NHS Pay: the proposed agreement for 2008/9 to 2010/11 Josie Irwin Head of Employment Relations, Royal College of Nursing April 2008

The Talks u Occurred in parallel with evidence to NHS Review Body u Began Sept 2007 u Staff Council Exec + Scotland and Wales u CSR pay limit 2% ‘the obstacle’ u Offer made in January 2008 (2.45%, 2.2%, 2.2% = 7% over 3 yrs) rejected by negotiators u Restructuring costs would have been deducted from these headlines

The talks continued u On 31 January, offer raised to 7.2% - rejected by negotiators u Staff side agreed to ‘pause’ talks, await Review Body report and possibly negotiate yrs 2 and 3 u Talks on 2 and 4 April generated proposed agreement (including NHS RB recommendation)

Context u 2007/8 Settlement included commitment to talks on a multi-year pay deal and restructuring u RCN strategy: address long bands, raise ceiling of band 5, close gap with teachers u Evidence to NHS RB – ‘substantially above inflation award’ u Inflation CPI 2.5%, RPI 4.1% u Forecast: CPI below 2%, RPI 3% by year end u Worsening economic situation

More Context u Government public sector pay policy 2% per year for 3 year CSR period u PRB reports to date: DDRB 2.2%, Prisons 2.2%, Armed Forces 2.6% (1 year) u Scotland Teachers – 2.25%, 2.5%, 2.4% u Local Govt offer in Scotland – 2.5%, 2.5%, 2.5% u Local Govt offer in England & Wales - 2.5%

The proposed agreement 2008/9 – 2010/11 in summary u Three year proposal subject to consultation u 2.75% PRB recommendation for 2008/09 paid in full u Yr %, Yr %, Yr % pay & allowances u Band 5: changes to structure in Yr 2, 3 and 4 u Band 1: removal of bottom point in Yr 2 u Inflation ‘re-opener’ after Year 1 u Continued role for NHS Review Body u Trade Union Facilities Agreement u Work Life Balance Statement u Discussions on bands 6 & 7 u The ‘working week’

Restructuring in detail - yr 2 u Abolition of the first pay point raises the NHS minimum wage to £6.77 u Changes to increments in band 5 worth: –3.62% point 19 –4.19% point 20 –3.01% point 23 –3.08% point 24 –2.73% added to point 25, (top point of band 5, third point of band 6) u Total value inc headline uplift 2.4% = 2.54%

Yr 3 in detail u Flat rate increase of £420 for points 1-13 (3.17% at lowest point) u Reduction in number of points in band 5 u Changes to increments in band 5 worth: –2.31% point 19 –2.36% point 20 –5.18% point 21 –2.57% point 23 –2.53% point 24 –2.59% added to point 25, (top point of band 5, third point of band 6) u Total value inc headline uplift 2.25% = 2.5% u And yr 4 additional money on points 19, 20, 23,24 & 25, bringing total value of the package to 8.1% (7.99% over 3 years)

Pay PointPay bandPay 07/08Year 1 08/09 Year 2 09/10 Year 3 10/11 174/5£19683£20224£20710£ /5£20261£20818£21318£ £20801£21373£22152£ £21494£22805£23019£ £22187£22797£23344£ £22823£23451£24013£ /6£23458£24103£24831£ /6£24383£25054£25829£ /6£25424£26123£26839 Growth on pay points over 3 years

And more ….. u Talks within 3 year period on reduction in pay points on long bands starting with 6 and 7 u Future talks on reducing hours of the working week u TU facilities agreement u New initiative on work/life balance and well being at work u Re-opener clause for yrs 2 & 3 if significant change to R&R or inflation

If accepted u Payment probably in June u Pay stability for 3 years u Discussion with RB on continuing role u Talks on further restructuring u Talks on working week linked to productivity u RCN will submit evidence to RB u If necessary trigger re-opener

If rejected u Little possibility of improved offer – best in public sector so far u No further restructuring of long bands u Yr 1 only – Government may react by staging u TUs would need to be prepared to take industrial action to fight for more u Risk of fragmentation – devolved countries do their own thing, staging leads to Foundation Trusts ‘doing their own thing’

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