Chancellor Gordon Brown is determined to keep inflation down to 2 per cent, and capping NHS pay is central to his plans. Reducing people's spending power will put a squeeze on price rises, while keeping next year's pay rise for 1.2 million health service workers to below 2 per cent would also help limit overall government spending.Last year Mr Brown infuriated unions by telling the nurses' pay review body (RB) that public sector pay rises should be kept in line with his 2 per cent inflation target. But the RB stood firm: it considered evidence from the Department of Health (DH),NHS Employers and the unions, and recommended a 2.5 per cent rise for 2006, which was paid in full.
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