Public sector productivity below pre-Covid levels amid strike chaos
New analysis from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that total public sector productivity last year was 4.2pc lower than before the 2020 pandemic when the UK went into lockdown.
Productivity rates in the public sector, which measures the output of workers in healthcare, education, the military and police, slumped during the Covid lockdowns and has never recovered to the same level.
Most of the productivity in the public sector comes from NHS, and ongoing strike chaos over the past two years has weighed on the figures.
Doctors walked out for a fourth day on Monday, adding further disruption to services. They are holding five days of industrial action over pay, the 12th such strike since 2023.
Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, has called on the NHS to boost its performance by cutting waiting times for crucial services.
ONS figures show flickers of progress, with healthcare productivity growing 2.7pc in the first quarter of the year, compared with the same period a year earlier. Productivity overall for the public sector, including teachers and the police, rose 1pc over the same period.
It marked the third consecutive quarter of rising productivity for the healthcare sector. But while rates are on the rise, NHS productivity remains 8.8pc lower than before the pandemic, the ONS said.
The Government and British Medical Association remain locked in a stand-off over wages after both sides failed to agree to a pay settlement last week.
Meanwhile nurses are to reject the Government's pay offer, raising the prospect of further strikes across the NHS.
The Royal College of Nursing has been holding a preliminary vote on a 3.6pc pay increase offer, and the results are expected later this week.
The Government has come head-to-head with unions over pay rises. In documents published last autumn alongside the Budget, the Treasury outlined a stricter approach to future public sector pay deals, tying increases to improvements in productivity.
'Over the medium-term, above inflation pay awards are only affordable if they can be funded from improved productivity,' it said.
Revised ONS figures also showed productivity in public services was better than the previously estimated in 2024. Officials had initially said there was a decline of 0.3 pc, but changed their view to an increase of 0.1pc.
The ONS said the upward revision was because of the use of new source data and changes to healthcare output.
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