The £2,000 pay boost comes after the government began to pull back on its public sector pay cap
A pay rise for MPs worth 2.7 percent has been approved and will come into place on April 1.
Members of parliament will experience an increase from £77,379 to £79,468 per year, as announced by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), via the Office for National Statistics, on Thursday.
Unlike past decisions on MPs pay, such as the controversial boost worth almost £7,000 in May 2015, new rules mean this will not be subject to a parliamentary vote and will be implemented automatically.
The IPSA are this year attempting to forge greater alignment between the pay of politicians and public sector workers by ensuring the rise is at the same rate across both groups. The Conservative government froze the pay of public sector workers earning over £21,000 in 2010 and maintained a 1 percent cap between 2013 and 2017. In the same period, MPs’ pay has risen by almost £14,000 – over 20 percent.
“This is in line with our determination on MPs’ pay, published in July 2015, where we committed to adjusting MPs’ pay at the same rate as changes in public sector earnings published ONS,” a statement read. “This was confirmed in July 2018 following a further review of MPs’ pay.”
As a result this increase is higher than inflation, currently at 1.8 percent according to the Consumer Price Index.
Meanwhile, the notoriously higher Retail Price Index, which isn’t used by the government and includes factors such as rent and mortgage payments in its calculation, sits at 2.5 percent.
While teachers are earning up to 3.5 percent more this year and NHS doctors between 1.5 and 3 percent, trade unions have cited continued disparity between MPs pay and civil service workers. The Public and Commercial Services Union have said they are ballotting 120,000 members on a potential strike this summer.
