Nurses Pay 2008: Public sector pay and the economic context A briefing for RCN activists, members and staff Version 2 published 7 March 2008

Last year NHS nurses in England received a staged award of 1.9%. Nurses in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland received an unstaged award of 2.5% -thanks to successful RCN lobbying. The RCN indicative ballot forced the Government to improve its offer. It was part of RCN strategy last year to use the fact that Scotland and then Wales and Northern Ireland agreed to pay the full 2.5% award un-staged as leverage in England. While Westminster did eventually improve its position, ultimately this strategy proved unsuccessful. The RCN’s position remains that a single award across the UK is the best and most fair way of approaching pay for nursing staff. For more information, visit http://www.rcn.org.uk/support/pay_and_conditions/pay_2008

This year’s pay round RCN wants a fair pay award for nurses that reflects the cost of living The RCN wants an unstaged award This is necessary to avoid a further loss of morale and attract new staff For more information, visit http://www.rcn.org.uk/support/pay_and_conditions/pay_2008

Government policy on public sector pay Gordon Brown has argued that staging public sector pay awards last year "helped break the back of inflation”. “In 2008,” he says, “we have to show that we can maintain stability over the long term." Bank of England’s view is the sources of upward pressure on inflation are energy (oil $100 a barrel, food, and the cost of imports (depreciating value of sterling) For more information, visit http://www.rcn.org.uk/support/pay_and_conditions/pay_2008

Public sector pay awards 2008 Prisoners officers have received 2.2% Teachers have received 2.45%* Soldiers have received 2.6% SO Nurses could be looking at an award in this same region. * In first year of three-year settlement For more information, visit http://www.rcn.org.uk/support/pay_and_conditions/pay_2008

The economy RPI inflation now at 4.1% (January 2008) CPI inflation is 2.1% (January 2008) Some forecasts have RPI inflation falling to 3% or below by November 2008. Falling inflation still means that prices are rising just by not as much as before For more information, visit http://www.rcn.org.uk/support/pay_and_conditions/pay_2008

Sequence of events Pay Review Body expected to make recommendation to Government in late March. Government would still like a multi-year deal if possible. Government expected to announce award in late March/early April. The RCN, together with the other NHS trade unions, has had a number of meetings with the management side to explore the possibility of a multi year agreement on NHS pay.  This followed the commitment arising from the 2007 Agreement (‘to put right the wrongs of 2007’) and was given fresh impetus by the Prime Minister’s announcement at the beginning of January that the Government would be seeking multi-year pay deals across the public sector and the Teachers’ award (England and Wales).   Any deal would have had to be agreed in principle at least by the end of January to feed into the Review Body reporting process and allow consultation and agreement by the end of March 2008. As of 8 February, it was apparent it would not be possible to come to any agreement. While no formal offer was made to the trade unions, mutual exploration of expectations revealed a mismatch between the parties’ positions that could not be closed in the tight timescale. The parties are still talking however, with a view to returning to the table once the Review Body has reported and there is a possibility that the RB recommendations could be yr 1 of a 3 yr deal (a bit like the teachers).   The Employers asked if nevertheless, the trade unions would be prepared to make a joint representation to the Review Body asking them to recommend a multi-year deal. Our view is that we have already submitted detailed and considered evidence to Review Body based on a 1 year award. Such an approach would require starting all over again in terms of evidence gathering and submission and in any case, this was not the basis on which we entered the talks and it would require prior consultation within organisations. We have however, agreed to keep channels of communication open and to meet again after the Review Body has made its report with a view to exploring whether a multi-year deal would be possible on the basis of the Review Body’s recommendation for 2008 being year 1 of a 2 or 3 year deal. For more information, visit http://www.rcn.org.uk/support/pay_and_conditions/pay_2008

Next steps Prepare for an announcement on pay in the next few weeks by: Understanding the background to this year’s pay round Understanding the economic context Understanding how public sector pay policy is working out in practice Discussing the possible implications for nurses’ pay, likely reactions and responses Identifying any other tools RCN can provide For more information, visit http://www.rcn.org.uk/support/pay_and_conditions/pay_2008