Public sector pay restraint was necessary to tackle the deficit left by the last Labour Government. However, in September last year we ended the 1 per cent pay award policy for public sector workforces, recognising that some flexibility would be required in certain areas. Using the funds that the Chancellor allocated at the Budget, today we set out proposals that will see wage rises of between 6.5 per cent and 29 per cent for over 1.1 million NHS workers in England including nurses and midwives, as part of a deal to boost productivity.
As a result of pay reform, the lowest earning NHS staff such as porters, cleaners and hospital caterers will see their wages rise by 15 per cent over the next three years. We are committed to the delivery of world class public services and ensuring that public sector workers are fairly remunerated for the vitally important work that they do.
NHS staff work incredibly hard, day in, day out, right across the country. Today’s announcement is only possible because of the balanced approach the Government is taking – investing in our public services like the NHS and helping families with the cost of living while at the same time getting our debt falling.
Our approach
- We are investing in higher starting salaries for staff in every pay band by reforming the pay system to remove overlapping pay points. The pay of the lowest earning NHS staff, such as porters, cleaners and hospital caterers, will increase substantially as a result of pay band reform. These staff will see their basic pay increase by 15 per cent over the next three years. A newly qualified nurse will receive starting pay 12.6 per cent higher in 2020-2021 than this year and starting pay for a midwife will increase by 18.1 per cent as a result of pay band reform.
- We will support staff retention so that our NHS is staffed by the skilled compassionate workforce that it needs. We will guarantee fair basic pay awards for the next three years to the 50 per cent of staff who are at the top of pay bands; while guaranteeing fair basic pay awards and faster progression pay for the next three years to around 50 per cent of staff that is not yet on the top of their pay band.
- We are working with the NHS to improve the rights of the people who work in our NHS. Today’s deal is not just about better pay for hard working NHS staff – it is also about making the NHS a better employer. Shared parental leave rights will be extended to all staff, the NHS will commit to reducing sickness absence by improving staff health and wellbeing, and all staff will receive better skills and development training.
- We are working with NHS employers and trade unions to boost productivity so that we can achieve better outcomes for patients. Our proposals include a framework for buying and selling annual leave which will consider the pay value of annual leave that staff may wish to sell back to their employers. This could help increase capacity and reduce spend on agencies.
Labour don’t know how to handle the economy, so couldn’t fund our public services
- The Shadow Treasury Minister welcomed the Government’s proposals calling them ‘sensible’. Studio: ‘Do you want more or are you happy with roughly the broad approach to pay of the Government?’ Annalise Dodds MP: ‘We hope that that approach has been informed by discussions between them and the pay review bodies, and if that’s what the pay review bodies are suggesting is necessary for retention and recruitment then that seems sensible’ (Daily Politics, 21 March 2018).
- The Shadow Equalities Minister admitted that Labour wouldn’t give a real terms pay increase to public sector workers. Dawn Butler: ‘we have committed the £4 billion to insure that we would scrap the cap’. However, the IFS have concluded that Labour would need to provide the public sector with £9.2 billion to pay for the higher employment costs (Sky, 17 September 2017; IFS, Public sector pay in the next parliament, 19 May 2017, link).
- Jonathan Ashworth admitted that Labour got their sums wrong on public sector pay. Andrew Marr: ‘You would accept. So if they say that pay in the public sector should rise as pay in the private sector, in line with earnings as you’ve just put it, that has been costed by the IFS as requiring an immediate £6 billion a year now, rising to nine and a half billion pounds a year in the course of this parliament. That’s a lot more than you budgeted in your manifesto. You budgeted four billion’. Jonathan Ashworth: ‘We budgeted four billion’ (Andrew Marr, 2 July 2017).