Civil Service Pay Remit

That this House notes the recently published pay remit guidance for the civil service for 2023 to 2024 which has been set at a average of 4.5 per cent across Government departments following an insulting imposed pay award of two per cent for 2022 to 2023; observes that departments have been advised to make sure such awards are affordable within their spending settlements; is alarmed that this derisory pay offer does nothing to tackle years of endemic low pay across the civil service and is an insult to the hard working and dedicated civil servants who have shown time and again that they are the backbone of this country; is aware that food inflation rose at the fastest rate for more than 45 years in the 12 months to March reaching 19.2 per cent with the inflation rate still above 10 per cent; is concerned that any pay award below the current rate of inflation is a pay cut and civil service workers will continue to struggle to pay bills, heat their homes and feed their families unless the Government puts more money on the table; notes that over 130,000 members of the Public and Commercial Services Union will walk out on their third day of national action in their ongoing dispute over pay, pensions and conditions and; and calls on the Government to get back round the negotiating table and show respect to their workforce by offering them a real terms pay rise and a fair and decent pension.