The Pay Review Bodies Revisited

Abstract

The annual reports of the independent Pay Review Bodies are a key economic event in Britain, covering approximately 1.5 million public sector workers with an annual paybill approaching £50 billion in 2003. The 2003–04 reports are studied in this article. The author concludes that the reports followed quite closely what the Government wanted and in contrast to previous years proposed lower, essentially ‘cost of living’, awards. The rationale for this is examined for each of the Review Bodies; the article finds that in general the awards reflected the circumstances reported in evidence to the Review Bodies and squared up with their terms of reference. It is, however, too early to say whether the reports marked a long-term turning point towards lower, RPI-related awards and away from the general ‘upward’ trend evident since 1998.