A new cap on public sector redundancies risks hitting thousands of ordinary public sector workers, Prospect has warned.

The Conservative manifesto in 2015 promised that the cap, which is being introduced as part of he Enterprise Act,  would only affect the "best paid" public sector workers, however the terms of the proposed cap could catch people earning relatively modest salaries.

Garry Graham, Prospect deputy general secretary said:

“The government initially promised that this cap would only affect the “best paid” public sector workers but they refused to accept an amendment to exempt employees earning less than £27,000.

“The reality is that this change will hit people on modest salaries, on relatively junior grades, when they have spent a large proportion of their career in public service.

“If the government want to reduce the cost of public sector redundancies, the best way to do it is stop making hard working public servants redundant.”