Regulations that will determine which organisations and companies are affected by the cap will be published soon. Prospect has produced a briefing for MPs which sets out the case for excluding certain companies in the nuclear sector from the cap.

Hundreds of Prospect members working for these companies have used the guidance to lobby their local MPs.

Prospect, Unite and the GMB have written to the Minister to request a meeting to discuss the scope of the cap.

Election manifesto

The Conservative party’s 2015 general election manifesto contained a commitment to “end taxpayer-funded six figure payoffs for the best paid public sector workers”.

When the Treasury formally consulted on its proposals in August 2015, members working for a number of companies operating in the nuclear sector were shocked to discover they were considered to be in scope of the measure.

Despite robust responses from Prospect and many hundreds of individual members, the Treasury’s response to the consultation said there would be no change to the proposed scope of the cap.

Enterprise Act

Provision for regulations to set a cap was made in the Enterprise Act 2016. During the passage of that Act through Parliament, Prospect and members working for the companies concerned wrote to, visited and lobbied their MPs.

A number of MPs referred to the scale of correspondence they had received about this when the Enterprise Bill was debated in the House of Commons.

During the bill’s committee and report stages in the Commons, MPs called for amendments to exclude some companies from the cap. This was a result of lobbying by Prospect members.

These amendments were not carried because the government said the scope of the cap should be dealt with through regulations, rather than on the face of the bill itself.

The aim of the current lobbying efforts is to ensure the regulations exclude the companies concerned.

Prospect national secretary Gill Wood, said: “The response from members has been amazing. Hundreds have written letters to their local MPs and a number of reps invited MPs to address members at various sites around the country.

“These efforts will greatly bolster the work Prospect is doing nationally with the other unions.

“Our arguments are compelling and there is a lot of support out there. So I am very hopeful that members’ efforts will be rewarded with a fair outcome.”

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