§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to establish a pay review body for ancillary staff in the NHS; and if he will make a statement. [108901]
§ Mr. Denham[holding answer 8 February 2000]: "Agenda for Change" set out proposals for modernising National Health Service pay which included placing staff on one of three pay spines: one for doctors and dentists covered by the Doctors and Dentists Review Body, one for staff covered by the Nursing and Professions Allied to Medicine Pay Review Body and one for other staff. Confidential talks are continuing with NHS Unions about which staff groups may join an expanded NPRB without changing its fundamentally professional nature. The "Joint Framework of Principles and Agreed Statement on the 334W Way Forward" proposes that a single pay negotiation council be established to negotiate pay uplifts for groups not covered by the Pay Review Bodies.