§ Mr. WardTo ask the Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the latest reports of the pay review bodies.
§ The Prime MinisterThe 1993 reports of the review bodies on the pay of nursing staff, midwives and health visitors, the professions allied to medicine, the armed forces, and school teachers have now been published. Copies are available in the Vote Office. The Government are grateful to the members of the review bodies for the time and care which they have put into the preparation of the reports.
In November the Government announced that public sector pay settlements in the coming year would be restricted to a range of 0 to 1.5 per cent. In line with the approach to public sector pay restraint, the groups covered by the Doctors and Dentists Review Body, the Nurses Pay Review Body and the Armed Forces Pay Review Body would receive an increase in pay of 1.5 per cent. from 1 April 1993. These review bodies were, however, invited by the Government to continue work on other specific issues and consider their position on performance pay, as appropriate to their remit groups.
In accordance with this earlier statement, the Government will pay increases of 1.5 per cent. to doctors and dentists, nursing staff, midwives and health visitors, professions allied to medicine and the armed forces with effect from 1 April 1993.
The School Teachers Review Body had previously been directed to report on school teachers' pay and conditions in 1993–94. The Secretary of State for Education directed it to have regard to the Government's general approach to public sector pay restraint.
The School Teachers Review Body has recommended an across the board increase of 1 per cent. from 1 April 1993 together with restructuring of classroom teachers' pay effective from 1 September 1993. The recommendations would cost a total of 1.5 per cent. in the financial year 1993–94 and an additional 0.35 per cent. in the following year. The Government therefore propose to reduce the across-the-board increase for qualified classroom teachers at 1 April to 0.55 per cent., but to make a one-off payment of £90 to those teachers on 1 May 1993. This, together with the implementation of restructuring designed to develop the relationship between pay and performance in schools, will give teachers, like most other review body groups, an increase in pay of 1.5 per cent. whilst containing the total cost within the settlement limit. Head and deputy head teachers will, as recommended by the review body, receive an increase of 1 per cent. on 1 April.
835WThe Top Salaries Review Body did not report this year. In common with Ministers and Members of Parliament, Top Salaries Review Body groups will receive no pay increase in respect of 1993. The Government will honour their commitment to pay the deferred second stage of the 1992 award, under which these groups will receive an increase of 2.9 per cent. from 1 April 1993.
The Doctors and Dentists Review Body also decided not to report this year, but recommended an increase in the number of distinction awards for consultant medical and dental staff. The Nurses Pay Review Body and Armed Forces Pay Review Body also produced a number of recommendations. The Government have accepted all of these recommendations.
The Government are also committed under the citizens charter to establishing a regular and direct link between a person's contribution to the quality of services and his or her reward. The review bodies have therefore been asked to consider the longer-term development of performance pay which will make this a reality.
The table shows the increases for each group, and their cost.
Review body Pay bill increase 1993–941 Per cent. Public expenditure expenditure cost £ million Doctors and dentists (DDRB)2 1.5 3 461 Nurses and allied professions (NAPRB)2 nurses and midwives 1.5 3114 professions allied to medicine (PAMs) 1.5 312 Armed forces (AFPRB)5 1.5 85 School teachers (STRB)6 1.5 7157 1 Percentages by which the awards would increase the estimated 1993–94 pay bill. 2 Great Britain. Northern Ireland health service pay normally follows Great Britain but is decided separately. 3 Includes cost of staff in NHS Trusts. 4 Figures exclude general medical practitioners' expenses which are subject to negotiation. 5 United Kingdom. 6 England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate pay regimes for school teachers. 7 Does not include any consequential increases in the paybill of sixth form colleges becoming Further Education Corporations on 1 April. The cost of implementing these increases will be met from within the public expenditure planning totals published in the autumn statement.