How are public sector pay rises decided?

For many public sector groups, the government sets pay after recommendations from independent pay review bodies. The Office of Manpower Economics supports eight of them, covering around 2.5 million workers, including NHS staff, doctors and dentists, teachers, the armed forces, police and prison officers. Their reports and the government's response are published on GOV.UK.

Other groups, including local government staff and most civil servants, have pay set through negotiation or departmental pay remits, and the devolved governments set some pay separately.

To check how public pay is changing, the ONS publishes public and private sector average earnings growth each month; it was 6.3% and 2.9% respectively for regular pay in May to July 2026, though the ONS notes that the timing of pay awards affects the comparison.

Official sources: Office of Manpower Economics · ONS: Labour market overview

The latest figure

The newest value is at Office for National Statistics (ONS). More on it: NHS employment (UK).

When is the next figure out?

Quarterly with the ONS labour market release, about ten weeks after the reference month; the June 2026 figure was published on 15 September 2026 and the next release is 15 December 2026. The JSON 'years' array repeats the June (Q2) value, so use 'quarters' for the latest figure

Every official release due in the next two weeks is on the release calendar.

Terms used in this answer

• Average weekly earnings (AWE)
  The ONS monthly measure of what employees in Great Britain are paid each week on average, reported for regular pay and total pay including bonuses.
• Headcount
  A count of individual people, each counted once regardless of how many hours they work or how many posts they hold.
• Full-time equivalent (FTE) and headcount
  FTE converts part-time posts into full-time units, so two half-time staff count as one FTE. Headcount counts each person once regardless of hours.
• Seasonally adjusted
  Figures that have had regular calendar patterns removed, such as Christmas shopping or summer jobs, so that underlying movements between months or quarters can be seen.
• Great Britain and the United Kingdom
  Great Britain is England, Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom is Great Britain plus Northern Ireland. Some statistics cover only one or the other.
• Administrative data
  Information collected by organisations while running a service, such as tax records, benefit claims or hospital activity, and then used to produce statistics.

Related questions

• How many people work in the public sector in the UK?
• Are wages rising faster than inflation in the UK?
• What is the average salary in the UK?

This answer says where the official figures are published and how they are defined. It gives no verdict on any claim. To report an error, send a correction request. More questions about work, pay and employment: all Work, pay and employment questions.