Public sector workers will negotiate three-year pay deals instead of annual rise, says Brown

Britain's six million public sector workers will be offered three-year pay deals instead of the current annual talks, Gordon Brown announced yesterday.

Police officers last night became the first to be approached under the Government's plan to settle future wage rises in advance.

A letter from Home Secretary Jacqui Smith pledged to end the ongoing police pay row by delivering a long-term settlement "in full".

In a suprise move, she asked the head of the Police Negotiating Board to consider accepting a "multi-year" offer in exchange for extra cash.

Miss Smith said she wanted to end the "uncertainty" of last year, which saw police rank and file contemplate strike action in protest at the Government's decision to postpone a pay award.

Similar offers to nurses and teachers are likely to follow as part of the Prime Minister's attempt to impose pay discipline on Britain's public workforce. Mr Brown used pay yesterday as the latest weapon in a week-long blitz of announcements designed to show he is in control of his administration after a torrid 2007.

Downing Street officials said multi-year deals would not be imposed at once, but would be phased in over time. "There may be circumstances in which such a move is not appropriate," one said.

The proposal dismayed trade unions, which warned they would reject a deal if it meant reduced living standards.

They said it would be impossible to predict future rises in household costs such as fuel and council tax. The move was just a bid to hold down the pay of nurses, council workers, civil servants, the police, prison officers and other public servants.

Mr Brown used his monthly press conference-to boast that strict discipline on staging public sector pay awards last year had helped "break the back" of inflation.

Chancellor Alistair Darling said: "We believe they will be good for public service employees and their families.

"They will also provide stability and certainty for the economy and departments, which have had three-year settlements for some time now, would be able to plan much more efficiently."

The unions complained at the way Downing Street made the announcement through the media on early-morning news bulletins.

Brendan Barber, general secretary of the TUC, said: "Reactions will critically depend on the terms on offer and whether the Government will give people real confidence that their living standards will be protected.

"Confidence badly needs to be rebuilt after last year's railroading through of below-inflation rises and the undermining of independent pay review bodies."