Oliver Dowden has insisted the Government will not back down in its pay dispute with workers in the public sector.
Amid strikes from nurses and ambulance drivers, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster called on the unions to be “reasonable” in their demands over pay.
He told BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: "I think the Government is being reasonable, we’re being sensible, and would urge the unions to be reasonable as well.
"I have to say we will be resolute in response to this, because it would be irresponsible to allow public sector pay and inflation to get out of control, and we owe a wider duty to the public to make sure we keep our public finances under control and we build a growing economy that can pay for these things."
"If you want to be honest... your numbers are not completely accurate are they?"#BBCLauraK challenges minister Oliver Dowden on the claim that public sector pay rises would cost £1000 per household
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) December 18, 2022
Dowden says "it is reasonable" to project this figurehttps://t.co/ZVl2HZoNAf pic.twitter.com/KRLKDUvYpj
Pressed further, he acknowledged "things are challenging", but said the Government would continue to be "resolute" in its stance on pay.
The minister then claimed the demands for a 19 per cent wage hike are "simply not affordable", and claimed applying this increase "across the board" would set families back £1,000 each.
"If we go for the kind of 19 per cent that is being urged on us by the nursing unions, that is simply not affordable. If we applied this across the board, that would cost families £1,000 each and it would also add to inflation and make us all poorer in the long run," he told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme.
Challenged on the figure, Mr Dowden said the Government may even be "underestimating" the cost.
"What I can tell you is our number is justified on the basis of taking the inflation number, which is what the unions are asking for and projecting it forward to next year," he said.
He denied the figure was inaccurate adding: "I spent a lot of yesterday and the day before discussing exactly these numbers. These are robust numbers."
Previously, ministers have claimed increasing pay by even 11 per cent would cost the Government £28billion.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies, however, has claimed this figure would actually be closer to £14billion due to a five per cent average pay award this year.
Independent economists have also questioned the use of a singular monthly inflation rate of near 11 per cent, as opposed to an average across the year. Experts have also predicted that inflation will fall next year.
Nurses are expected to walk out again on December 20, while ambulance workers will picket on December 21 and 28.
