Pay Review Bodies (Hansard, 1 February 1990)

§ The Prime Minister

The 1990 reports of the review bodies on the pay of nursing staff, midwives and health visitors, the 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 the time and care which they put into their preparation.

The table shows the overall increases recommended by the review bodies for each group, and their cost:

	Pay bill increase in 1990–91	Range of increase	¹ Uniied Kingdom public expenditure cost
	percent	percent	£ million
Armed forces	10.9	4.1—23.0	458
Doctors and dentists²	10.9	9.5—15.2	423
Professions allied to medicine	10.1	8.7—14.7	61
Nursing staff, midwives and health visitors	9.6	³ 8.9—16.0	630
Top salaries⁴	11.0	7.0—18.7	10
¹ The figures for public expenditure cost differ from those in the Review Bodies' reports. Their figures do not include some costs which count as public expenditure.
² Payments to GPs for achieving higher targets for immunisation and cervical screening are recommended by the Review Body as outside intended average remuneration. The payments would add some 0.3 per cent. to the total pay bill and are included in the £423 million.
³ A very few young staff would receive higher increases of up to 19.7per cent.
⁴ These figures assume that the additional increase of 10 per cent.recommended for Groups 5—7 of the judiciary is phased over two years, with 5 per cent. paid on 1 April 1990.

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The Government consider that the overall pay cost in the year 1990–91 implied by these recommendations if implemented in full immediately would be too high. They have therefore decided that the general approach should be to implement the recommendations in full during the year but to stage them so that most groups receive an increase of 7 per cent. from 1 April 1990 with the balance from 1 January 1991.

In the case of the review body on armed forces the Government have decided to accept the recommendations but their implementation will be staged so that 7 per cent. is paid from 1 April 1990 and the remaining 1.7 to 2.5 per cent. of the basic increase together with additional payments is paid from 1 January 1991.

The Government have decided to accept with two exceptions the recommendations of the review body on doctors and dentists, but to stage their implementation so that 7 per cent. is payable in all cases from 1 April 1990 and the remainder of the increases of between 2.5 and 4.5 per cent. plus other payments, depending on the group, from 1 January 1991. The exceptions are the recommendations that the Government rejected last year for extra increases at the top of the consultants' scale and in the size of consultants' distinction awards. It is still the Government's view that the additional 100 permanent consultant posts which are now being created will best achieve the objective of improving the long-term career structure for hospital doctors.

The Government have decided to accept the recommendations of the review body on nursing staff, midwives and health visitors but to stage their implementation so that from 1 April 1990, 7 per cent. is payable to all and in addition the recommendation for changes in London pay and some extra increases in the pay of student nurses take effect from that date. The remaining 2 per cent. of the basic increase and other additional payments will be paid from 1 January 1991.

The Government have decided to accept the recommendations of the review body on professions allied to medicine but to stage their implementation so that from 1 April 1990, 7 per cent. is payable to all and in addition the recommendation for changes in London pay takes effect. The remaining increase of 2.75 per cent. and other additional payments will be paid from 1 January 1991.

The Government have decided to accept the recommendations of the Top Salaries Review Body but to stage their implementation. The basic increase of 7 per cent. recommended for all groups will be payable as to 6 per cent. from 1 April 1990 and 1 per cent. from 1 January 1991. In addition, for senior civil servants the abolition of the fixed scale increments for grades 2 and 3 will take effect from 1 April 1990; the increases in the London allowance for grade 3, and the consequential increases for grade 2, will take effect from 1 January 1991; and the new performance pay scheme for grades 2 and 3 will be introduced from 1 April 1991. For two and three-star officers, the additional increases of 2.75 per cent. will take effect from 1 January 1991. For judges, the extra increase of 10 per cent. recommended for those in groups 5 to 7 will be staged with payments on 1 January 1991, 1 August 1991 and 1 April 1992.

The cost of implementing all the recommendations on this basis will be met from within the public expenditure planning totals published in the Autumn Statement. In the case of the health services, the Government recognise that the full costs could not be accommodated within present 260W health provision without adversely affecting services to patients. The Government have therefore decided to provide an extra £205 million from the reserve for next year. This payment will bring the increase in the total resources available for the National Health Service in 1990–91 over 1989–90 to nearly £3 billion.

The pay rates and scales resulting from the decisions will be promulgated as soon as possible for all the groups concerned. Pensions will follow the rates of salary in payment.