Tory MP Steve Brine reveals ministers are 3 WEEKS late in submitting evidence ... trends now

Tory MP Steve Brine reveals ministers are 3 WEEKS late in submitting evidence ... trends now
Tory MP Steve Brine reveals ministers are 3 WEEKS late in submitting evidence ... trends now

Tory MP Steve Brine reveals ministers are 3 WEEKS late in submitting evidence ... trends now

Department of Health bosses have yet to submit evidence to the NHS Pay Review Body for next year, it was revealed today. 

Ministers were meant to have given their take on what the country can and should pay health staff by January 11. 

Their submission is a critical part of the recommendations which go on to form the annual pay rise for over a million NHS workers, including nurses and paramedics, in the cost of living crisis. 

Striking NHS unions have already been told to 'look forward' to the bump, due to be announced in April for the upcoming 2023/24 financial year. 

Tory MP and ex-health minister Steve Brine he was astonished by the Government's failure to meet the deadline for NHS pay evidence adding that  it had left the pay body 'making chocolate without cocoa beans'

Tory MP and ex-health minister Steve Brine he was astonished by the Government's failure to meet the deadline for NHS pay evidence adding that  it had left the pay body 'making chocolate without cocoa beans'

NHS Pay Review Body chair Philippa Hird said the Government was currently 21 days late for its submission but the body was still planning to its NHS pay recommendation for the coming financial year by April

NHS Pay Review Body chair Philippa Hird said the Government was currently 21 days late for its submission but the body was still planning to its NHS pay recommendation for the coming financial year by April

Last year's award, which amounted to roughly 4 per cent, prompted a string of walk-outs this winter. 

Industrial action — which could rumble on until the spring — has already led to thousands of routine appointments and operations being cancelled.

Some unions have demanded inflation-busting pay hikes of almost 20 per cent. 

Ex-health minister Steve Brine, now chair of the Commons' Health and Social Care Committee, said he was 'astonished' by today's revelation.

He added that ministers had effectively used the same Pay Review Body's previous recommendation to shield themselves from criticism for refusing to negotiate with striking NHS staff.

'Having spent all the holiday season, since the remit letter in effect, standing behind the Pay Review Body then to not respond by the date you asked for,' he said. 

'This must be intolerable.'

Mr Brine also questioned how the body could go forward in crafting a pay recommendation for April without the Department of Health's recommendation. 

'It's like saying, "we're making chocolate without cocoa beans", you're missing a big gap,' he said.

The Treasury has submitted evidence, however, MPs were told.

Body chair, Philippa Hird, who appeared before the Committee today, said they were pressing on regardless, and she hoped the Department would still submit evidence.

'We are carrying on with our work,' she said.  

'If it doesn't come, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.'

The NHS Pay Review Body, and the debate surrounding its independence, has been thrust into the spotlight during the NHS strikes. 

It was set up under Margaret Thatcher, and is a Government-appointed group tasked with making recommendations on pay for staff in the health service.

Unions and NHS employers submit evidence on what salaries are needed to improve staffing

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