Pay 08: NHS pay offer and consultation
The CSP is consulting NHS members on a proposed 3-year pay agreement. Here you will find details of the pay offer, the arrangements for consulting with members working in the NHS and the CSP's position on the offer.
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The pay offer
The pay proposal relates to NHS staff covered by Agenda for Change. To see a copy of the full written proposal and its impact on your salary, please see the documents available at the foot of this page.
In summary, the pay offer for 2008/9 is for a 2.75% increase from 1 April, in line with the recommendation from this year's Pay Review Body (PRB). This will be followed in year 2 with an increase for most members of 2.4% and in year 3, an increase of 2.25%. There will be some restructuring of pay bands.
Summary of the proposals
2008/09
- 2.75% increase
2009/10
- 2.4% increase
- Removal of the bottom point of Band 1 (point 1) from the pay scales
- Incremental date of all those on point 1 to move to 1 April from year 2
- Top of Band 5 (point 25) to increase by 0.33%
2010/2011
- 2.25% increase
- Length of Band 5 to be reduced from nine points to eight with remaining points to be re-spread across the band
- Incremental date of staff on the removed point to be reset to 1 April to prevent leapfrogging
- Top point of Band 5 (point 25) to be increased by 0.33%
- A flat rate pay increase of £420 for points 1-13 (equivalent to 2.25% at point 14)
Future talks
The pay offer also includes:
- an agreement to hold further talks within the three year period on proposals to reduce the number of incremental pay points (starting with Bands 6 and 7) that are affordable within the context of future pay awards
- a promise to consider the trade unions' claim for a reduction in the hours of the working week, in conjunction with further discussions on productivity improvements within the NHS
- a commitment to working in partnership to continue to increase the number of apprenticeships in the NHS, in line with Government policy
- a revised facilities agreement for NHS staff
- work-life balance and well-being statement
There is provision for the Pay Review Body to review pay rates in years 2 and 3 should there be "a significant and material change in recruitment and retention and wider economic and labour market conditions". The decision on whether to do this will be down to the Pay Review Body. In the event of the PRB making a recommendation for a further pay increase, it will then be up to Government to decide whether to accept the recommendation or not.
The offer has been tabled as a package offer and the government has made it clear that it reserves the right to reconsider its response to the Pay Review Body's recommendation of 2.75% for 2008/9 if the package is not accepted.
CSP position
Immediately after the pay proposal was tabled, the CSP issued an interim joint statement with six other health unions representing professional staff in the NHS: Unite, the Royal College of Midwives, the Society of Radiographers, the Society of Chiropodists & Podiatrists, the British Orthoptic Society and the Federation of Clinical Scientists. The statement read:
"We would accept the NHS Pay Review Body's recommendation of 2.75% on NHS staff pay for 2008/09 because of our commitment to the independent pay review body process. However, the proposed offer of 2.4% and 2.25% for years 2 and 3 after the PRB recommendation gives us great cause for concern as the current uncertain economic situation leads us to believe that it would not meet our members' expectations and would represent a real terms pay cut for our members."
On 15 April, the Pay Reference Group (PRG) of the Society's Industrial Relations Committee met to formally consider the offer. The view of the PRG was that the proposed 2.75% increase for 2008/9, while low, was reasonable given that this was what the Pay Review Body had recommended and was higher than the ceiling of 2% being urged on the Pay Review Body by both the Department of Health and NHS Employers.
However, the PRG considered the remainder of the package to be unacceptable because it:
- Fails to protect members' pay against inflation;
- Locks us into a three year agreement at a time of great economic uncertainty and with no guarantee of being able to re-open pay talks before 2011;
- Discriminates against more specialist clinicians by focusing pay band improvements on bands 1-3 and 5;
- Pushes the costs of restructuring Band 5 into year 4, potentially cutting the monies available for future across-the-board pay rises in 2011/12;
- Compromises the independent Pay Review Body process for a second year running because of the threat by Government to interfere with this year's PRB recommendation if the 3 year package deal is not accepted.
Alex MacKenzie, Chair of the CSP Industrial Relations Committee, says:
"As the CSP supports the Pay Review Body process we can accept the review body's recommendation of a one year pay increase of 2.75%. What we cannot accept, however, is being pushed into - at a time of great economic uncertainty - a 3-year deal of decreasing value. A pay award worth less and less over time is not in our members' best interests and will do nothing to improve morale, which is already pretty poor. I urge CSP members to use their vote in our consultation starting on the 23 April. We have an opportunity to send a strong message back to Government about how valued we feel. Let's not waste this chance to make our voice heard."
Implications of rejecting the pay offer
If CSP members agree with the Society's recommendation and vote to reject the offer, the CSP will take this outcome to a joint meeting of all of the health unions. CSP negotiators will seek to agree a common negotiating position with the other health unions that the multi-year pay package should be put aside and the 2008/9 Pay Review Body recommendation paid in full.
The threat by Government to review its response to this year's PRB recommendation if the package as a whole is not accepted is clearly not to be dismissed lightly. But neither is it automatic, for the following reasons:
- there would be huge political fall-out for the Government from a failure to honour the independent pay review body process in the NHS for a second year running;
- the Government has already announced that it has accepted the doctors and dentists' pay review body recommendations in full this year, without insisting on it being part of a multi-year package;
- the Pay Review Body itself was very clear in its report that it regarded its recommendation of 2.75% for 2008/9 as both balanced and affordable.
For these reasons, the CSP believes that it is worth standing up to the Government's threat as part of a strong, joint health union position.
At this stage, it is impossible to predict what the outcome of the consultation exercises being organised by the other health unions will be. If the majority union view is to reject the package, the first priority will be to try to negotiate an acceptable alternative with Government. If this fails, the CSP will consult further with members to assess support for direct membership action as part of a joint union campaign.
At this stage, therefore, we are consulting CSP members on whether to accept or reject the three year offer as it currently stands.
Further information
Members with any queries regarding the pay offer, the CSP's recommendation or the consultation arrangements, please contact your local CSP steward in the first instance. If you are unable to contact your steward, you can contact the CSP by email on pay08@csp.org.uk.
Please also see our physio alert NHS pay offer: your questions answered for more information.
Related Documents
This text on this page was last updated on 23 Apr 2008.
