Equal pay is being blamed for the growing wage gap between the public and private sectors, according to consultant Income Data Services (IDS). Alastair Hatchett, IDS head of pay services, said pay rises for local government workers were shrinking because authorities needed to offset the cost of new pay systems. Councils have been introducing new pay systems to bring women's earnings in line with male counterparts and may still have to pay out billions in compensation in equal-pay cases. ‘Pay increases in the public sector are now expected to be lower than in the private sector as we go through 2006,' said Mr Hatchett.
