The independent salary review bodies for teachers, members of the armed forces, senior civil servants and judges are today expected to put forward proposals for wage rises of around three per cent.

Forum Response: Association of Teachers and Lecturers

Gerald Imison, ATL's joint acting general secretary, said: "The government's award to teachers demonstrates how much they value them. Today's message says "not very much".

"This pay award has given teachers pitifully little in exchange for their willingness to join in the government's remodelling agenda, knowing full well that the workload reduction will take time to filter through.

"We have entered into a working partnership with government but they are wrong if they think this deal will solve the current recruitment crisis. Remodelling and workload reductions will only affect working teachers, it will not address the developing crisis in recruiting new ones. Proper salary levels are essential to make teaching more attractive, otherwise the government will stand no chance in recruiting the 10,000 teachers they say they require to deliver on the Remodelling Agreement.

"For today's undergraduates to consider taking up a teaching career they must be enticed by a competitive basic pay package. There is nothing in this pay award that will persuade them that teaching is a worthwhile and financially rewarding career option."The good news is that following representations from ATL the STRB has resisted government plans for a 3 year pay deal."

Forum Response: National Union of Teachers

Doug McAvoy, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: "The government is treating teachers with contempt. It has frozen teachers' pay at the level of inflation. It will have no positive impact on recruitment and retention.

"There will still be a gap of around 12 per cent between the salary of new teachers and the pay for comparable graduate occupations.

"Freezing teachers' pay will do nothing to retain teachers. They will be angry that their pay is frozen so that more support staff can be employed. Teachers are paying for the agreement on remodelling school staffing.

"The proposals for London provide some recognition of the particular problems of the inner city whilst ignoring the similar problems of the rest of London and the fringe areas. Even in inner London, the teacher has to stay for six or seven years before they are paid £5,000 more than teachers elsewhere to compensate for the extra expense of the capital. This compares with a London wide allowance for the police of more than £6,000.

"The solution to the problems of London and the fringe areas is to award teachers in inner London an allowance of not less than £6,000 with matching increases elsewhere.

"The government's plan will not attract young teachers to London."

Forum Response: Institute of Directors

A spokesman for the IoD told ePolitix.com: "The chancellor's announcement of a public sector pay freeze is welcome and inevitable. However, it will only go a small way in plugging the hole in the public finances."

Forum Response: Professional Association of Teachers

Jean Gemmell, general secretary of PAT, said: "Such a small increase would be very short-sighted and most teachers would find it cynical in the light of recent praise heaped on the profession by government ministers."Ministers have been advocating raising the status of the profession but if they accept such a recommendation of less than three per cent, they will fail to deliver.

"If the government is serious about recruiting and retaining more teachers - especially now that younger teachers are faced with the burden of tuition fees and loans - it must pay teachers more and in line with other graduate professions."

Forum Response: FDA

Jonathan Baume, FDA general secretary, said: "An increase of three per cent is inadequate, particularly with inflation at 2.9 per cent. With pay ranges increased by only 2.25 per cent, many members will see no real pay increase as a result of this award and some a pay cut.

"The government expects senior civil servants to lead and deliver major reform not only in the civil service but also in the wider public sector, and these awards provide little financial incentive.

"In 2001 a government commissioned pay comparability study clearly demonstrated that senior civil service pay rates were significantly worse than the private sector and also most other areas of the public sector. senior civil service pay is becoming increasing uncompetitive, and at a time when the government is trying to encourage more external appointments to the civil service.

"Over the past two years public sector pay has started to make up some of the ground lost to the private sector during the economic boom years.

"The government is now exerting enormous pressure on the review bodies to hold back any further growth in public sector pay just at a time when it needs to encourage and motivate all public servants to deliver its ambitious reform agenda. The government should offer a coherent approach to rewarding the public sector not a short term policy of start-stop."