Gavin Williamson refused to be drawn into a debate over whether there should be a U-turn on the NHS pay recommendation in England.
The Education Secretary said there had “quite rightly” been “record increases” going to doctors and nurses, but that the country faced “a much more difficult economic period” after the economy had shrunk by 10% during the pandemic.
Pressed on possible NHS strikes over the pay move, the Education Secretary told Sophy Ridge: “No-one wants to see industrial action and I’m certain the Royal College of Nursing wouldn’t want to see industrial action.”
He said: "difficult economic challenges” were behind the Government’s decision to recommend a 1% pay rise for NHS workers.
He told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge On Sunday: “The Government has at every stage been clear of our commitment to the NHS.
“Over a million NHS staff are going to be receiving pay increases over and above that.
“But, also, we are facing difficult economic challenges.
“We’re facing almost three-quarters of a million people who are unemployed and we have in the context of that decided to exempt the NHS from the public sector pay freeze, which is the only part of the public sector that has been exempted from that.”
Asked on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show whether he believes nurses deserve more than a 1% pay rise, Gavin Williamson said: “What we are having to deal with is an incredibly challenging economic situation where we have put forward a proposal.
“We’ve put forward what we believe we can afford and is part of a process and that was what will be looked at.
“But really, our focus is on making sure we recover from this pandemic.”
Pressed on whether there could be a rethink on the recommendation, the Cabinet minister added: “We’ve stated that this is very much part of the process – what the Government has put forward has been passed to an independent review.”
The Education Secretary also said teachers were among those public-sector workers who would not receive a pay rise.
Asked about the perception of pay freezes when the Prime Minister is reportedly spending on refurbishing his Downing Street flat, Gavin Williamson said: “What we all recognise is that this is a period of making sure we have restraint right across the public sector.
“But we aren’t nervous about investing in those key public services such as the NHS, such as schools.”
On the prospect of a pay rise for teachers, he added: “We saw this year the largest pay increase for teachers since 2005.
“But there is going to be pay restraint, there is going to be a pay freeze for the coming year but we are continuing to invest in schools.”
NHS workers are planning protests around England at the Government’s decision to recommend they receive a 1% pay rise – a move Labour predicts could help make new nurses £300 worse off.
Demonstrators have planned a socially-distanced protest outside Downing Street and in Manchester city centre on Sunday over the pay offer.
Shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds accused her opposite number Rishi Sunak of “turning his back on our NHS heroes before the crisis is even over, repeatedly hitting their pockets”.
The outcry over the proposal has not been restricted to the Opposition benches, with a former Tory health minister arguing it was the “wrong time” to be restraining the pay of NHS staff who have gone “above and beyond” during the coronavirus epidemic.
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