Pay Review Bodies (Hansard, 16 February 1989)

§ The Prime Minister

The 1989 reports of the review bodies on the pay of nursing staff, midwives and health visitors, and professions allied to medicine, the doctors and dentists, and the armed forces, and of the Top Salaries Review Body, have been published today. Copies are now available in the Vote Office. The Government are grateful to members of the review bodies for these reports and for the time and care which they have put into their preparation within the new timetable, enabling decisions to be taken ahead of the new financial year.

The following table shows the increases in pay rates recommended by the review bodies, and their cost:

Patients", which was published after the review body report was received will best achieve the objective of improving the long-term career structure for hospital doctors. The creation of these posts will therefore take the place of the increases recommended, in addition to the 8 per cent, basic increase, at the top of the consultants' scale and in the size of consultants' distinction awards. Subject to this, the Government accept the review body's recommendations.

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The Government have decided to accept the recommendations of the Top Salaries Review Body in full, except that they consider that the pay of 2-star officers should be around 85 per cent. of the normally attainable maximum of grade 2 civil servants (which is also the pay point for 3-star officers) rather than linked to a performance point for grade 3 civil servants. This will give the 2-star officer a salary at the level recommended by the TSRB.

The full cost of the awards by the Armed Forces Pay Review Body and Top Salaries Review Body groups will be met from within existing public expenditure programme totals for this year. In the case of the health services however, the Government recognise that the full costs could not be accommodated without adversely affecting services to patients. The Government have therefore decided to provide an extra £142 million for health authority cash limits from the reserve for next year. Of the remaining cost, £417 million is already fully covered within the allocations made for this year, leaving a balance of £44 million to be covered from cost improvements. The Government have similarly decided to provide an additional £62 million to the family practitioner services from the reserve for this year, bringing the total addition from the reserve to £204 million. Together with the increases in allocation already announced, the increase in provision for the National Health Service in 1989–90 over 1988–89 will therefore be £1,900 million. In total, taking account of lower employers' superannuation contributions, additional receipts and efficiency savings, the resources available for the National Health Service in 1989–90 will be £2,460 million more than in 1988–89.

The pay rates and scales resulting from the decisions will be promulgated as soon as possible for all the groups concerned.