A 3 per cent pay rise for NHS staff is likely to be funded from an increase in national insurance that was intended to pay for overhauling social care, The Times has been told.
The government announced yesterday that hundreds of thousands of public sector workers, including teachers, police, soldiers and prison officers would be given a pay freeze, prompting threats of strikes. The only sector granted an exemption is the NHS. Nurses, paramedics, consultants and other staff will be given a 3 per cent pay rise, in line with official recommendations.
The pay rise, which is likely to cost about £1.5 billion, will probably be funded from what has been billed as a new health and social care tax. This is likely to add to concerns about whether the levy will be enough to overhaul social care, with campaigners already warning that the NHS will swallow up the extra funding.
The government is expected to raise national insurance next year for employers and employees by a penny in the pound, which will initially be used to help to clear the NHS backlog caused by the pandemic. It will subsequently be used to fund an overhaul of social care.
Ministers were accused yesterday of failing staff who worked through the pandemic as most police and teachers would get no increase in pay, with only those earning below £24,000 eligible for a £250 rise. Nurses and other unions said that the rise was not enough to drop threats of industrial action, saying they would not “take this lying down”.
Ministers ordered pay review bodies for police and teachers not to consider raising the pay of staff earning more than £24,000. However, in documents published last night the teachers’ pay body said that repeating a freeze risked “jeopardising efforts to attract and retain high-quality graduates”, urging ministers to give school staff an increase next year.
Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC, said that ministers were “freezing the pay of key workers who kept us going through the pandemic”.
After initially suggesting a 1 per cent rise for NHS staff, ministers have backtracked and accepted pay review recommendations for a 3 per cent rise for workers such as nurses, paramedics and porters, which also includes highly paid consultants and dentists.
Sajid Javid, the health secretary, said that it was “in recognition of their extraordinary efforts” in the pandemic.
However, Pat Cullen, of the Royal College of Nursing, called the decision a “bitter blow”, saying it would make it “even harder to provide safe care to patients” as demoralised staff quit. The college has previously threatened to strike in England for the first time in its history and Cullen said that was still on the table, saying: “The profession will not take this lying down. We will be consulting our members on what action they would like to take next.”
Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe of Unite said it would consult its 100,000 members in the health service and hold a “consultative ballot” on industrial action.
An announcement of the health and care levy has been put back until September and NHS bosses are worried that they will be told to cut other care to fund a pay rise out of existing budgets. Chris Hopson, of the hospitals’ group NHS Providers, said: “We now need clarity that the rise is fully backdated and fully funded by government.”
