Prospect today presented evidence to the Senior Salaries Review Body alongside FDA on Senior Civil Servants pay.

Garry Graham, Prospect deputy general secretary, said: “We have called for the review body to be bold and ambitious.

“The Cabinet Office evidence has been cogent, in some areas, at identifying the problems of the pay system.

“There is a clear vacuum of thinking at the centre. The evidence shows how timid the Cabinet Office has been in their approach to identifying solutions and slavishly sought to work within a pay envelope of 1% - despite the government repeatedly saying that the cap has gone.

“Members in grades below the Senior Civil Service (SCS) will look closely to see signs that things are changing as the government has sought to indicate.

“Many of the structural problems are the same for delegated grades and the SCS; pay increases which do not keep pace with inflation, a lack of pay progression through long salary ranges and pay rates which lag significantly behind what is happening in the external market.

“We have seen some movement on pay in local government and promises with regard to the NHS. The Civil Service cannot be left behind as the poor relation and our members deserve better”.