HC Deb 28 May 2004 vol 422 cc173-4W
Mr. Todd

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will set out his proposals for future terms and conditions for speech and language therapists in the NHS; and if he will make a statement. [176517]

Mr. Hutton

The terms and conditions of service for all staff covered by "Agenda for Change", including speech and language therapists are set out in the proposed agreement published in March 2003, which is also available on the Department's website.

The new system will deliver fair and equitable conditions of service across all groups covered by "Agenda for Change" by harmonising core conditions of service, such as hours and annual leave. In addition, speech and language therapists will have access to payments for working unsocial hours and overtime.

Mr. Todd

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the numbers of speech and language therapists requiring pay protection from April 2005; and if he will make a statement. [176518]

Mr. Hutton

We are currently testing the impact of the whole package of pay reform including the numbers of staff requiring protection, in 12 early implementer sites. The United Kingdom health departments and national health service unions and employer representatives are now reviewing the emerging evidence from the sites and the conclusions from this review are likely to be known in July. The agreed success criterion is that, overall no more than a small percentage of staff should require formal protection. The proposed agreement also includes provision to ensure that for any staff requiring protection, there will be a review during this period of protection, to explore whether the staff concerned could be reassigned to a higher weighted job or offered development and training to fit them for a higher weighted job.

Mr. Todd

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the proposals for working hours for speech and language therapists; and how these will be reflected in earnings. [176519]

Mr. Hutton

The proposed agreement aims to harmonise the disparate hours of the different staff groups by providing a standardised working week of 37.5 hours for all full-time national health service staff covered by "Agenda for Change" with phased protection arrangements for staff who currently work shorter hours for a period of up to eight years. Nationally speech and language therapists work unconditioned hours and may be working either above or below the proposed hours under the new arrangements.

These arrangements support the underlying principles of "Agenda for Change" of ensuring a fair, transparent pay system, based on the important principle of equal pay for work of equal value with simplified consistent conditions of service fairly applied across all staff groups.