The government has published its response to the recommendations of the independent Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) on pay for the Senior Civil Service (SCS) for 2026-27 and confirmed senior civil servants' pay will be linked to performance.

The Government will increase the overall SCS paybill by 3.5 per cent. On base pay this will be a 2.5 per cent increase, rather than the 3.5 per cent recommended by the SSRB. Those who deliver for the public at an exceptional level will be rewarded with salary increases. 1 per cent of the total SCS paybill will be allocated to the performance-related progression approach.

Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones said: "The Prime Minister has called for a complete rewiring of the state. In January this year, I set out the need to reward the doers, not the talkers in the Civil Service. It’s pretty simple. Those who perform well should be rewarded. Those who fall short should be held to account.

"Today, the Government has followed through, confirming our new approach will reward exceptional civil servants who go above and beyond for the public, while raising the standard we expect civil servants to meet.

"As a package, this represents the biggest change to Senior Civil Service pay in decades and is just one of the many steps the Government is taking to modernise the system to make sure what happens in Westminster is followed through to the streets, schools and livelihoods of people in every part of the country. Our job as Ministers is to give civil servants the tools and support they need, so that together, we can build a Britain that is richer, fairer and stronger."