What the pay deal in England means for the devolved UK countries

Health unions and devolved governments have welcomed this week’s pay deal for nurses and other NHS staff in England, and are now looking for a Westminster funding commitment so that the deals can be at least matched in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

“Anything less than full pay parity with our colleagues in England will certainly be unacceptable to our members”

Rita Devlin

It comes as the UK Government announced on Monday (29 July) that nurses and other NHS staff working on Agenda for Change contracts in England would receive a 5.5% pay rise for 2024-25.

It is expected that NHS staff will receive their updated pay – backdated to 1 April 2024 – in either their August or September pay packets.

However, the Treasury has said that funding allocations for devolved pay awards will not be confirmed until the autumn budget, which is three months away.

After accepting the recommendations of all pay review bodies (PRBs) in full, chancellor Rachel Reeves warned that public sector pay increases would come at an additional cost of £9bn this year.

She therefore asked for all departments to make at least £3bn cost savings to absorb some of the costs of the deal.

Any new money pledged by Westminster for the 2024-25 pay offer will trigger the Barnett formula to be applied.

The forumla is a mechanism used by the UK Government to adjust the amounts of public expenditure allocated to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to reflect changes in spending levels allocated to public services in England. Funding allocations are called Barnett consequentials.

The Treasury confirmed to Nursing Times that the Barnett formula will apply in the normal way with this pay deal, but that the amounts would not be finalised until the autumn budget 2024, which is due on 30 October.

Wales

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in Wales has called for an urgent response from the Welsh Government to the announcement of a pay award in England.

Nicky Hughes, RCN Wales associate director of nursing (employment relations), said: “Nurses are the backbone of NHS Wales, tirelessly dedicating themselves to the care and wellbeing of patients.

“Nursing staff in Wales deserve the same prompt action and recognition on pay as their colleagues in England.

“They should not have to wait any longer for the pay award that they should have received in April of this year.”

Nicky Hughes

Ms Hughes noted that, as health is a devolved matter, the Welsh Government could choose to “go above the recommendations” of the PRB, which she said would “go some way towards the pay restoration they committed to in last year’s pay award”.

It comes as the Welsh Government committed, in the 2023-24 pay deal, to restore nurse pay to 2008 levels. The RCN has pledged to hold the government to account on this promise.

In response, the cabinet secretary for finance, Rebecca Evans, said: “The chancellor has given a commitment to the public sector of a much-needed above-inflation pay rise.

“We will now carefully work through all the details which lie behind the statement and the implications for our budget.

“We know hard-working public sector workers are keen to find out how much they will be paid in 2024-25 but we need to understand the detail behind this announcement.”

Northern Ireland

Nurses in Northern Ireland have historically been the last in the UK to receive annual pay increases, due to political instability in the country.

The delays have repeatedly caused nurses to fall out of pay parity with their colleagues in England, which has resulted in strike action in recent years.

However, since power sharing in the assembly and executive has been restored, there is hope among unions that things might be different this year.

Executive director of RCN Northern Ireland, Rita Devlin, said she expected the 5.5% pay award to be “implemented in full in Northern Ireland”.

Rita Devlin

She said: “Whatever pay award is announced here will be the subject of consultation with RCN members but anything less than full pay parity with our colleagues in England will certainly be unacceptable to our members.

“We await confirmation from the Department of Health and recognise that this is due to the need to provide clarity over the funding of the award.”

Ms Devlin added that nursing staff deserved to be assured that they would not have to wait for several months to receive the pay offer “that is already long overdue”.

Northern Ireland’s health minister, Mike Nesbitt, said in response that he was supportive of the NHS PRB’s recommendations “in principle”.

He noted that he would be engaging with the executive and the UK Government “to confirm the financial implications for Northern Ireland” and to secure the additional funding required to implement the award in full.

Mr Nesbit added: “The severe budgetary pressures on Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland mean I am unable to make an immediate decision on the recommendations.

“This is very regrettable but I can assure staff I will do everything in my power to ensure they are properly rewarded for the great work they do.”

Scotland

The Scottish Government has not given the NHS PRB a remit to make a recommendation on pay for Scotland for over six years and has instead held direct pay negotiations with trade unions each year.

Negotiations for the 2024-25 pay award opened on 26 July and will continue until 8 August.

Colin Poolman

Colin Poolman, director for RCN Scotland, said that trade unions had made clear that a significant, fair pay rise was “desperately needed”.

He added: “Negotiations will continue next week and we will be lobbying for any new funding that comes to the Scottish Government as a result of the pay award in England to be put into a pay increase for NHS Scotland staff.

“We are committed to asking our members working in NHS Scotland their views when a pay offer is made and would ask all members to check that their contact and employment information is correct so we can get in touch when the time comes.”

Scotland’s health secretary, Neil Gray, said: “I held constructive pay deal discussions with Agenda for Change trade unions last week and look forward to continuing these talks.

“Ahead of these talks, we are seeking urgent clarification from the UK Government on any potential Barnett consequential funding related to the pay deal announcements they made on Monday.”