Public and Commercial Services Union

HMRC pay 2008 – offer received

Following negotiations HMRC has now made a final pay offer to PCS for a three-year settlement for 2008-10. The offer is based on detailed proposals for 2008, to apply from 1 June this year, together with funding constraints applying to pay increases in HMRC for the subsequent two years.

The offer provides average increases of 2.4% in each of the three years, with increases at the maxima capped at just 2% in 2008, and 1% in 2009 and 2010. This is against the backdrop of inflation currently running at 5% (RPI) and retail costs, including basics such as food, gas, electricity and fuel, continuing to spiral. The majority of members are at pay scale maxima and are therefore facing significant real terms pay cuts.

In addition the offer fails to deliver on pay progression commitments established in the previous 2005-07 pay settlement. This is a direct result of the government’s policy of public sector pay restraint, as the overall increase allowed by the Treasury includes the cost of funding pay progression. In fact this is particularly punitive for civil servants, as in the rest of the public sector pay progression is resourced from outside the pay cap.

The inadequacy of the HMRC pay offer, and indeed all civil service pay offers, flows from the government’s policy of limiting public sector pay increases to well below the rate of inflation – with an absolute limit of 2% on basic pay increases in 2008. We reject the government’s claim that public sector wage restraint is necessary to control inflation – members are the victims of high inflation, not the cause of it.

Pay is now the primary focus of the union’s national campaign, which has the following objectives:

• To secure changes to the Treasury’s pay constraints which allow consolidated increases to basic pay at least matching RPI inflation rates
• The decoupling of progression costs from general pay increases
• Scrapping the link between pay and performance
• Opposition to regional pay.

The HMRC offer does not meet the union’s objectives in relation to inflation, progression and performance pay. There are currently no proposals to introduce regional pay within HMRC, however no guarantees that this will not be considered for the future.

PCS is seeking national solutions on pay, and meetings with the Cabinet Office, Treasury and ministers are taking place. We want a negotiated solution. Nevertheless, plans are being put in place for a national industrial action ballot on pay in September and October 2008 across the civil service and public sector organisations. These plans will also link to action being taken by other public sector unions whenever it is practical to do so.

A ballot of members in relation to the HMRC offer is due to take place between 26 August 2008 - 17 September 2008. The Revenue & Customs group executive (GEC) has unanimously decided that it has no alternative but to recommend that all members vote to reject the HMRC pay offer.

The GEC is also calling on all members in HMRC to endorse a call for further departmental action in addition to any national action that is called following a subsequent national ballot of PCS members.

A detailed briefing has been issued to our members in HMRC.