Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support NHS staff employed in Band 2 roles with pay and conditions.

On 22 May, the Department accepted the headline pay recommendations made by the independent NHS Pay Review Body. This means Agenda for Change (AfC) staff in England, including Band 2 staff, have received a 3.6% uplift, giving them an above forecast inflation pay rise for the second year in a row. The process for the 2026/27 pay round is already underway, with the Department publishing its evidence to the Pay Review Bodies on 30 October.

We have also agreed to provide the NHS Staff Council with a funded mandate to negotiate changes to the AfC pay structure. We will work in partnership with the NHS Staff Council to implement these changes for 2026/27.

We continue to work in partnership with stakeholders, including trade unions and employers, to implement a suite of non-pay measures to improve working conditions for National Health Service staff, such as tackling violence against NHS staff and improving the application of the Job Evaluation Scheme.