This week Beaconsfield MP Dominic Grieve writes exclusively to Bucks Free Press readers:

It is ten years since the global banking crisis which had immense repercussions for everybody in the UK.

Initially it was those who saved or had a mortgage with Northern Rock who were affected, but, since then, there has always been a need to make sure that the public finances are sound and resilient.

Borrowing money, without making efforts to build up a strong and flourishing economy, results in the accumulation of debt.

In effect, it is passing on the problems to someone else and it is living beyond the nation’s means.

That is why governments since 2010 have tackled the situation with the aim of reducing the deficit, while making sure that we invest in our public services.

People employed in the public sector do work hard and the way in which the finances have been structured has sought to make sure that they are treated fairly; so that the services themselves are affordable to the public purse as well as being fair to taxpayers.

The last Spending Review set out a budget of one percent for the basic pay awards, in addition to progression pay for specific workforces.

While there will still be a need for pay discipline, in some areas there are skill shortages.

This is the background behind the recent announcement that the pay ‘cap’ has been relaxed for police and prison officers’ pay awards, arising from the findings of the pay review bodies which cover these sectors.

As a constituency MP I am well aware that constituents working in other sectors will ask about the process and how it operates.

This will be the first year where the Budget will take place in the autumn rather than the spring.

For a long time it has been the case that the Autumn Statement set out the public spending programme, with the Budget concentrating on taxation.

There are other pay review bodies as well as the ones to which the Government responded recently.

The remits for specific pay review bodies will be discussed as part of the Budget process and will be set out in due course.