Your pay has reduced in real terms.
My purchasing power was reduced. Inflation and wages are two independent issues. It’s a sleight of hand of term to frame things as cuts that aren’t.
Back on track, the private sector doesn’t increase its spending in line with inflation because it’s not
always necessary to do. Successful private enterprises are always looking at reducing their costs and driving efficiencies. Whereas, the public sector doesn’t have that same impetus. For example, where’s the accountability for how NHS spends its money?
I hate using this example but it’s symbolic, last year the NHS trusts were hiring for Directors of ‘lived experience’ on 5-figure salaries. The Telegraph found that nearly half of the NHS’ employees are managers, administrators or unqualified assistants.
The same administrators silencing medical professional whistleblowers and so on.
I’m not an expert, but if operating costs (i.e. staff wages) is one of the biggest % of the NHS budget, it seems like there could be a lot of efficiency improvements there.
The bottom line here is that the NHS is unaccountable for how it spends its budget.