Average Uplift of 7.5% is Highest Offer in the UK
A ‘best and final offer’ has been made to NHS Agenda for Change (AfC) workers following pay negotiations with trade unions and employers.
The record high pay offer, the best in the UK, will ensure that these front-line workers will receive pay rises ranging from £2,205 to £2,751, which is a further improvement on the existing offer for staff in Bands 5-8A. For the lowest paid this represents an uplift of 11.3%, and delivers an average uplift of 7.5%.
This increased offer was made after constructive negotiations between the Scottish Government and NHS unions. In a final offer made to trade unions, the new deal is worth an additional £515 million in 2022-23. It now includes a package of progressive measures to promote staff and patient safety, support long-term workforce sustainability and to recognise the breadth of skills and experience of NHS Scotland staff.
The settlement ensures that NHS staff would remain the best paid anywhere in the UK. It gives all frontline NHS Scotland AfC staff in bands 1-7 a pay premium of between £1,149 and £2,834 over their counterparts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The Agenda for Change pay offer for 2022-23 will deliver the most progressive package of terms and conditions reform in over 40 years. The deal will benefit more than 160,000 employees including nurses, paramedics, allied health professionals and healthcare support staff.
– Graeme
I welcome this record high pay offer from the Scottish Government for NHS staff.
We have seen real engagement on the part of this government to address the concerns of hardworking frontline professionals and come to the best possible pay deal – which is the best on offer anywhere in the UK.
This is a Scottish Government that values these critical workers enormously and is determined to do right by them in incredibly challenging financial circumstances.
There is a great deal more than the pay rise built into this offer too, and I hope to see this realised.
– Health Secretary Humza Yousaf
We have engaged tirelessly with trade union representatives over recent weeks, leaving no stone unturned to reach an offer which responds to the key concerns of staff across the service.
This best and final pay offer of over half a billion pounds underlines our commitment to supporting our fantastic NHS staff. A newly qualified nurse would see a pay rise of 8.7%, and experienced nurses and would get uplifts of between £2,450 and £2,751.
We are making this offer at a time of extraordinary financial challenges to the Scottish Government.
We have made the best offer possible to get money into the pockets of hard working staff and to avoid industrial action, in what is already going to be an incredibly challenging winter. If the offer is agreed this pay uplift will also be backdated to April.
Finally, I would urge the UK Government to get back to the negotiating table with the unions. This settlement has been shaped by the unions’ constructive approach and I hope it is backed by their members.
The new offer also includes a review into reducing the working week to 36 hours, a commitment to review the job descriptions of Band 5 roles and ensuring protected learning time for specific groups – such as staff on agreed learning and development schemes.
TABLE
Band | points | Scottish 2022/23 rates | Proposed increase | % this represents | Hourly rate |
Band 1 | 1 | £21,692 | £2,205 | 11.32% | £11.09 |
Band 2 | 1 | £21,814 | £2,205 | 11.24% | £11.16 |
2 | £23,820 | £2,205 | 10.20% | £12.18 | |
Band 3 | 1 | £23,914 | £2,205 | 10.16% | £12.23 |
2 | £25,808 | £2,205 | 9.34% | £13.20 | |
Band 4 | 1 | £25,914 | £2,205 | 9.30% | £13.25 |
2 | £28,187 | £2,205 | 8.49% | £14.42 | |
Band 5 | 1 | £28,384 | £2,280 | 8.73% | £14.52 |
2 | £30,329 | £2,280 | 8.13% | £15.51 | |
3 | £35,365 | £2,450 | 7.44% | £18.09 | |
Band 6 | 1 | £35,522 | £2,450 | 7.41% | £18.17 |
2 | £37,087 | £2,450 | 7.07% | £18.97 | |
3 | £43,286 | £2,550 | 6.26% | £22.14 | |
Band 7 | 1 | £43,422 | £2,550 | 6.24% | £22.21 |
2 | £45,080 | £2,550 | 6.00% | £23.06 | |
3 | £50,506 | £2,660 | 5.56% | £25.83 | |
Band 8A | 1 | £53,513 | £2,548 | 5.00% | £27.37 |
2 | £57,767 | £2,751 | 5.00% | £29.54 | |
Band 8B | 1 | £63,530 | £2,205 | 3.60% | £32.49 |
2 | £68,223 | £2,205 | 3.34% | £34.89 | |
Band 8C | 1 | £75,711 | £2,205 | 3.00% | £38.72 |
2 | £81,426 | £2,205 | 2.78% | £41.65 | |
Band 8D | 1 | £90,590 | £2,205 | 2.49% | £46.33 |
2 | £94,629 | £2,205 | 2.39% | £48.40 | |
Band 9 | 1 | £107,840 | £2,205 | 2.09% | £55.15 |
2 | £112,673 | £2,205 | 2.00% | £57.63 |