- Conference
- 2024 National Health Care Service Group Conference
- Date
- 28 March 2024
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes that on 20th December 2023, the Westminster Health Secretary wrote to the NHS Pay Review Body to formally commence the 2024-5 pay round – asking it to make recommendations on pay for the Agenda for Change (AfC) workforce in England.
On 10th January 2024 the Northern Ireland Department of Health followed suit and on 30th January 2024 the Welsh government did likewise.
Conference notes that in Scotland a joint staff side AfC pay claim was submitted on 6th February and – despite delays in talks getting underway – the Scottish government remains committed to collective bargaining.
Conference condemns continued government failures to conduct annual pay reviews in a timely fashion. Year after year?health workers are made to wait far too long for an outcome because Ministers pay scant regard to the 1 April due date. In the teeth of a cost-of-living crisis of historic proportions this becomes even more damaging to the lives of our members and their families, and to the staffing situation across the NHS.
In England and Northern Ireland this failure to settle pay on time has left the lowest paid staff just one penny ahead of the statutory minimum wage.
Conference commends the Put NHS Pay Right campaign for 2024-25 and its focus on three broad elements of Conference pay policy – proper pay rises; the right banding; and a shorter working week – as prioritised by our members in pay surveys. This survey activity saw record member participation levels and helped ensure year-round engagement in our pay policy and routine ballot-readiness work.
Conference welcomes the fact that UNISON submitted our well-evidenced and powerful pay position direct to the Secretary of State calling for talks – rather than lending any credibility to the long-winded and discredited Pay Review Body process.
Conference condemns the ongoing use of the Pay Review Body process by the Westminster, Cymru/Wales and Northern Ireland administrations to frustrate the will of our members and shirk their responsibility for putting pay right in the NHS.
Conference is disappointed that the commitment to reviewing the pay setting process (directly for England with knock-on impact for Cymru/Wales and Northern Ireland) contained in the ‘non-pay’ commitments in the 2022-24 England deal has yet to deliver tangible outcomes – despite the considerable work UNISON has done to try to drive this forward.
Conference welcomes the HSGE’s decision to launch a pro-active formal consultation in England to gauge the strength of feeling among members about the conduct and potential outcomes from the 2024-25 pay round.
Furthermore, Conference believes that in an election year it is more important than ever that we use our ongoing commitment to the Put NHS Pay Right campaign to demonstrate to policy-makers and the public that the NHS staffing crisis can only be resolved through long-term investment in improving pay and conditions.
Conference calls on the HSGE to:
1) Condemn government delays in initiating the 2024-25 pay round which demonstrate an ongoing disrespect for pay setting processes and for the staff affected
2) Continue to call for direct talks to short-cut the PRB process and reach a comprehensive settlement for 2024-25
3) Support branches to promote the Put NHS Pay Right campaign in workplaces and maximise participation in the April member consultation so that this can:
a) inform HSGE strategic decision-making nationally
b) drive organising and recruitment activity
c) contribute to building ballot-readiness
d) identify opportunities for local winnable disputes
4) Work closely with devolved regional health committees to ensure alignment of campaigning and share progress and good practice across the UK
5) Continue to work with other AfC unions and through Staff Council routes to push for a mechanism and funding for negotiations on the many structural issues in the AfC pay framework which need to be improved – including getting the right progression and promotion incentives within/between bands and embedding benchmarking against the real living wage
6) Promote the need for reform of pay-setting processes and a strategic approach to NHS pay as essential for any incoming Westminster government’s policies for the NHS and its workforce
7) Work with regions and other parts of the union on continuing activity to support branches with building ballot-readiness and translating learning from ballot evaluation activity into improved processes which support balloting to win
8) In line with the service group’s devolved pay policy, seek to use gains achieved in one administration as leverage for winning them in other parts of the UK