How will pay be decided?
The government has now decided that pay will be determined by the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB). The PRB advises on the pay of NHS staff. It is responsible for making recommendations on the pay of all staff paid under Agenda for Change and employed in the NHS, conducting research on pay and related matters, visiting trusts and health boards to meet staff and managers to gather information and views on pay and related issues.
We submitted the RCM’s written evidence to the PRB on 18 January 2021, you can read the full submission here and the key messages here. Alongside the PRB process we need to keep up the pressure on the Government because it’s politicians like the Prime Minister who can deliver an early pay rise.
The RCM supports an independent PRB process. We believe an NHS pay award should be funded by the Government and free from restriction. The RCM has long been supportive of an independent PRB process i.e. one that is able to make a decision on pay based on the evidence not set by whatever politicians decide as it was from 2010 with the public sector pay freeze. When the RCM took its historic strike action in 2014 it was because the government rejected the PRB’s recommendation.
For further information on pay and Agenda for Change, including previous RCM submissions to the PRB see here.
