NHS pay review body: twenty-sixth report 2012 - Official Documents

Chapter 1 – Introduction and Background
Introduction
1.1
1.2
Our remit for 2012/13 continues to be constrained by the UK Government’s
and Devolved Administrations’ public sector pay policies. The second year of the
Governments’ public sector pay policies is the same as the first in that it narrows our
remit to consideration of pay recommendations for NHS Agenda for Change (AfC) staff
earning £21,000 or less and any cases presented on high cost area supplements (HCAS)
and recruitment and retention premia (RRP). We consider the evidence against this remit
and also with reference to our standing terms of reference as set out at the front of this
report.
The detailed remit for 2012/13 was set out in letters from the Chief Secretary to
the Treasury, the Secretary of State for Health and the Ministers in the Devolved
Administrations. This report examines the evidence presented by the parties on the
specific requirement to consider AfC staff paid £21,000 or less and the pay proposals
made by the parties. Our remit also allowed us to consider information about
recruitment, retention and other aspects of the NHS workforce for those paid above
£21,000.
Twenty-Fifth Report 2011 1
1.3
We submitted our Twenty-Fifth Report on 11 March 2011 to the Prime Minister, Secretary
of State for Health and the relevant Ministers for the Devolved Administrations. Our
report was made in the context of the first year of the UK Government’s and Devolved
Administrations’ policies of a public sector pay freeze for those earning more than
£21,000. Within this constrained remit, we recommended an uplift of £250 to AfC spine
points 1 to 15 from 1 April 2011. On 21 March 2011, the UK Government announced
its acceptance of our recommendations and conclusions in full2 . Shortly afterwards, the
Devolved Administrations also confirmed their acceptance of our report.
Remit for our Twenty-Sixth Report
1.4
1.5
1.6
We set out the background to the UK Government’s and Devolved Administrations’
approach to public sector pay in our Twenty-Fifth Report3 covering the context of the
Coalition Government’s programme for government, the Spending Review 2010 and the
detail of our remit for the first year of the public sector pay policies.
The second year of the four Governments’ policies determined our remit for this pay
round. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury wrote to all Review Body Chairs on 20 June
2011 setting out how the UK Government proposed that the Review Bodies should
approach the round. The UK Government continued to consider that the case for pay
restraint across the public sector remained strong. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury
added that at the highest level, while the UK Government recognised some variation
between remit groups, it considered there were unlikely to be significant recruitment and
retention issues for the majority of public sector workers over the next year. With regard
to affordability, the UK Government considered pay restraint remained a crucial part of
the consolidation plans helping to put the UK back onto the path of fiscal sustainability.
The letter outlined the UK Government’s view that this pay round should proceed in
line with that for 2011/12 with the Review Bodies making recommendations in relation
to those workers earning £21,000 or less. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury defined
1 NHSPRB (2011), Twenty-Fifth Report, TSO (Cm 8029).
2 Written Ministerial Statement, Secretary of State for Health, 21 March 2011 (Hansard Column 43WS).
3 NHSPRB (2011), Twenty-Fifth Report, TSO (Cm 8029), paragraphs 1.4 – 1.10.
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