Will Labour increase NHS pay?
With a general election fast approaching in July 2024, many NHS staff will be considering whether a Labour government might be more likely to increase pay than the current Conservative government.
Labour have historically invested more in public services, including the NHS. For example, during the first years of Labour power after they were elected in 1997, year-on-year NHS spending grew by more than 5%. In contrast, recent spending on the NHS under Conservative control has grown between about 0.2% and 2.5% year-on-year.
This higher level of Labour spending has also historically applied to NHS pay. In 1997, after coming to power, Labour announced a pay rise of 14% for nurses, and this was followed by inflation-matching or above-inflation pay rises during most of the rest of their time in power. In the longer-term, we would expect a Labour government (if elected) would probably be significantly more generous with NHS pay rises than the current Conservative government.
Will Labour increase NHS pay for 2024/25?
Despite being more open to public sector pay rises in general, we don’t expect a significant increase in NHS pay immediately if Labour are elected. Unlike some other parts of the public sector (such as social care or teaching), we haven’t seen much mention of NHS pay directly in Labour election communications.
We’d expect any pay rise for 2024/25 under a Labour government to be broadly aligned with the 3% prediction that we explain elsewhere on our website. This is because there simply isn’t a lot of spare money available for any larger pay rise; changes to taxes to increase public spending would take time to implement and Labour have committed not to use increased public borrowing to fund any spending on public services. Pay increases for hundreds of thousands of NHS staff can have huge implications for public funds, and tax rises would be unpopular given the current cost of living crisis. Labour will also have to bear in mind the NHS Pay Review Body’s recommendations – a body originally commissioned by the Conservative government.
With that being said, we would be much more optimistic about a larger pay rise for 2025/26 if Labour did come to power. We would expect this to be particularly focused on improving pay for staff on lower pay bands such as Band 2 and Band 3 of Agenda for Change, and perhaps be in the region of a 4-5% overall increase.
Alternatively, Labour might choose to reform NHS pay at some point in the next few years. Reforms could include:
- Changes to pay progression (for example removing progression or adding more step points within bands)
- Changes to the High Cost Area Supplement or “London weighting” calculation, or making other areas eligible for additional payments
- Replacing Agenda for Change with a new pay system entirely, or removing some groups (such as nurses) from Agenda for Change
- Changing how the NHS Pay Review Body operates (such as increasing the influence of trade unions)
What would you like to see change for NHS staff under a Labour government?
As nepotism increases within the ranks of managerial posts i believe a freeze on there pay for 2 years could then be invested into Band 2 and 3 pay rises who i believe are the main WORKERS, without us wards would have closed. Porters, cleaners, distribution and logistics to name but a few who worked long hours during COVID suppling PPE to hospitals, wards, theatres. cleaners who kept the floors walls free from the spread of COVID, clapping was meaningless if were not appreciated by politicians.
I agree. But so do us band 5 nurses who trained during Covid – working for free during the height of the pandemic, sometimes when paid staff wouldn’t.
Hi Paul, without some of those managers the band 2 and 3 workers would not be in post. There are so, so many things which you may take for granted as a band 2 and 3 worker – things that you probably aren’t aware exist or need to be done. These things are essential for keeping hospitals open, safe and efficient. Some examples to name a few: governance, regulatory compliance, budget control, service development, HR support.
That being said, I agree that the band 2 and 3 workers deserve a pay rise for the hard work they do. Everyone should be paid fairly – it shouldn’t be about freezing the opportunities of others or creating divisiveness in the process.
We are all “main workers”.
To say just B2 and B3 are the main workers is a rash statement to make, you can’t paint everyone above those bands with the same brush, how do you know what everyone else has to do, their workloads, the hours they do, the stress they feel, if not more staff in higher bands have the same workload plus more, with the added cherry on top of trying to support lower band staff, keep morale up and go above and beyond their JDs to try and meet service demands.
Nonsense. Typical mindset of someone who has become embittered by the system. Progression is open to all with some effort. All bandings deserve uplifts as they come with differing responsibilities. Speaking from a nursing perspective.
During vovid every one really struggled, it’s not just about working During covid but the wearing of PPE in hot conditions made worse by full PPE. Buses rental health suffered tremendously, along with other nhs employees who was fearful of getting and passing in on. Band 2, which is what I am like porters, domestics, kitchen and medical secretary’s, estates all work incredibly hard putting heart and sole, but we feel devuled, ignored, no availablelity to progress, treated as if we don’t count and what we do doesn’t matter, unfortunately in the nhs the more you give the moreish taken, until you burn out.they say everyone counts but when doctors let the door slam on you, that’s not how it feels saying that, there’s hundreds of amazing , thoughtful and generous nhs workers, in our trust and we do our best to support each other. My pay packet is gone within 3 days, and I can’t afford to stay living in the area as rents are so high , do I have to go yo a more poverty filled area. Just to make ends meet, or go work gor sainsbury as they pay more. Like many nhs workers that are leaving gor better pay, better work life balance and less stress.
I agree that front line health workers should have an uplift in addition to agenda for change, That said, I’m an NHS ‘manager’ and I regularly work up to 20 hours a week extra without being paid overtime because we are not eligible. During the Pandemic I and many of my manager colleagues worked 7 days a week for 10 months, salaried for 5 days a week, trying to make a difference. I could do the same job in the private sector for a 20% uplift – I do this because I am dedicated to making (or trying to make) a difference. Thanks for your support Paul, I’m glad to know what the real ‘workers’ think about us.
Well said Nick. I am an NHS “manager” too and I also routinely work unpaid overtime just to make maintain the wellbeing of the staff that I am responsible for. In the 15 yrs working in the NHS, I have never had a sigle day where I am just doing my own job – I have had to cover at least one other role if not more. It’s too easy for lower banded staff to think that ‘management’ have it easy and do nothing…. I would welcome anyone to shadow me and walk in my shoes for a week and see what they think then.
i think putting wages up for band2/band3 could make a tremendous difference as nobody wants to work for mimimum wage and these people that work for this amount i take my hat of to you as i also am on band 2 shortage of staff in the nhs is another cause to the problem this needs to be done immediately as no payrise this year yet
Within our Trust, the B2 and B3 who work in the community suffered huge hardships when the fuel prices rocketed! Some dedicated staff ended up paying more for their fuel than they got back. Some having to take on a second job to make ends meet.