Cabinet Office written statement – made at on 29 July 2024.
Georgia Gould
The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office
I am today announcing the Government’s decision to accept the recommendations of the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) on pay for the senior civil service (SCS) for 2024-25.
The Government received the SSRB’s 2024 report on 17 June 2024. This is being laid in Parliament today and published on gov.uk.
I am grateful to the interim chair and members for their report. The Government greatly values the independent expertise and insight of the SSRB and is accepting in full its recommendations on SCS headline pay for the 2024-25 pay round.
This year, the SSRB has recommended:
That all members of the senior civil service should receive a 5 per cent consolidated increase to base pay from 1 April 2024; and
Setting the following pay ranges from 1 April 2024, based on increases to the minima of £1,000 for SCS1 to SCS3, and retaining the existing maxima:
SCS pay band 1: £76,000 to £117,800.
SCS pay band 2: £98,000 to £162,500.
SCS pay band 3: £128,000 to £208,100.
In reaching this decision, the Government has very carefully considered the advice and justifications provided by the independent SSRB. This year’s award will help us to continue to attract, retain and develop the very best senior talent for government and strikes fairness with an average 5 per cent pay award for delegated grades below the SCS.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
