Barclay confirms he will implement pay deal for NHS workers, and urges RCN and Unite members to call off further strikes
Steve Barclay, the health secretary, has confirmed that the government will implement the pay deal for all NHS staff under the agenda for change framework (which means nurses, and almost all other NHS staff apart from doctors).
In a statement, Barclay also said that he hoped members of unions opposed to the deal – ie, the Royal College of Nursing and Unite – would recognise this was a “fair outcome” and call off further strikes. He said:
I’m pleased the NHS staff council has voted to accept our pay offer, demonstrating that a majority of NHS staff agree this is a fair and reasonable deal.
It is now my intention to implement this for all staff on the agenda for change contract and where some unions may choose to remain in dispute, we hope their members – many of whom voted to accept this offer – will recognise this as a fair outcome that carries the support of their colleagues and decide it is time to bring industrial action to an end.
We will continue to engage constructively with unions on workforce changes to ensure the NHS is the best place to work for staff, patients and taxpayers.
Key events
Dave West, deputy editor of the Health Service Journal, says some NHS trust executives think support amongst nurses for prolonging their strike action is waning.
Will the RCN press on with strikes through the rest of the year?
Anecdotal reports from trusts over the weekend suggested enthusiasm was waning among their nurses for an ongoing long-running dispute. May just be wishful thinking, of course https://t.co/umy0eVlkx3
— Dave West (@Davewwest) May 2, 2023
NHS leaders welcome NHS staff council’s decision to back government pay offer
Organisations representing NHS leaders have welcomed the NHS staff council vote in favour of the pay deal.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said:
Health leaders will welcome confirmation that the NHS staff council has voted as a majority to accept the government’s pay offer as it will give most NHS workers in England certainty about their pay after several months of negotiation and disruption.
It is now incumbent on the government to implement the deal as soon as possible and to make sure that local NHS leaders do not have to cover the increased cost from their existing budgets, failure to do this would have an extremely negative impact on patient care at a time when there are still millions of people on waiting lists …
Also, health leaders are concerned that with four trade unions remaining in dispute with the government over this deal that the worrying prospect of further industrial action remains. Added to that, health leaders are eager for a resolution to be agreed between the government and BMA as the last junior doctors strikes saw 196,000 appointments and planned procedures needing to be postponed.
And Sir Julian Hartley, the chief executive of NHS Providers, said:
Trust leaders are breathing a sigh of relief at today’s decision. We hope that this brings an end to the most disruptive period of industrial action in NHS history.
But the NHS isn’t out of the woods yet …
Industrial action over the past six months has led to more than 531,000 patient appointments being rescheduled, but we must remember that care backlogs stretch back long before strikes and the pandemic due to years of underfunding and many thousands of vacancies.
Barclay confirms he will implement pay deal for NHS workers, and urges RCN and Unite members to call off further strikes
Steve Barclay, the health secretary, has confirmed that the government will implement the pay deal for all NHS staff under the agenda for change framework (which means nurses, and almost all other NHS staff apart from doctors).
In a statement, Barclay also said that he hoped members of unions opposed to the deal – ie, the Royal College of Nursing and Unite – would recognise this was a “fair outcome” and call off further strikes. He said:
I’m pleased the NHS staff council has voted to accept our pay offer, demonstrating that a majority of NHS staff agree this is a fair and reasonable deal.
It is now my intention to implement this for all staff on the agenda for change contract and where some unions may choose to remain in dispute, we hope their members – many of whom voted to accept this offer – will recognise this as a fair outcome that carries the support of their colleagues and decide it is time to bring industrial action to an end.
We will continue to engage constructively with unions on workforce changes to ensure the NHS is the best place to work for staff, patients and taxpayers.
NHS workers should start receiving extra pay in June, says union chief
Sara Gorton, head of health at Unison, the largest health union, and chair of the union group on the NHS staff council, said she hoped NHS workers would now get the extra money (5% extra for 2023-24, a one-off payment of 2% for 2022-23, plus another one-off “Covid recovery bonus” worth 4%) in June.
But she said the pay dispute should never have reached this stage, and she said she hoped a new process would stop this happening again. In a statement she said:
NHS workers will now want the pay rise they’ve voted to accept. The hope is that the one-off payment and salary increase will be in June’s pay packets.
But health staff shouldn’t have needed to take action in the first place – unions made clear to ministers last summer that £1,400 wasn’t enough to stop staff leaving the NHS, nor prevent strikes, but the government wouldn’t listen.
Proper pay talks last autumn could have stopped health workers missing out on money they could ill afford to lose.
The NHS and patients would also have been spared months of disruption.
This pay deal must be the start of something new in the NHS, there cannot be a repeat of the past few months. Everyone who cares about the NHS deserves better. That means improving the process that sets health worker wages.
The NHS remains desperately short of staff too. Services can only cope with growing demand if there’s a properly resourced and well-supported workforce. Government must now work with unions to achieve just that.
Here is my colleague Denis Campbell’s story about health unions backing the NHS pay deal.
Health unions vote to accept government’s pay deal for NHS staff
PA Media has snapped this.
Health unions representing the majority of NHS workers have recommended that a revised pay offer made by the government should be implemented, according to a joint statement from members of the NHS staff council.
This means that the NHS staff council is backing the pay deal for nurses, ambulance staff and other non-doctor employees working for the NHS, and that the deal will be implemented.
The RCN and Unite are still opposed to this pay deal, and they could continue to use strike action to press for a better deal.
But ministers hope that, once RCN and Unite members start receiving the extra pay (which they will regardless of their unions’ positions), and once they realise they do not have the support of other health unions, they will be less likely to back further strikes.
How many of Starmer’s Labour leadership pledges has he actually kept?
During the Labour leadership contest Keir Starmer famously made 10 pledges. This morning he claimed he had kept “the vast majority” of them. (See 10am.)
Working out whether he is right is not straightforward, because each pledge contains several components and we don’t yet know what Labour will promise in its manifesto. But Starmer is probably overstating his success rate. Looking at each pledge, and taking into account which element was most significant at the time, five of them are arguable kept, another two are partly kept, and three have been broken.
Starmer has always defended the right of politicians to change their minds, and he says two of the pledges have been abandoned because economic circumstances have changed.
A 50%, or 70%, compliance rate does not sound great, but he is probably doing a lot better than Rishi Sunak. Sunak proposed dozens of policies when he was running for the Tory leadership contest in the summer. He did not issue any manifesto when he stood a second time, uncontested, in the autumn, and No 10 subsequently said the summer pledges would all have to be reviewed.
Here is my assessment of Starmer’s record.
Pledge 1 – economic justice
What it says: “Increase income tax for the top 5% of earners, reverse the Tories’ cuts in corporation tax and clamp down on tax avoidance, particularly of large corporations. No stepping back from our core principles.”
Kept or broken?: PARTLY KEPT. Labour under Starmer is committed to tackling tax avoidance, and reversing corporation tax isn’t just Labour policy, but has become Tory policy too. But Starmer is no longer promising tax rises for the top 5% of earners, which was the key element of this package.
Pledge 2 – social justice
What it says: “Abolish universal credit and end the Tories’ cruel sanctions regime. Set a national goal for wellbeing to make health as important as GDP; Invest in services that help shift to a preventative approach. Stand up for universal services and defend our NHS. Support the abolition of tuition fees and invest in lifelong learning.”
Kept or broken?: BROKEN. The tuition fees promise was the most salient of these pledges, in the context of the leadership contest, and that has now gone. (See 9.01am.) Labour has also clarified its position on universal credit, saying it will reform it, but not abolish it. (No one ever expected the party to tear up the whole system, but Starmer was happy to use the word “abolish”, as Labour had in 2019).
Pledge 3 – climate justice
What it says: “Put the Green New Deal at the heart of everything we do. There is no issue more important to our future than the climate emergency. A Clean Air Act to tackle pollution locally. Demand international action on climate rights.”
Kept or broken?: KEPT. A climate investment pledge worth £28bn a year is one of Starmer’s biggest election commitments.
Pledge 4 – promote peace and human rights
What it says: “No more illegal wars. Introduce a Prevention of Military Intervention Act and put human rights at the heart of foreign policy. Review all UK arms sales and make us a force for international peace and justice.”
Kept or broken?: PARTLY KEPT. Starmer has not backed any illegal wars. But he has done little to advance these proposals either since he was elected leader three years ago, and Labour MPs were ordered to abstain on the overseas operation bill, which was hard to square with the spirit of this pledge.
Pledge 5 – common ownership
What it says: “Public services should be in public hands, not making profits for shareholders. Support common ownership of rail, mail, energy and water; end outsourcing in our NHS, local government and justice system.”
Kept or broken?: BROKEN. Starmer has accepted this. On the Today programme this morning, when asked about his pledges, he was open about this. He said:
I’m not ideological about it. We have said when it comes to railways, for example, we will bring railways back into public ownership as the contracts expire. We’ve set up GB Energy which will be a publicly owned company.
But when I looked in the middle of the energy price crisis last year, I asked my team to work out how much it would cost for us to nationalise the energy companies, and what benefit [there] would then be for those that were paying very high bills, and the answer was, it cost a lot but you couldn’t really reduce the bills by doing it. So I made a political choice that we wouldn’t do that.
Asked about water companies, he said nationalising them would cost a “huge” amount and that tighter regulation could address the water quality problem.
Pledge 6 – defend migrants’ rights
What it says: “Full voting rights for EU nationals. Defend free movement as we leave the EU. An immigration system based on compassion and dignity. End indefinite detention and call for the closure of centres such as Yarl’s Wood.”
Kept or broken?: BROKEN. Free movement was a key issue for Labour members in 2019-20, and Starmer admits that it is no longer something he supports. On the Today programme this morning he argued that what he really meant was “defend free movement until we leave the EU”, but that is not what he said at the time.
Pledge 7 – strengthen workers’ rights and trade unions
What it says: “Work shoulder to shoulder with trade unions to stand up for working people, tackle insecure work and low pay. Repeal the Trade Union Act. Oppose Tory attacks on the right to take industrial action and the weakening of workplace rights.”
Kept or broken?: KEPT. Labour is proposing measures to strengthen workers’ rights, and it has voted against the government’s anti-strikes bill.
Pledge 8 – radical devolution of power, wealth and opportunity
What it says: “Push power, wealth and opportunity away from Whitehall. A federal system to devolve powers – including through regional investment banks and control over regional industrial strategy. Abolish the House of Lords – replace it with an elected chamber of regions and nations.”
Kept or broken?: KEPT. In December last year Starmer welcomed a long and detailed report from Gordon Brown saying how this could happen. Some observers suspect that, in power, Labour would shelve Lords reform, but currently this is still very much on track.
Pledge 9 – equality
What it says: “Pull down obstacles that limit opportunities and talent. We are the party of the Equal Pay Act, Sure Start, BAME representation and the abolition of Section 28 – we must build on that for a new decade.”
Kept or broken?: KEPT. Under Starmer Labour has developed a series of policies to promote the equalities agenda.
Pledge 10 – effective opposition to the Tories
What it says: “Forensic, effective opposition to the Tories in Parliament – linked up to our mass membership and a professional election operation. Never lose sight of the votes ‘lent’ to the Tories in 2019. Unite our party, promote pluralism and improve our culture. Robust action to eradicate the scourge of antisemitism. Maintain our collective links with the unions.”
Kept or broken?: KEPT. Labour’s candidate selection suggests promoting pluralism is not a priority for Starmer (leftwingers are being purged), but no one can deny that the party is providing effective opposition to the Tories. The latest Politico poll of polls has Labour 14 points ahead.
The University and College Union, which represents university staff, says Keir Starmer’s U-turn on tuition fees is “deeply disappointing”. In a statement its general secretary, Jo Grady, said:
Keir Starmer repeatedly pledged to abolish the toxic system of tuition fees and in doing so was elected leader of the Labour party. It is deeply disappointing for him to now be reneging on that promise, a move which would condemn millions of future students to a life of debt. What we really need is a positive vision for higher education that puts staff and students first.
The current, tuition fee reliant, model is broken. It has saddled students with decades of debt, turned universities from sites of learning into labyrinthine businesses obsessed with generating revenue and surpluses over all else, and led to staff pay and working conditions being degraded causing unprecedented industrial unrest.
The country desperately needs a publicly funded higher education system.
James Cleverly says he expects to hold talks with China’s vice-president when he attends coronation
Patrick Wintour
James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, risked the wrath of his backbenchers today by saying he expects to meet China’s vice-president when he visits the UK for the king’s coronation.
Han Zheng, who has been blamed for overseeing a crackdown on freedom in Hong Kong, was recently appointed as president Xi Jinping’s deputy and is set to represent China at the event.
In a speech last week Cleverly said he wanted to increase British engagement with China, telling the BBC on Tuesday that Britain would not benefit from gagging itself in its discussions with Beijing.
Today he vowed that in meetings with Xi’s deputy he would raise issues including Hong Kong and human rights abuses in Xinjiang province. He stressed that “engagement does not mean agreement” with China.
Asked if he would meet the Chinese vice-president, Cleverly replied:
I suspect that I will. And when I do, I will discuss a whole range of things, just as I do when I meet other Chinese officials, including those areas where we have points of criticism.
When officials from the UK and China engage, Cleverly said he “always” takes the opportunity to ensure “the Chinese government understand our views on a range of issues, including those issues where we feel strongly their behaviour is inappropriate, like, for example, their failure to abide by the commitments in Hong Kong or by the treatment of the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang and others”.
The Foreign Office has increasingly taken the view that it is possible to protect the UK democracy and its strategic economic assets from Chinese interference whilst maintaining a dialogue on other issues such as health and climate change.
Senior Tories including former leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith have strongly criticised the invitation for Han. But Cleverly said it was “incredibly important” to continue talking to the Chinese government. He said:
Because the simple fact is countries all around the world have got to have conversations with other countries. Sometimes those conversations are very collaborative, with our close friends and allies, sometimes they are much more about what we disagree on.
With the relationship with China, it is incredibly important that we continue to have conversations.
To basically gag ourselves, to limit our own ability to exert influence, would be counterproductive.
Beijing was represented by Han’s predecessor, Wang Qishan, at the Queen’s funeral.
The Foreign Office is not expecting another ruler with a controversial human rights record, the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to attend the coronation. Saudi Arabia will instead be represented by Turki bin Muhammed Al Saud, a member of the Saudi council of ministers.
Green party reaffirms its commitment to abolishing tuition fees as it attacks Starmer over his U-turn
The Green party has attacked Keir Starmer for abandoning his promise to get rid of tuition fees and confirmed that it still favours their abolition.
Adrian Ramsay, the party’s co-leader, said:
This is the latest U-turn from Keir Starmer’s Labour and this time it’s students who are paying a heavy price. The Green party believes tuition fees should be scrapped and grants restored.
Higher education is a public good and should therefore be properly funded by government. Students in England pay some of the highest fees in the world, while in Scotland, Germany and Sweden university education is free. This shows that the whopping £9,000 charge for students, introduced by the coalition government and now backed by Labour, is a political choice.
Publicly funded higher education is not only possible but essential to a society committed to equality and social mobility.
Hundreds of teachers have marched across Westminster Bridge in central London, PA Media reports. PA says:
Police officers and vehicles lined the route past Parliament towards the Department for Education.
Marchers held signs that read “I’ve seen smarter cabinets in Ikea”, “I’d rather be teaching but this is important” and “If you can read this thank a teacher”.
Two large balloons – one bearing the National Education Union logo and a second heart-shaped one reading “Pay up! Save our schools” – floated above the march.
A speaker played music including Elton John’s I’m Still Standing, which the crowd sang along to, changing the lyrics to “I’m still striking”.
Dogs and children took part in the march.
