Nearly 100,000 staff in job centres and benefits offices went on strike last week in protest over a pay deal imposed last year.

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union claimed the pay deal is too low, with starting salaries of £10,300, and has labelled the system for judging staff performance as ‘unfair and divisive’.

It claims this system is based on quotas, so no matter how well people work, half will receive a lower bonus.

However, the government has insisted that the bonus scheme is fair, with people’s performance assessed relative to that of their peers, rather than against ‘absolute’ standards imposed on everyone.

The strike is the third of a series of walkouts, with others held in February and April this year.

Union leader Mark Serwotka said: “Senior management have seriously misjudged the level of opposition to their tactics of imposing discriminatory and derisory pay deals and their continuing refusal to engage with the union to sort this pay mess out.”