Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many instances there have been in each year since 2007 of the NHS Staff Council recommending a higher pay increase for NHS England staff than the pay award recommended by the relevant pay review body, broken down by NHS workforce category; and in each such instance, whether they accepted the Staff Council's higher recommendation.

The NHS Staff Council is a partnership body that maintains and negotiates changes to the Agenda for Change (AfC) terms and conditions. It does not have a formal role in recommending annual pay increases to government.

Uplifts in pay for staff employed on the national AfC contract in England are confirmed by the Department. This typically follows recommendations from the NHS Pay Review Body (NHSPRB).

There are instances when the NHSPRB is not asked for a formal pay recommendation and annual pay rises are set via other means. In 2008, a multi-year pay deal over three years was reached with the NHS Staff Council which incorporated NHSPRB’s recommendations on pay for 2008/2009. In 2018, the NHS Staff Council negotiated a three-year deal with the government covering the period 2018-2021. In 2023, the Government agreed a pay deal with the NHS Staff Council to resolve the national dispute at the time.