HC Deb 24 January 2002 vol 378 cc1090-1W
Sir Sydney Chapman

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made in the discussions taking place on the new pay structure for the NHS involving a nation-wide job evaluation exercise. [29331]

Mr. Hutton

Considerable progress is being made in the "Agenda for Change" pay Modernisation talks. In particular the job evaluation scheme has been developed further so that it is now generating credible and consistent results over the range of jobs covered by the United Kingdom-wide national health service. It has now been used to carry out evaluations on around 400 examples of the most common NHS jobs, which provides the basic data needed for negotiating the new pay structure. The central negotiating group has prepared negotiating documents covering all areas of the new pay system, with remaining differences between the Health Department's proposals and the views of staff representative organisations highlighted.

We have decided to leave final decisions on the new system until after the 2002 Spending Review is announced. Until then all parties have agreed that the job evaluation scheme and models of a new pay structure should continue to be developed. The aim will be to

Trust Project description Capital value1 Constructor
Cornwall Health Care NHS Trust Bodmin Community Hospital 10.20 Grosvenor House Group plc
Redbridge Health Care NHS Trust Mental Health Reprovision and Geriatric Day 10.80 Ryhurst (Redbridge) Ltd.
East London and the City Mental Health NHS Trust Centre Mental Health Reprovision 12.08 Allenbuild (South East)
Royston Buntingford and Bishop's Stortford Primary Herts and Essex Hospital 14.70 Rydon Construction
Care NHS Trust Luton and Dunstable Hospitals NHS Trust St. Mary's Wing 14.70 MJ Gleeson Group
Oxleas NHS Trust Reprovision of Mental Health 15.00 Ryhurst (Bexley) Ltd.
Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham University ENT/Ophthalmology 16.60 Glugston PE Ltd.
Hospital NHS Trust Northumbria Health Care NHS Trust Phase 11 Development of Wansbeck General 17.82 MJ Gleeson Group
Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust Maternity and Acute Development. Hull Royal 18.19 Bilfinger and Berger/Haden Young
Sussex Weald and Downs NHS Trust Infirmary Graylingwell Hospital Reprovision 22.00 James Longley/Kier Regional
Northumbria Health Care NHS Trust Redevelopment of Hexham General Hospital 29.10 Bovis Group
West Berkshire Priority Care Services NHS Trust Prospect Park mental health redevelopment 29.70 Kier Group
West Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust Acute Rationalisation 33.00 Bougyes UK
1 £ million