on the question of whether public sector pay should be used to control inflation, there was a Royal Commission that reported on this very point; it stated that public sector pay was not responsible for inflation; so that should not be used as an excuse to reduce PS pay.
When the pay review body was reconstituted by Cameron, that vital element was removed, now it is a fig leaf for imposition of Treasury whim on public sector. Save the cost of the RBs & face annual strikes.