Home Office Pay 2022

Pay 2022

PCS lodges National and Sectoral Pay claims on behalf of members

Pay Claim Submitted

PCS has now submitted our national pay claim to the Cabinet Office and Treasury and likewise a sectoral claim based on this to the Permanent Secretary of the Home Office. The terms of our claim call for:

1) Pay Coherence

Our overall aim is to have single pay scales or spot rates in across the Civil Service. This would mean a return to national pay bargaining. Why should members in the DWP or HMRC or any other department be paid different amounts for work adjudged at the same grade. As a move towards this we are demanding coherence within the Home Department between, the core Home Office, DBS, GLAA, SIA, and OISC.

2) Cost of Living rises

On top of moves to address coherence, we are seeking a rise of 10%. After nothing in 2021 for those earning over £24k, and after years of below inflation pay rises, 10% is needed to address the acute cost of living crisis we are entering.

3) A Living Wage

Underpinning our claim this year we are seeking a minimum wage of £15 an hour. To put this into context, by April this year when the minimum wage increases, the Home Office AA National salary will be below this level. The crisis of low pay must be addressed head on.

4) London Weighting

We are seeking a London pay premium of £5,000.

5) Annual Leave

We are seeking improvements to annual leave entitlement to 35 days on entry.

6) Working Week

We believe that the time is right to consider what the future world of work might look like and how workers might benefit from new technology and from more flexible ways of working. We are therefore seeking a significant reduction in the working week with no loss of pay.

We await the publication of the Treasury Remit Guidance and the Home Office response to this and our claim.

A Reasonable Claim

Throughout the pandemic the Government has rightly praised workers in the Civil Service, in recognition of the delivery of essential public services which we have continued to deliver in difficult circumstances. The Government have also signalled their intention to build back better and create a high wage economy – well now is the time to put their words into actions.

A 10% basic rise in salaries may seem high but this takes into consideration several factors not least the pay freeze last year on top of years of below inflation awards. But the most pressing issue facing members at present is the cost of living crisis which is now upon us. 

This is exacerbated by: 

• Inflation levels at 5.4%, their highest levels in 30 years.

• Pending National Insurance rise of 1.25%

• Cut in Universal Credit £20 uplift.

• The ongoing public sector pensions robbery leaving our members overpaying by 2%

Inflation at over 5% is shocking and highlights the levels our pay needs to grow just to keep pace with prices. However, the reality is worse. We know energy prices will potentially rise 50% this year, following numerous suppliers going out of business. Add on to that the reality that inflation effects those on lower incomes at a greater level. The food campaigner Jack Monroe recently highlighted the huge increases in prices for basic food items in supermarkets. These rises were vastly more than the headline 5% inflation rate. In response to this the ONS has acknowledged that price increases impact differently on certain groups and have promised to reform the way they calculate and present inflation data.

Of course, there are always arguments that a rise of levels we are looking for is unaffordable for the government and would be inflationary. But when inflation is low, we are told we need small awards so as not to encourage inflation and when inflation is high, we are told we need small awards to keep it down! The government has just written off over £4 Billion from fraud related to the Covid loan scheme, a move that will not be lost on members being pursued for tiny overpayments the fault of the department.

What we are demanding is necessary to stop our members’ quality of life being eroded. But more than that, we know that some members are in severe hardship, relying on food banks and making impossible decisions about whether to feed themselves or heat their homes. This claim is not only reasonable it is necessary.

Campaign

PCS continues to make the case for our pay claim through talks with both the Cabinet Office and Home Office management.

We will also be running a national consultative ballot of members about our Pay Claim. This is not a statutory Industrial Action ballot but is instead designed to gauge the support of members for the terms of our claim. It will run between 14 February and 21 March. In advance of this it’s important to let PCS have your personal/non-work email address and your mobile phone number, to keep you informed about PCS matters. You can update your details securely online by registering for PCS Digital

We are also running several seminars to discuss the impact of cost of living and the current situation regarding pension contributions. These will be held on a regional basis and are open to all members -

North West: 10 Feb 1230-1400, online via zoom. Register here online

As always – a union derives its strength from its members, and its in all our interests that we are a growing union. So if you know a colleague who isn’t a member please encourage them to join using this link.

Pete Wright (Group Vice President), James Cox (Group President)