Fair pay and terms and conditions continue to be the RCM’s rallying cry. Director of employment relations Alice Sorby and national officer Emma Currer discuss what’s next
Q: It seemed that the 2024-25 pay awards showed the start of change for midwives. What are we expecting the news to be this year?
A: The pay rise for 2025-26 is due in April and we have been looking at where we are:
For the 2024-25 pay round in England and Wales:
- 5.5% award implemented in October 2024 (including backpay) in England, and November 2024 in Wales
- interim points at Band 8A and above were implemented in November 2024 in England, and January 2025 in Wales
- a funded mandate for negotiations to begin to resolve outstanding concerns within the Agenda for Change (AfC) pay structure is still outstanding, however.
For the 2024-25 pay round in Northern Ireland:
- a pay circular was issued in December, notifying of the implementation of the pay award for health and social care (HSC) staff. This initiated payment of 10 months of the pay award, which was in wage packets in March. This follows a number of meetings of the RCM as part of the HSC unions with the Department of Health
- the pay circular confirms that the Department of Health has accepted the recommendations of the NHS Pay Review Body (NHSPRB) as a 5.5% pay award and intermediate pay points at Bands 8A and above (so that staff should progress after two years at the respective band) will also be implemented
- a memorandum of understanding between the HSC staff side and Department of Health has also been agreed and it commits to ongoing full pay parity with England, to guarantee payment of the final two months of the pay award to the 1 April due date. The full backpay has now been approved.
For the 2024-25 pay round in Scotland:
- pay in Scotland is decided by collective bargaining through the Scottish Terms and Conditions Committee (STAC), which is a partnership structure that exists to negotiate for NHS Scotland staff. STAC has a tripartite secretariat, and membership is made up of officials appointed from the Scottish Government Health Workforce Directorate and nominated individuals from the staff and employer side
- in August 2024, negotiations resulted in a final offer of 5.5% across all AfC pay bands effective from 1 April 2024 with no additional pay and reward factors or non-pay elements in the offer. RCM members in Scotland voted to accept, and it was implemented in October 2024 salaries (with backpay in November).
2025-26 pay round
Governments in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have stated that pay will be decided by an NHSPRB process again. The RCM submitted its written evidence to the NHSPRB in November 2024 and attended an oral evidence session in January 2025. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) in England submitted evidence to the NHSPRB that was published in December.
Its evidence stated that 2.8% has been set aside for pay awards, with the NHSPRB asked to advise on how funding for structural adjustments should be balanced against headline awards from within that envelope. Structural adjustment is the funding to negotiate changes to the AfC pay structure, rather than the headline uplift that is applied annually. It looks at things such as small gaps between pay bands – where a promotion leads only to a minimal increase in pay and the length of time it takes to progress through pay bands. Staff Council would then get to negotiate how that structural funding was spent, which means waiting until the NHSPRB reports and the government responds.
This has been met by anger from the RCM and other AfC trade unions as 2.8% is below the most recent inflation figures (3%) and the recommendation on structural negotiations was accepted by the Westminster Government as part of the 2024/25 pay award.
It is the RCM’s position that funding for these negotiations should not be included as part of the 2025-26 pay award and that this should sit with the Staff Council, not the NHSPRB. A funding envelope of 2.8% is not enough for the headline pay award, but a 2.8% funding envelope to cover structural negotiations, headline pay award and the national minimum wage position is unacceptable.
Following the department’s evidence, the RCM wrote to the chair of the PRB and the secretary of state to outline our position. Funding envelopes set by the Westminster Government impact across the UK due to the way funding is allocated to devolved administrations. The RCM is urging the PRB to make a recommendation that is independent and fair and that Governments announce the pay award without delay. The RCM will continue to fight alongside its members.
In Scotland, pay for 2025-26 will be negotiated through the STAC. These negotiations commenced with the Cabinet Secretary in March and it is anticipated there will be an offer in the coming weeks.
What the RCM is asking of the NHSPRB
- a real-term pay increase that starts to address the pay cuts members have faced
- a commitment to the real living wage
- a consolidated, across-the-board pay increase
- a credible plan to restore the pay lost by NHS staff
- ensure banding outcomes reflect job content
- limit excess hours and reward additional hours fairly
MORE INFO
Find out more about Scottish pay negotiations and NHS Scotland Agenda for Change
For details on the DHSC (England) evidence to the NHSPRB
