WIREDGOV

Will Hutton’s Review of Public Sector Pay should go further to come into line with public opinion, according to a new poll by ippr. The results of the poll, undertaken for ippr by YouGov, are released today ahead of the publication of Will Hutton’s final report.

Hutton’s interim report recommends a pay ratio in the public sector of 1:20, meaning a maximum salary of £246,000 for organisations that have staff on the minimum wage. But almost two thirds of the public (61 per cent) think the limit should be 1:10 or lower. 

Just one in ten (11 per cent) think Hutton’s 1:20 ratio is the right limit, with more than one in five (23 per cent) wanting a 1:10 ratio (with a £123,000 maximum salary) and more than a third (38 per cent) saying it should be lower. Less than one in ten (9 per cent) think there shouldn’t be a limit.

Kayte Lawton, senior research fellow, said:

'After three decades during which pay inequality widened substantially, it is vital that future prosperity is more widely shared. Reducing pay inequality in the public and private sectors would mean a fairer labour market in which the fruits of future growth go to all those who work hard, not disproportionately to the few. The Government should be emboldened that the public supports this goal.'

Note to editors

YouGov polled a representative sample of 2,300 people across the UK. Fieldwork was conducted 7–9 March 2011. ippr’s project ‘Pay in London’ is funded by Trust for London, the largest independent charitable foundation funding work which tackles poverty and inequality in the capital.