Wednesday 13th September 2017

(7 years, 3 months ago)

Commons Chamber
Read Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Jonathan Ashworth Portrait Jonathan Ashworth
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

My hon. Friend is right to raise that point. I shall go on to explain that the pay cap is at the heart of the recruitment and retention crisis that is now facing the national health service.

Rosie Cooper Portrait Rosie Cooper (West Lancashire) (Lab)
- Hansard - -

Does my hon. Friend share the shock of GPs and NHS staff when they learned that, while frontline staff were limited to a 1% pay rise, the governing body of the Liverpool clinical commissioning group gave themselves rises of between 15% and 81%? None of the regulators noticed this, including NHS England and NHS Improvement, and it all took place under the nose of the Government. This shows that there is one rule for the bosses and another for the workers.

Jonathan Ashworth Portrait Jonathan Ashworth
- Hansard - - - Excerpts

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. She has been determined in her pursuit of this issue and I know that that will continue.