, councils must be given far more money to pass on to the workers who’re looking after the most vulnerable in society.”

Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds said the pay rise did not make up for seven years of public-sector pay freezes or the decade of real-terms pay cuts for many front-line workers. 

Unite said it welcomed the rise as a “step in the right direction” but accused the Chancellor of having a “selective memory when it comes to finding cash for local government employers to pay their workers a decent pay rise — they are the forgotten army of public service.”

Nurses and midwives were also not included in the announcement because they negotiated a separate pay deal in 2018, under which newly qualified staff received a 12 per cent rise. 

However, in recent polls by the Royal College of Nursing, over a third of nurses said they were thinking of leaving the profession, with 61 per cent citing the level of pay as the main driver for wanting to quit. 

The Royal College of Midwives called yesterday on the government to bring forward pay talks and to give midwives and other NHS staff a substantial pay increase.

NASUWT general secretary Dr Patrick Roach said the announcement on teachers’ pay, which offers new staff a 5.5 per cent rise but just 2.75 per cent to experienced teachers, is a “disappointment.” 

And National Education Union executive member Gawain Little pointed out that “because the government deregulated teachers’ pay in 2013, we will still need to win its implementation at every school in the country. In September get ready to fight for your pay once again.”

The Treasury was contacted for comment.