On behalf of 40,000 members in departments, agencies and non-departmental public bodies, Prospect General Secretary Paul Noon said: "Figures out today (17 February) show that earnings across the economy are rising by 4.5%. To hold civil service pay down by almost a quarter of that amount will cause dismay to members who are struggling to cope with the government’s modernisation agenda, 104,000 job losses and a rise in their pension age.

"Yet again civil servants are being victimised compared to any other part of government service. Our members have to operate public programmes worth more than £400 billion a year. Does the government want taxpayers’ money to be spent by professionals or by amateurs?

"If ministers insist on driving down their pay they will end up driving out the very people they depend on to put their plans into effect. Our members are skilled workers who can easily find employment in other sectors of the economy."

The 3.5% ‘earnings growth’ limit is included in the Treasury’s pay remit guidance for the civil service for 2005-06. Prospect also takes issue with the guidance’s support for extending local pay, which it says is at odds with the Treasury’s declared support for "greater coherence of pay across departments."

Noon added: " It is time the government showed by its words as well as its actions that it values the work of public servants."