Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department issues on whether pay increases at NHS trusts should be linked to the performance of hospitals at those trusts.

The pay of all staff in NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts on medical and dental or Agenda for Change terms and conditions is determined by national contracts. The government decided that all staff this year and next should receive at least 1% additional pay through annual incremental pay progression or through a non-consolidated addition. The award of any additional pay for staff on Agenda for Change terms is subject to staff meeting locally agreed performance standards which may be linked to organisational performance. The government and NHS Employers are negotiating with the British Medical Association with the aim of linking pay more effectively to performance in the contracts of medical staff. NHS trusts and foundation trusts have freedom to set their own rates of pay for their executive directors on the advice of their independent remuneration committees and their pay may include a performance-related element. However, the latest independent survey of NHS Boardroom pay from Incomes Data Services indicates that few NHS trusts or foundation trusts award performance-related bonuses to their executive staff.