Publication of the civil service pay remit guidance: General Secretary statement to PCS members

Progress of national talks

The then Conservative government made a range of concessions in 2023 with regard to our national campaign, following strike action by PCS and other unions. One of those concessions was the securing of national talks on the issues of dispute

Following the election of the Labour government in July 2024, those talks continued and we have been pressing our bargaining agenda, particularly seeking a national agreement on pay, job security and more flexible ways of working across the civil service and its related areas

In the first two pay rounds overseen by the new government, we were successful in persuading them that addressing low pay must be a key priority in any pay remit process. 

That has led to a degree of pay restoration in the civil service: 

• Cumulative inflation over the period covered by those two pay rounds was 5.99%.
• Across that period, we achieved average cumulative pay increases by employer of 8.89%
• In the three lowest paying grades, we did better still, with:
  • Cumulative average AA pay increasing by 9.59%
  • Cumulative average AO pay increasing by 10.02%
  • Cumulative average EO pay increasing by 9.36%

Progress on the 2026/27 civil service pay remit guidance

This year, we have sought to make further progress

Following a hiatus in talks last year due to a ministerial reshuffle, resulting in an entire team of Cabinet Office ministers being replaced, the primary focus of the talks in recent months has been the content of the 2026/27 civil service pay remit guidance. 

We have been attempting to secure changes to the guidance to address our key priorities for this year: namely low pay, erosion of grading differentials and greater coherence across the civil service and its related areas. 

I am pleased to report to members that further progress has indeed been secured. The key points are as follows:

• Firstly, with inflation currently at 2.8%, we have secured an above inflation headline remit figure of 3.5%; which represents the joint highest headline figure so far in the public sector 
• Secondly, additional flexibilities will allow departments to create grading differentials of 5% from AA to AO, and 5% from AO to EO, thereby helping to eradicate the pay compression that has resulted from pay at those grades not keeping pace with rises in the National Living Wage.  Importantly, those additional flexibilities will be funded outside of the headline figure in the remit guidance
• Thirdly, departments will also be able to move to a new annual pay settlement date of 1 April, bringing forward most pay settlement dates across the civil service, thereby increasing the overall value of this years’ award; and securing a significant step forward on pay coherence
• Fourthly, departments will be able to provide improved career advancement for AA staff to enable them to reach the AO grade, recognising that numbers of AA staff are likely to reduce over time due to technological advancements, thereby getting ahead of that issue, and holding out the possibility of a further pay advancement of up to 5% for AA staff 
• Fifthly, funding for restoring grading differentials outside of the headline figure will result in departments having greater flexibility on how they use that headline figure. In that regard, departments will be asked by the Cabinet Office to outline their plans for EO staff when distributing the headline figure. Taken together, these measures will ensure that there is a clear focus on all of the three lowest paid grades when it comes priorities in this years’ pay round
• Finally, there will be a streamlined and simplified business case process through which departments can access these additional gains, which they will be required to develop in discussions with the trade unions at delegated level

Next steps

The PCS National Executive Committee will now meet to decide the next steps; and to issue guidance to your negotiators throughout the union on the way forward. 

While the outcome of talks does not represent sufficient progress to meet all of our demands on pay in a single year, it builds on the progress made in the previous years and takes us further towards our aspirations for members. 

To that extent, the changes we have secured are a welcome development; and I commit to members that I will do all I can to ensure that they quickly translate into much needed money in your pockets in the coming period.