State asks pay review bodies to co-operate

The Government wants the two independent bodies that review pay for hundreds of thousands of civil and public servants to co-operate in future on issues such as examining the value of public sector pensions.

The Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Service (which assesses salary scales for Ministers, top civil servants, judges and hospital consultants), and the Public Service Benchmarking Body (which examines pay for middle and lower grades in the civil and public service) are both due to complete their next reports in 2007.

In a letter to the Review Body on Higher Remuneration, sent at the end of May, the Department of Finance said that the Government wanted it to co-operate with the Public Service Benchmarking Body in future pay analyses. The Department of Finance said this did not mean that the two bodies should seek to agree common increases or to influence each other's work.

"However, the opportunity is there for the bodies to consult on work methods, overall trends, methodology and issues such as the pricing of certain conditions, eg superannuation, and any other matters where there may be a need or benefit from discussions between the two bodies," the department wrote.

The Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector, in an interim recommendation last month, proposed that Ministers, senior civil and public servants, judges and hospital consultants should receive increases of 7.5 per cent.

This recommendation has been accepted by the Government and half of this award has already been implemented. The balance is due to be paid in January.

However the review body, in its interim report, signalled it would take generous public sector pensions into account when it carried out its full assessment of top-level pay next year.

The review body report stated that "the relevance of superannuation as a component of overall remuneration has assumed greater importance" than at the time of its last analysis of pay in the top level of the public service, five years ago.

Discussions are currently under way between the Government and public sector unions on arrangements for a review of pay for those groups outside the scope of the review body process to be carried out by the benchmarking body.

In its first report in 2002, the benchmarking body recommended increases ranging from three per cent to 25 per cent. However, the report was criticised in some quarters for not spelling out how it had come to its conclusions.

Government sources have pointed out that, as a result of the reports of the benchmarking and review organisations, the pay gap at the top of the civil and public service is narrowing.

Ministers and department secretaries and assistant secretaries received 7.5 per cent under the review body report.

Groups immediately below these, such as principal officers in the Civil Service, received 11.7 per cent under benchmarking.