An update on nurses’ pay is expected this week after the new Labour government promised news by the end of July.
Rachel Reeves, the new chancellor, spoke earlier this month, saying that the Government was looking at public sector pay issues and added that the public did not know how bad some aspects of the UK economy are.
Leaks have suggested that the Pay Review Body (PRB) recommendations were well above what the Government budgeted for.
Ms Reeves said she understood the need for public sector pay rises and promised an update by the end of July after a number of delays earlier in the year.
A new pay deal for nurses, midwives and other NHS staff on Agenda for Change contracts was due on April 1 but delays by the previous government in triggering the process of creating a deal mean a new one is now late.
Speaking to the BBC, Ms Reeves said: “[Public sector workers] provide a huge service to our country, and we will set it out in the proper way later this month. People won’t have long to wait, they will see that before the end of this month. We will make announcements around public sector pay when we do the full analysis of public finances and public spending.
“I was clear during the election that the scale of the challenge would be immense.”
In June, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) called on the new Government to make implementing the long-awaited rise one of its top priorities.
Here is what we know about the proposed changes.
Are nurses going to get a pay rise?
A pay rise is expected to be granted but there are no guarantees and no idea of how much of a percentage will be offered.
The chancellor has hinted at an above inflation rise, promising that the Government will “make sure the sums add up”.
How much could the rise be?
According to reports in The Times, the PRBs for NHS and education workers – which recommend pay deals to the government – are rumoured to have suggested a 5.5 per cent pay rise.
The Labour Party budgeted for a 3 per cent pay rise in its manifesto.
Ms Reeves said: “I really value public service workers in our schools, in our hospitals, in the police.
“At the moment, we are looking at those PRB recommendations and doing analysis and we will work with public sector workers on that.
“We also know that there is a cost to not settling, a cost of further industrial action, a cost in terms of the challenge we face of recruiting and retaining doctors and nurses, teachers as well.
“We will do it in a proper way and make sure the sums add up,”
How much do UK nurses get paid?
A newly qualified Band 5 NHS nurse, with less than two years’ experience, earns £28,407.
The Royal College of Nursing estimated in 2021 that the average annual salary of an NHS nurse was £33,384. The pay rise introduced across the NHS in 2023 means that average is probably now closer to £37,000.
More broadly, reporting body Nurses.co.uk estimated that the average salary for a nurse is somewhere between £33,000 and £37,000.
NHS pay is based on a banding system that was introduced in 2004. It allocates specific roles and levels of seniority to specific bands with matching salaries.
As already mentioned, newly qualified nurses enter the workforce at Band 5. Band 5 nurses can earn up to £34,581 with enough years of experience (over four years).
Within Band 6, the starting salary is £35,392 and the highest possible salary is £42,618.
Band 7 salaries start well beyond £43,000 a year, and for anyone within Band 8 and beyond, salary ranges become more complex. Fuller details on salaries within every banding point are on the NHS Pay calculator.
When did nurses last get a pay rise?
The last pay rise was in June 2023.
As part of the deal, eligible workers on the Agenda for Change contract, including nurses, paramedics, 999 call handlers, midwives, security guards and cleaners, received the pay rise, backdated to April.
As a result of this package, the salary for newly qualified nurses went up by £2,750 over two years from 2021 to 2022 to 2023 to 2024. They also received over £1,890 in one-off payments this year.
