Ministers must end ‘barking mad’ restraints on civil service pay, union leader warns

An Environment Agency employee monitors the River Irwell after it overflowed its banks near Greater Manchester. Lack of resources was the reason for 75% of the EA’s missed deadlines, the Prospect union said. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

Ministers must end “barking mad” restraints on civil service pay or risk being unable to recruit the technical and digital specialists it needs to keep pace, a union leader has warned.

Mike Clancy, the Prospect general secretary, said the government should end the “rightwing trope” that restrained the pay of highly skilled civil servants and left government unable to compete with the private sector. He said it should be realistic for senior specialists in competitive fields to be paid more than the prime minister.