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George Osborne freezes public sector pay, gives his adviser a 42 per cent pay rise regardless

George Osborne has given a special adviser a promotion and a pay rise of 42 per cent, despite his own cap on public sector pay rises of one per cent.

The Guardian has reported that Thea Rogers, now Osborne's chief of staff, received the highest pay rise of all political special advisers across the government, a 42 per cent increase since figures were released last November to £98,000 a year.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced public sector pay would be capped at a maximum of one per cent rise each year in the Budget in July.

A year ago, Rogers was one of Osborne's special advisers, handling his image and events, and is credited with encouraging his change of image with the adoption of the five-two diet and a shorter haircut.

A Downing Street spokesperson said:

Special advisers provide an important role and it is important that they are there. By providing political advice to ministers, they allow the important distinction to remain between impartial civil servants and special advisers who provide political advice.

The total costs for special advisers across the government rose to £9.2m in 2014/15, up from £8.4m for the previous financial year.

A member of The Chancellor's staff contacted i100.co.uk on Saturday to point out that since Rogers' promotion, she is acting in a new, more senior role as chief of staff and is paid the same as the last person who occupied the role, Rupert Harrison.

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