"Independent" NHS Pay Review Body

[Ste43]

You can't watch any reporting of the current strike actions and not have some government minister hiding behind their favorite statement of the moment: " we accepted the independent pay review bodies recommendations in full".

I read the NHSPRB report (yes all 170 pages of it) and to summarise, 99% of the content is quite damming of current pay levels and the knock on effect it has on staff morale, retention, attraction, sickness absence, agency spend and so on. It even highlights how supermarkets are now paying staff more than the NHS for workers on bands 2 and 3.
The remaining 1% is spent on the government stating they wont pay anything over 2 % regardless of the outcome of the independent review and how they demand 2.2% in savings from the NHS in this financial year.

The opening statement of the report is as follows. I have highlighted in red the recent government additions to NHSPRB's remit:

In reaching its recommendations, the Review Body is to have regard to the following considerations:
- The need to recruit, retain and motivate suitably able and qualified staff;
- Regional/local variations in labour markets and their effects on the recruitment and retention of staff;
- The funds available to the Health Departments, as set out in the Government’s Departmental Expenditure Limits;
- The Government’s inflation target;
- The principle of equal pay for work of equal value in the NHS;
- The overall strategy that the NHS should place patients at the heart of all it does and the mechanisms by which that is to be achieved

In the report when the recommended increase is put forward (£1,400 across the board) no explanation is given at how they arrived at that figure, none at all...

Surely if it was an independent review the amount the government is willing to pay and inflation should not come into it, they should present their findings and pay recommendations then its up to the government to "find" the money required or reject it and justify why?

Not a single journalist/interviewer has pressed any of the government ministers on these IPRB's and whether or not they are fit for purpose. FYI - Scotland has done away with IPRB's and negotiates directly with the unions...

Link to the report

 

[Jonny Ingbar]

Having been in a public sector organisation most of my adult life, I can say that PRB's simply do not work.

Pay should always track inflation, otherwise we arrive at a situation like the one we're in - is been in the making for over a decade.

My pay fell by around 30% over 12 or so years and will obviously never recover, before the erosion of conditions is accounted for.

PRB's, in my opinion, are not entirely independent because the dance to the mood music played by the government, which seems to by the case in this report too.

 

[pierrequiroule]

Polly Toynbee's article in the Guardian this morning explains clearly why the IRPBs are anything but independent.
It starts:

In every interview ministers hide behind the sanctity of the “independent” pay review bodies, claiming they set public pay. They don’t and nor are they “independent”. The government decides on pay, using PRBs as camouflage. The 60 or so members of these eight bodies covering public sectors are picked by ministers, as is their Office of Manpower Economics secretariat. I tried to speak to some members – no luck. Only two of those 60 people come from the employees’ side, says the TUC: one from the army, with no affiliated union. (The Tory press protests at the armed forces standing in for some public staff paid more than them. That’s because, banned from striking, they get short-changed by government; a recent report says Met police, likewise banned, are increasingly forced to use food banks).

Who do you believe: the brilliant NHS staff who treated my cancer, or ministers who spin and lie? | Polly Toynbee

A harrowing Guardian report depicts the struggle to deliver care, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

www.theguardian.com

 

[Ste43]

Polly Toynbee's article in the Guardian this morning explains clearly why the IRPBs are anything but independent.
It starts:

In every interview ministers hide behind the sanctity of the “independent” pay review bodies, claiming they set public pay. They don’t and nor are they “independent”. The government decides on pay, using PRBs as camouflage. The 60 or so members of these eight bodies covering public sectors are picked by ministers, as is their Office of Manpower Economics secretariat. I tried to speak to some members – no luck. Only two of those 60 people come from the employees’ side, says the TUC: one from the army, with no affiliated union. (The Tory press protests at the armed forces standing in for some public staff paid more than them. That’s because, banned from striking, they get short-changed by government; a recent report says Met police, likewise banned, are increasingly forced to use food banks).

Who do you believe: the brilliant NHS staff who treated my cancer, or ministers who spin and lie? | Polly Toynbee

A harrowing Guardian report depicts the struggle to deliver care, says Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee

www.theguardian.com

I hadn't seen this, thanks P

 

[Rauko]

I think there needs to be something set in stone about essential public sector pay rises to stop situations that we get at the moment .. a fixed % non-negotiable pay rise each year ... if the inflation target is 2% .. make the pay rise maybe 3% or 4% .. that means in good times with low inflation the essential public sector is getting above inflation pay rises .. but at rare times like now with inflation so high they might have to bite the bullet but they'll be "up" over the years when everything is added together. Something consistent and predictable. This fight always comes about (albeit always under Tory governments) when the Unions demand and the government looks to skimp. I'd happily pay a little extra in income tax to pay it but of course, that goes against Tory ideology because their mates at the top would moan about not being able to afford another yacht.

 

[WoodallServices]

You can't watch any reporting of the current strike actions and not have some government minister hiding behind their favorite statement of the moment: " we accepted the independent pay review bodies recommendations in full".

I read the NHSPRB report (yes all 170 pages of it) and to summarise, 99% of the content is quite damming of current pay levels and the knock on effect it has on staff morale, retention, attraction, sickness absence, agency spend and so on. It even highlights how supermarkets are now paying staff more than the NHS for workers on bands 2 and 3.
The remaining 1% is spent on the government stating they wont pay anything over 2 % regardless of the outcome of the independent review and how they demand 2.2% in savings from the NHS in this financial year.

The opening statement of the report is as follows. I have highlighted in red the recent government additions to NHSPRB's remit:

In reaching its recommendations, the Review Body is to have regard to the following considerations:
- The need to recruit, retain and motivate suitably able and qualified staff;
- Regional/local variations in labour markets and their effects on the recruitment and retention of staff;
- The funds available to the Health Departments, as set out in the Government’s Departmental Expenditure Limits;
- The Government’s inflation target;
- The principle of equal pay for work of equal value in the NHS;
- The overall strategy that the NHS should place patients at the heart of all it does and the mechanisms by which that is to be achieved

In the report when the recommended increase is put forward (£1,400 across the board) no explanation is given at how they arrived at that figure, none at all...

Surely if it was an independent review the amount the government is willing to pay and inflation should not come into it, they should present their findings and pay recommendations then its up to the government to "find" the money required or reject it and justify why?

Not a single journalist/interviewer has pressed any of the government ministers on these IPRB's and whether or not they are fit for purpose. FYI - Scotland has done away with IPRB's and negotiates directly with the unions...

Link to the report

So………not independent then?

 

[Nano]

Having been in a public sector organisation most of my adult life, I can say that PRB's simply do not work.

Pay should always track inflation, otherwise we arrive at a situation like the one we're in - is been in the making for over a decade.

My pay fell by around 30% over 12 or so years and will obviously never recover, before the erosion of conditions is accounted for.

PRB's, in my opinion, are not entirely independent because the dance to the mood music played by the government, which seems to by the case in this report too.

Pay Review Boards main job should be to ensure that the wages are enough to attract enough people to do the job. The fact that there are such high vacancies shows that it's not working. The government of course don't have to accept the recommendations of a PRB but the PRB should be truly independent so it could do its job properly. If it was doing it's job properly then they should never recommend a below inflation rise and they would be more likely recommending above inflation rises. The worst thing is that nurses are available. The NHS is paying a premium for them because they are paying for agency workers. They cost more and an agency gets a portion of the fee. It can cost double to staff a shift with an agency worker compared to a substantive post. If the value of being an agency worker is so high compared to being substantive then more and more staff will do that and it costs more for a worse service (because of continuity of care, they aren't worse workers).

 

[Ironops]

I heard on the radio this morning that the pay review panel looked at inflation back in February, when it was 2% and made their findings based on that, fast forward to when their report is released and inflation is 12% - no wonder the nurses are so upset!

 

[DearChicago]

Pay Review Boards main job should be to ensure that the wages are enough to attract enough people to do the job. The fact that there are such high vacancies shows that it's not working. The government of course don't have to accept the recommendations of a PRB but the PRB should be truly independent so it could do its job properly. If it was doing it's job properly then they should never recommend a below inflation rise and they would be more likely recommending above inflation rises. The worst thing is that nurses are available. The NHS is paying a premium for them because they are paying for agency workers. They cost more and an agency gets a portion of the fee. It can cost double to staff a shift with an agency worker compared to a substantive post. If the value of being an agency worker is so high compared to being substantive then more and more staff will do that and it costs more for a worse service (because of continuity of care, they aren't worse workers).

Absolutely this, same in teaching and other public sector jobs. Just another way for the rich (shareholders) to drain the taxpayer. Pay a decent wage and you would save more on agencies (though where’s the profit in that).

 

[Steer]

This is the MPs own salary rises. Almost a £20k pay rise per annum compared with 12 years ago. I wonder what the Nurse pay rises have been during this same period?

Date	Annual salary
April 2022	£84,144
April 2021	£81,932
April 2020	£81,932
April 2019	£79,468
April 2018	£77,379
April 2017	£76,011
April 2016	£74,962
May 2015	£74,000
April 2014	£67,060
April 2013	£66,396
April 2012	£65,738
April 2011	£65,738
April 2010	£65,738

This does not of course include the backhanders, bribes, second jobs, dodgy expense claims, second home allowances, wage allowance for staff who turn out to be their spouse, appearance money for Celebrity jungle and other similar reality TV programs, or public funds embezzled for PPE that never showed up or for shipping companies that don't have ships, or earnings on contracts given to friends, neighbours and close family members.

 

[Nano]

This is the MPs own salary rises. Almost a £20k pay rise per annum compared with 12 years ago. I wonder what the Nurse pay rises have been during this same period?

Date	Annual salary
April 2022	£84,144
April 2021	£81,932
April 2020	£81,932
April 2019	£79,468
April 2018	£77,379
April 2017	£76,011
April 2016	£74,962
May 2015	£74,000
April 2014	£67,060
April 2013	£66,396
April 2012	£65,738
April 2011	£65,738
April 2010	£65,738

This does not of course include the backhanders, bribes, second jobs, dodgy expense claims, second home allowances, wage allowance for staff who turn out to be their spouse, appearance money for Celebrity jungle and other similar reality TV programs, or public funds embezzled for PPE that never showed up or for shipping companies that don't have ships, or earnings on contracts given to friends, neighbours and close family members.

NHS Band 5 (starting nurse salary) has gone from £21,176 to £27,055 which is a 27.8% increase. MPs has increased by 28.0%. Most people aren't starting salary though. Top of a Band 5 has only increased from £27,534 to £32,934 which is 19.6%. For Band 6 bottom has increased 32.3% but top has only increased 18.7%. Inflation has increased by 34.6%.

They've fudged it so starting wages look reasonable but still way behind inflation. The biggest problem is that they have removed progressive wage rises and most nurses will have been there long enough to be top of one of those bands so have had substantially below inflation rises. It's even worse the higher up the bands you go but there are fewer people up there and they are earning more so don't receive much sympathy (e.g. Top of Band 8a has had 17.2% increase over 10 that period..

 

[NZBoro1]

Unfortunately there has been no wage or pay policy since 1979 (mmmm, what happened then I wonder?)

Before then, the TUC, CBI & Govt were involved in setting policy.

Post 1979 ideology became one of the frontrunners of pay policy and unemployment was used to regulate pay rises and discussions.

Since then nothing has been put in place to replace this.