Scottish public sector workers better paid than English counterparts

Public sector pay has risen by five per cent in Scotland since 2019 while seeing no increase in the rest of the UK, according to a new report. 

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said a newly qualified teacher in Scotland earns £33,594 in Scotland compared to £31,650 across most of England. Newly qualified nurses receive a wage which is 6.4 per cent higher than their English counterparts, earning £31,892 compared with £29,970 in most areas south of the border. 

The think tank also found that in Scotland, employment in the public sector has risen by 11 per cent since 2017. This makes Scotland the second fastest growing public sector workforce in the UK, behind Wales.  

The public sector now accounts for 22 per cent of the workforce in Scotland. Given the rise both in public sector workers and their pay, the wage bill for this group has also risen considerably.

Jonathan Cribb, an associate director at the IFS, said: “Scotland has not only increased the number of public sector workers more quickly than other parts of the UK, it has also increased their pay more quickly. While these are reasonable priorities for Scotland, it adds to the Scottish Government’s fiscal challenges, given that funding from the UK Government will not reflect these Scotland-specific decisions.

“It’s not obvious from the available data that higher public sector pay growth has delivered benefits in terms of improved staff retention. The Scottish Government should undertake or commission research to understand better the impacts of its pay policies, and consider targeting future increases in pay where there is clearest evidence of recruitment, retention or motivation problems.”

Public sector wages now account for £27bn of spending in Scotland per year, and with Westminster funding not increasing at the same rate as Scottish wages, the Scottish Government has to find the remainder of the budget for public wages in other areas of its budget.