In a packed Westminster Hall MPs called on the Government to scrap the 1% cap on public sector workers and for public sector workers to be paid properly for the hard work they do. I attended the debate and raised the contribution the Council workforce have made to help meet the budget shortfall as a consequence of the Government’s austerity agenda.

Stephen Kinnock: Is my hon. Friend aware that in my local authority area, Neath Port Talbot, public sector workers took a voluntary pay cut totalling £8 million to avoid the catastrophe of compulsory early redundancies? Does he agree that such a situation cannot and should not be repeated?

Gerald Jones: Yes, I do. It is an example of the dedication of our public sector workers but, as my hon. Friend says, is a bridge too far.