Paragraph 2.16 Page 18
"The Secretary of State wrote to us on 13 January 2009, to set out the Government's view on the impact of the developing economic conditions. He pointed to forecasts of continuing recession in 2009 with rapidly falling inflation and a weakening labour market. The letter emphasised the Government's fiscal measures to support the economy and its priority to ensure sustainability of public finances. The Secretary of State commented upon the relative attractiveness of public sector employment and his confidence that the "excellent" Armed Forces' package will lead to improved recruitment and retention in the coming months with some improvement already seen in the latter part of 2008. Finally the Secretary of State commented on the importance of a fair pay award that ensured sufficient resources for other parts of the package and emphasised that awards above the paybill assumptions would require compensating cuts to other Defence priorities"
I read that as "you will restrict the payrise even if you think a greater rise is justifiable as it will cost elsewhere. We cannot afford anything after bailing out all the wasters from the banks and as usual our troops can take a kicking!!"
SJ