“We need a system that will deliver a functional and competitive civil service”: Prospect responds to Government recommendation on Senior Civil Service pay

The Government has today published its written evidence to the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) on the pay of the Senior Civil Service (SCS) for 2027 to 2028.

Its evidence, which sets out the Government’s strategic direction and key policy priorities for the SCS, recommends that the total increase in paybill for the SCS for this period should be no higher than 2.3%.

Prospect has long criticised the lack of formal pay progression in the civil service and urged that SSRB recommendations need to be fully funded rather than left as unfunded mandates or partial settlements.

We have also pushed for a wider overhaul of how pay is set across all grades.

Commenting, Steve Thomas, Deputy General Secretary of Prospect, said:

“In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis with inflation over 3% and global events threatening to drive that even higher, 2.3% is an extremely worrying starting place for negotiation.

“It raises the prospect of another significant real terms pay cut for civil servants who are already struggling with increased costs.

“Affordability cannot be the sole basis for determining pay. We also need a system for senior civil servants in place which will enable effective recruitment and retention of specialist in-demand skills and deliver a functional and competitive civil service in the longer term.

“That means, at a minimum, building on and funding the Senior Civil Service pay progression system from 2026/27. We must also extend an approach across delegated grades, where there is no pay review body currently, which recognises and rewards expertise, including the re-introduction of pay progression.”