Government Response

The Government responded to this petition on Wednesday 8th November 2023

The Department has made the decision to provide additional funding on this occasion to help deliver the one-off payments to eligible staff employed by non-NHS organisations.

On 2 May 2023, the NHS Staff Council, made up of representatives from health unions, NHS employers, the Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England, accepted a new pay deal for NHS staff employed on the Agenda for Change contract by eligible employers. This included:

o a non-consolidated award of 2% of an individual’s salary for 2022-23; and

o a one-off NHS ‘Backlog Bonus’ which recognises the sustained pressure facing the NHS following the pandemic and the extraordinary effort staff have been making to hit backlog recovery targets and meet the Prime Minister’s promise to cut waiting lists. The backlog bonus is worth at least £1,250 per person for somebody working full time but will be determined on (a) how much experience staff have and (b) an individual’s pay band.

Independent providers remain free to develop and adapt their own terms and conditions of employment. It is for them to determine what is affordable within the financial model they operate, and how to recoup any additional costs they face.

Whilst some staff employed by non-NHS organisations are contractually eligible for the payments, it is the independent organisations who are responsible for making them.

The department has however listened to concerns around providing the payments in the current economic circumstances and will make funding available, in line with the developed eligibility criteria, to help deliver them, on this occasion.

The government has decided to provide additional funding for non-NHS organisations with contracts to deliver NHS services, who employ their staff on dynamically linked Agenda for Change contracts and who meet the eligibility criteria as set out in NHS England’s guidance which will be published in due course. This will ensure hardworking healthcare staff and the organisations they work for are not financially disadvantaged as a result of the NHS pay deal. As a result, eligible staff employed by eligible non-NHS organisations will receive their 2% non-consolidated award and backlog bonus for their efforts during the pandemic.

Organisations will be able to apply for the funding and will need to show they have been negatively financially impacted by the pay deal, and that their staff are employed on dynamically linked Agenda for Change contracts.

This scheme will be delivered in conjunction with NHS England, who will soon be releasing guidance on the eligibility criteria for this funding. Once applications have been considered, we will provide funding to eligible organisations at the earliest opportunity. We anticipate the scheme to be completed by the end of the 2023/24 financial year.

Department of Health and Social Care

This is a revised response. The Petitions Committee requested a response which more directly addressed the request of the petition. You can find the original response towards the bottom of the petition page (https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/638701)