NHS: Staff Pay

Lord Clark of Windermere Excerpts

Wednesday 21st March 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord O’Shaughnessy]

I thank the noble Baroness for her welcome for the Statement. We, along with all Members of the House, value NHS staff and this is a proper recompense after what have undoubtedly been difficult years for them. Regarding what this means for funding for charitable and social care staff—I did not address the point when the noble Baroness, Lady Jolly, asked me about it—we will obviously make sure that any staffing issues, including salaries, are part of the Green Paper discussions. They will clearly have to take into account the higher pay that is coming down the stream for these staff.

[Lord Clark of Windermere (Lab)]

My Lords, of course we welcome this, but I must say that the Minister was selling it a bit hard when he said that the Government have managed the National Health Service well when they have made cuts in training which have exacerbated the situation.

My question is a simple one. The Minister has said that the Treasury will meet all the costs. Is that an absolute assurance? I ask that because many local hospital care trusts have found that there are hidden costs. For example, the Government are pushing apprenticeships, but what they never mention is that it is the local care trust which has to pay the university thousands of pounds a year for the apprenticeship training. Will everything be covered in this pay rise?

[Lord O’Shaughnessy]

I thank the noble Lord for giving me the opportunity to provide that confirmation. In the 2017 Autumn Budget we set aside in the reserves £800 million a year, which will fund the first year of the Agenda for Change pay deal, and obviously if the members of the NHS trade unions accept the agreement, that funding will be released. The Chancellor will also provide the additional funding required to fulfil his commitment through the 2018 Autumn Budget and make available £4.2 billion over three years to fund the deal. I hope that gives the clarity the noble Lord and others seek.