[Mickie]

I work in the public sector and have had a succession of derisory pay rises between 0.5 and 1% Even these have been entirely offset by increases in pension contributions so my take home pay is about what it was in 2012.

As said if you want a pay rise ask. Have good reasons why. For instance are you doing more than you did when you started you should’ve more capable so perhaps have taken on additional responsibilities. Ideally have some comparable salaries you could earn elsewhere with your skills. As a back up have some suggestions for additional respo you could take on to help justify a pay rise.

You can’t just rely on no pay rise for X number of years as your only reason.

It’s probably a good idea to ask for a proper meeting with the actual decision maker and let them know in advance what you want to discuss