Scotland Times

Saturday, Feb 22, 2025

NHS pay: Hancock defends 1% pay rise after union strike threats

NHS pay: Hancock defends 1% pay rise after union strike threats

The health secretary has defended a proposed 1% pay increase for NHS workers in England this year, amid a backlash from unions.

Matt Hancock said the proposal was "what we think is affordable" given financial pressures caused by the Covid pandemic.

He added staff had been exempted from the wider freeze on public sector pay to reward their "incredible" work.

A nurses' union has set up a fund to prepare for possible strike action.

And Unite - the third largest union in the NHS - said it is considering a strike ballot.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has called the recommended 1% pay rise "pitiful", arguing that its members should get 12.5% instead.

It would have to hold a ballot before strikes could go ahead.

Speaking at Friday's Downing Street briefing, Mr Hancock said the pay award reflected the "difficult financial circumstances the country is in".

"One of the challenges we've faced as a country is in terms of the financial consequences of the pandemic," he told reporters.

"We've proposed what we think is affordable to make sure in the NHS people do get a pay rise," he said.

The health department recommended the 1% pay award to the independent panel that advises the government on NHS salaries. It would cover nearly all hospital staff, but not GPs and dentists.

In addition, some staff whose pay band is being changed will get more than a 1% increase as a result of a previously agreed three-year pay deal.

The government says newly-qualified nurses got a 12% pay rise over the course of that three-year agreement.

What do NHS workers in England earn?


*  The lowest minimum full-time salary - for newly employed drivers, housekeeping assistants, nursery assistants and domestic support workers - is £18,005 per year

*  The starting salary for most newly qualified nurses is £24,907

*  Staff in "high-cost areas", such as London, get extra payments

In its submission to the panel, officials at the department argued the 1% rise would strike the "right balance between pay and staff numbers".

The panel is due make its own pay recommendations in early May, when ministers will make their final decision.

Some 1.3 million public sector workers will see a pay freeze next year, with those earning less than £24,000 guaranteed a pay rise of at least £250.

'Out of touch'


A government spokesperson said 1% was a "real-terms increase", as the latest official inflation figure was 0.9%.

But Unite's national officer for health Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe said it would turn into a "pay cut in real terms" if inflation rises over this year.

RCN Chief Executive Dame Donna Kinnair has said the award shows ministers are "dangerously out of touch with nursing staff, NHS workers and the public".

Labour's shadow health minister Rosena Allin-Khan said the recommended 1% pay increase was "nothing short of an insult".

The NHS in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is run by the devolved administrations.

The Scottish government has announced that 2021-22 pay negotiations will be delayed until the summer because of the disruption caused by Covid. Staff have been given an "interim" pay rise of 1%, which will form part of the new settlement.

NHS workers in Northern Ireland were promised a one-off £500 "special recognition" payment in January, following a similar announcement in Scotland.

The Welsh government has said it will not set a "ceiling" of 1% on NHS pay rises for 2021-22.


The Labour leader says NHS staff and other public sector workers "need to be properly rewarded"


Newsletter

Related Articles

Scotland Times
0:00
0:00
Close
UK Island Orkney council to look at proposals to become territory of Norway
Woman Awarded Over £100,000 After Being Fired for Transgender Tweet
A provocative study suggests: Left-Wing Extremism and its Unsettling Connection to Psychopathy and Narcissism
A Real woman
Brand new security footage has just been released to the public showing the Active shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale drove to Covenant Church School in her Honda Fit this morning, parked, and shot her way into the building
China's foreign ministry branch in Hong Kong urges British gov't to stop the biased and double standards Hong Kong report
Double standards: UK lawmakers attack EU chief over Ireland claims
Democracy? Not for UK. UK PM rejects Scottish independence referendum, cancel democracy in BVI
UK urged to brace for economic storm
Women's own body dissatisfaction appears to influence their judgment of other women's body sizes
Prince William To Move Family Into Cottage Near Queen Elizabeth II
BOOOOOOS: Tony Blair receives royal honour
Captured Britons sentenced to death in Ukraine
Barbados PM Mia A. Mottley among Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People
Today's headlines
"Just One Of the Boys In School:" Years That Shaped Prince Charles
BVI Premier Rubbishes Claim Of Causing COI Delay
Comments on "Human Intelligence in a Digital Age" - A brilliant Speech by MI6 Chief Richard Moore, and the elephants neglected in the room
Bitcoin: BoE Deputy Gov wants to cancel democracy and protect the banks with regulations which infringe on people’s freedom, independence and benefits they get from their own money.
What are the Pandora Papers?
Taiwan-China relations at their 'worst in 40 years'
The attempt to hold Epik.com accountable for the content of its clients' websites is like blaming Gutenberg for the NYT's fake news that dragged the US into the pointless war against the nuclear weapons Iraq never had
×