Police Minister Nick Hurd has told the House of Commons that ending the public sector pay freeze is "under active discussion."
Shadow policing minister Louise Haigh, a former Special Constable, said she had witnessed a "collapse in morale as the Government ignored warnings over jobs, pay and resources".
She asked: "So does the minister agree with the Home Secretary or the Foreign Secretary over whether our bravest and best should continue to experience a real terms pay cut until 2020?"
Mr Hurd said: "We want to make sure that frontline public service workers including the police are paid fairly for their work. Not least because of the contribution they have made over the years to reducing the deficit we inherited from the party opposite - and in that, the work they have done in safeguarding hundreds of thousands of jobs.
"How we do that in a way, that is sustainable and affordable, is under active discussion."
Number 10 has insisted the 1 per cent pay cap is still in place and that there have been no changes to the policy. Last week a Number 10 spokesperson indicated the policy was under review, before later claiming it wasn't.
The cabinet are understood to be in open dissent over the issue, with the pay review bodies covering police and teachers' pay due to report within the next few weeks. On Sunday Boris Johnson indicated the cap would be lifted without the Government even having to ditch other commitments in order to balance the books.
“The Foreign Secretary supports the idea of public sector workers getting a better pay deal and believes the findings of the pay review bodies should be respected,” a source close to the Foreign Secretary told The Guardian.
Figures published this morning showed that the number of nurses leaving the profession was up 51 per cent as compared to four years ago. The profession has been restricted to a maximum annual pay rise of one per cent since 2010, with Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt vetoing even a one per cent rise on several occasions. The Royal College of Midwives recently went on strike for the first time in its history over the issue of pay.
Last week No 10 admitted it was reviewing the ongoing public sector pay freeze, before subsequently claiming it was not.
