Public sector pay awards above inflation - The Government has agreed to implement in full the salary recommendations of the independent pay review bodies covering around 1.3 million public sector workers in the NHS, education, the armed forces and senior civil service. Pay for most of the remit groups increases by 3.7% from this April, but certain groups - such as newly qualified teachers and London-based nurses - receive bigger rises in an attempt to address recruitment and retention difficulties. Reaction from trade unions representing public sector workers, however, has been mixed.