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‘Best and final offer’: nurses to vote on 5% pay deal

Nurses in Wales are set to vote on the new pay offer which includes a one-off ‘recovery’ payment and an enhanced rise for staff on lower bands
Nurses on the picket line at Cardiff University Hospital: nurses in Wales are set to vote on a new 5% pay offer

Nurses in Wales are set to vote on the new pay offer which includes a one-off ‘recovery’ payment and an enhanced rise for staff on lower bands

Nurses on the picket line at Cardiff University Hospital: nurses in Wales are set to vote on a new 5% pay offer
Nurses on the picket line at Cardiff University Hospital Picture: Ben Birchall/PA Wire

Nurses in Wales are being asked to vote on a 5% pay rise for this year in a ‘best and final’ offer from the Welsh Government.

Enhanced offer includes a new ‘NHS recovery payment’

Fresh talks opened between ministers and health unions after RCN Wales members overwhelmingly rejected an enhanced offer for 2022-23 last month. After negotiations, the Welsh Government has announced a new pay offer of 5% for 2023-24 plus an additional one-off payment for 2022-23.

Healthcare staff in the country on Agenda for Change contracts were offered a revised 3% pay rise on top of the 4% already on the table. Half of the 3% was a consolidated rise and the remaining 1.5% was a one-off payment.

But RCN Wales members voted it down, prompting the government to reopen talks despite the majority of combined health union members in the NHS Wales Trade Union Group accepting the deal.

After several weeks of negotiations, the Welsh Government has offered a 5% consolidated increase for 2023-24, to take effect from April 2023.

It has also offered a new one-off ‘NHS recovery payment’ averaging 3% for all healthcare staff, including bank staff, for 2022-23. At the top of band 5, this equals a further £1,005.

Bank staff were previously told they would miss out on the 1.5% one-off payment for 2022-23. RCN Wales has confirmed they will still not receive this.

Staff on lower pay bands offered enhanced 8% rise

The 2023-24 offer includes an investment in the lower pay bands, meaning those on band one and the bottom pay point of band 2 will have an 8% pay rise, taking their salary to £22,720.

The Welsh Government has also committed to the ‘principle of pay restoration to 2008 levels’ as part of the deal, alongside paid time for nurses’ professional development and the implementation of a nurse retention plan.

Health unions including RCN Wales, Unite and Unison will now ballot their members on the offer. Unison is recommending their members accept the offer, while Unite and the RCN are remaining neutral.

RCN Wales director Helen Whyley said: ‘The offer doesn’t come close enough to the pay award our members have been campaigning for, though we trust that it will go some way to helping with the current cost of living crisis.’

‘We have negotiated tirelessly over recent weeks to get the best possible outcome for our members. It is important that members now make their own informed choice.’

Unions to ballot members on the pay offer over the next month

Health and social services minister Eluned Morgan said: ‘While the union representatives would have wished for even greater increases, they have arrived at their professional judgement that this is the best and final offer that can be negotiated with the Welsh Government.

‘Hard choices have been required to fund this pay offer and we have drawn on our reserves and underspends from across government to put this offer together.’

The RCN’s ballot will run from 12pm on 24 April until 9am on 10 May. Unite will consult with its members from 1 May until 9am on 22 May, while Unison’s ballot will start on 24 April and last for three weeks.


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