Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of fragmented recognition of service across different NHS sectors on long-serving NHS staff during redundancy processes.

The Department has not made an assessment of how fragmented recognition of service across different National Health Service sectors might affect long-serving NHS staff who face redundancy.

Redundancy entitlements for NHS staff are determined by Section 16 of the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service (Agenda for Change) handbook, which covers employees directly employed on Agenda for Change contracts in England and those whose contracts refer to Section 16. These arrangements are collectively agreed with NHS trade unions and also specify how previous NHS employment is defined and counted when determining redundancy pay.

Local employers are responsible for confirming entitlement to a redundancy payment, and these terms will be stipulated in an employee’s contract of employment. The redundancy rules as described above apply to those employed by NHS employers in England as listed in Annex 1 of the Agenda for Change handbook. Employers must determine an individual’s redundancy entitlement in accordance with Section 16 as nationally agreed between employers and NHS trade unions. If someone has worked outside the NHS but in a role relevant to NHS employment, NHS policy recommends that it would be reasonable, but not a requirement, for employers to consider this service in any redundancy calculation. This consideration should be agreed between the employer and employee either upon joining or returning to the NHS.