Health leaders and unions have redoubled their demands for the NHS pay offer to be fully funded, after the Treasury said some new money would be made available.
Unions are now consulting their members on the offer, which includes a one-off bonus of up to 8.2% for this year and a pay rise of 5% from April, plus more for the lowest paid.
With existing budget plans only allowing for a 3.5% rise, ministers had previously declined to say how the offer would be paid for, stoking fears of fresh cuts to under-pressure services.
The Treasury confirmed that extra funding would be made available, though it rejected suggestions from health insiders that it could be worth up to £3bn, and insisted the Department of Health would also have to make savings.
Sources also stressed that the funding would come from within wider public spending plans for the coming year, raising the prospect of other departments’ budgets being raided to meet the cost.
The chief executive of NHS Providers, Sir Julian Hartley, warned on Tuesday that there was “no fat left to trim”, after the health secretary, Steve Barclay, said talks with the Treasury had resulted in a promise of additional funding, though he did not specify how much it would be, or its timing.
“I’m working with the Treasury to ensure my department has the money it needs to fully fund this pay offer, which will include additional funding and reprioritising existing budgets,” Barclay said.
“I want to be clear – there will be no impact to frontline services or quality of care as a result of this offer.”
Since the pay offer was announced earlier this month, health bosses have repeatedly insisted the NHS has no capacity to find fresh efficiency savings.
Hartley said: “Any pay uplift agreed between the government and unions must be funded by new money. Reprioritising existing budgets could drain funding from other vital areas of the NHS in the long term, putting frontline NHS services at risk of being cut or severely scaled back.”
Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “Leaders have been clear that any pay offer must be fully funded outside existing budgets to avoid having a negative impact on patient care, and will be keen to see this additional funding emerge.”
Their scepticism appeared to contradict a claim on Tuesday by the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, that Barclay’s statement had been “welcomed by the sector”.
Sunak told MPs on the House of Commons liaison committee: “As the health secretary said, there will be additional funding. There will also be reprioritisation, as there always is.”
Most health unions, including the Royal College of Nursing and Unison, are recommending that their members accept the pay offer, which emerged on 17 March after intensive negotiations with Barclay. Results of their consultations with members are expected next month.
Barclay, a former Treasury minister, had promised unions in the talks that the offer would be properly funded, and it is understood he has been closely involved in talks over how it will be paid for.
Rachel Harrison, the GMB union’s national secretary, said: “If reports of additional new money are accurate, then that will be welcomed – but it’s time to end the succession of confusing statements from different departments. We’ll continue to hold the government to account on its promise to fund a pay settlement that our members can accept, without cuts to already overstretched services”.
The NHS offer came after a significant U-turn from the government, which had previously insisted the 2022-23 pay deal, a flat rate of £1,700 for many NHS staff, would not be reopened.
The Treasury initially said the money would have to be found through efficiency savings and by reprioritising existing budgets, and that the health secretary would have to apply for any additional funds at a future fiscal event, the next opportunity to do so being the autumn statement.
Barclay’s offer to NHS staff came as the government tried to draw a line under months of industrial action across public services.
