The budget - how it impacts on you

Increase in VAT – impact on public sector HR professionals
There is no doubt that some workers will see the increase in VAT and a pay freeze as a double whammy, there will be pay increases for the lower paid but that in itself provides a challenge on aspects such as pay differentials between supervisors and those they are responsible for.

To sit back and let the freeze pass by and then continue as before would be a lost opportunity, instead we must use this time to rethink reward and to develop a new approach to remuneration that better fit the changing world.

We must also work hard to help staff understand what reward and benefits they get in complete terms, and seek to introduce total reward benefit statements across the sector. Only then will we be successful in retaining and motivating existing staff and attracting new staff. The PPMA has been working with Mercer on investigating a new model for reward and this will be shared in due course.

Senior pay
The Hutton review into senior pay is also an area the PPMA will contribute to. We want to ensure that we can attract good quality people into demanding and responsible jobs .

Pensions
The review of pensions is a difficult one because public sector pensions are spoken of as if there were only one scheme. That is not the case and there are significant differences between the various types of employment, for example Local Government has a funded scheme where money is invested in the stock market and this fund currently stands in excess of £100m. However, the scheme for Health is unfunded.

The PPMA are of course aware of the arguments for change and will be seeking to contribute to the review.

Council Tax - impact on jobs
In local authorities accountants are waiting on details of the Council Tax measures so the real impact on jobs is not known. However, the government now estimates the impact of cutbacks on public sector jobs a whole to be around 600,000 less people over the next five years.

This is very worrying for staff as even those who are in essential front line services become concerned for their future employment. A major challenge as we go forward is going to be how we ensure that we are still attracting, retaining and nurturing talent when the mood is very much one of staff reductions. We need to work hard to improve employee communications and engage staff.

Involving staff in change
The government has announced that it will be sending out letters to public sector workers looking for their ideas on how savings and improvements might be made. The PPMA support the idea of engaging with the workforce and there are many instances where such an approach has already led to change

Front-line staff are often best placed to come up with innovative solutions or at least contribute in the process because they understand customers and working systems better than most others within the organisation, and will know their specific needs and complaints.

Public sector workers play an important part in the infra structure of our society and the PPMA will be playing its part to facilitate the changes required as imaginatively and creatively as possible.

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