NHS workers are set to be offered a 6.5 per cent pay rise over three years but only if they give up a day’s holiday each year, a leaked Government paper reveals today.
The £3.3billion pay deal, one of the biggest negotiated by ministers since an end to the public sector pay gap, had been slated for release in Philip Hammond’s Spring Statement next week.
But the announcement has been axed amid continued negotiations with NHS trade unions, it was reported.
The Guardian, which obtained the leaked report, said the talks on the deal had been constructive and high detailed but that there was no final deal.
Downing Street dismissed the leaks as speculation.
NHS workers (stock image) are set to be offered a 6.5 per cent pay rise over three years but only if they give up a day’s holiday each year, a leaked Government paper reveals today
The £3.3billion pay deal, one of the biggest negotiated by ministers since an end to the public sector pay gap, had been slated for release in Philip Hammond’s Spring Statement next week – but the announcement has been postponed
If it goes ahead the payrise will be the first significant increase for health service staff since 2010.
The Chancellor announced an end to the pay freezes or 1% caps which had been in force when he unveiled his budget in November.
Under the draft, the Treasury and Department for Health and Social Care will put forward plans which will see non-medical NHS staff receiving a 3 per cent pay rise next financial year and 1-2 per cent in the next two years.
Other staff would see their pay rise owing to the scrapping of the 1 per cent cap on salary increases, the paper added.
Government negotiators have said the forfeiture of the one day of annual leave in return is a ‘red line’.
The Department for Health and Social Care said the department does not comment on leaks.
Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England, on Wednesday backed staff’s plea for a pay rise after seven years of wage restraint and said action was needed in order to help tackle the service’s growing problems in retaining staff.
In a speech Mr Stevens again made clear his view that the government should wholly fund whatever increase is finally decided, given the NHS’s deep financial problems.
Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England, on Wednesday backed staff’s plea for a pay rise after seven years of wage restraint
Nigel Edwards, chief executive of the Nuffield Trust thinktank, told the Guardian: ‘If the government makes a proposal like that obtained by the Guardian, staff, especially those paid least, will welcome the respite from a real-term squeeze on their wages which has cost them billions.
‘With very serious shortages of staff, government is right to conclude that an austerity approach to the NHS workforce has reached its limits.’
Professor Anita Charlesworth, director of research at the Health Foundation, said: ‘The NHS needs urgent action to turn around nurse recruitment and retention.
‘One in 10 nursing posts are unfilled and an increasing number of staff are leaving the NHS.
‘Improving pay, especially for those on lower incomes, is very important. However, pay is not a panacea.
‘Nurses report that two of the most important factors causing them to leave the NHS are worries about quality of care and lack of work-life balance. Any proposals on pay will need to be part of a wider programme to support nurses.’