Chancellor resists calls for public sector pay boost despite budget surplus

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Chancellor Jeremy Hunt appeared to rebuff hopes of any spending largesse or the possibility of improved public sector pay next month, despite official figures showing state finances were stronger than expected. There have also been calls for the Government to better protect vulnerable households, with energy bill support set to become less generous from the start of April “To make permanent changes in tax and spending that are recurring, year-in, year-out, you need a more fundamental change in national finances, which I’m afraid we haven’t seen,” Mr Hunt said. “Year-to-date borrowing has so far undershot the OBR’s forecast by £30.6 billion, which could tempt the Chancellor to offer a pay increase to public sector workers as part of his Budget next month, hoping to prevent another wave of strikes.” Paul Nowak, general secretary of the TUC union, said the rosier picture means “the government is running out of excuses” not to offer an improved pay deal. He said: “The extent to which the OBR deems the improvement in tax revenues to be structural is uncertain, and there’s a question mark over how it will adjust its estimates of the economy’s potential output growth in next month’s Budget.” The surplus was partly driven by £21.9 billion of self-assessed income tax receipts for the month, which represented the highest total for the month since records began in 1999.