Nurses offered 5% now as part of three-year pay deal

Wednesday 29 June 2022

Nurses have been offered a 5% pay rise this year with an additional £500 as a permanent uplift to salaries.

The Policy & Resources Committee has put forward a three-year deal which also includes a pay rise equal to the rate of inflation in 2023 and 1% below the rate of inflation in 2024.

The offer has been made to all 'Agenda for Change' pay groups, which includes most States' employees in healthcare. 

The offer was confirmed to Express this morning by Deputy David Mahoney, the Committee's lead on employment matters, who called it "very fair" to staff.

Deputy Mahoney, pictured top, said that "some pay groups have agreed the offer [but] the majority have not yet made a decision".

Pictured: Nurses' pay has been the subject of dispute and public demonstrations in recent years, but Deputy David Mahoney said he was hopeful of concluding a three-year deal soon. 

"The pay offer for 2022 is 5% plus a fixed sum of £500 consolidated into pay," said Deputy Mahoney. This means the £500 will remain in salaries in future years and be added to employees' pension pots. 

"For an employee earning £40,000, this represents a pay rise of 6.25%," said Deputy Mahoney.

"We believe this is a fair pay offer, mindful that it is significantly above the June 2021 RPIX [inflation] figure of 2.3%, which is the reference point for any pay awards.

"Also, this is part of a proposed three-year deal which commits to increases linked to the June RPIX figure for the following two years.

"This would inevitably mean that, if inflation remains high, it will be accounted for in subsequent pay increases in a way that is clear and transparent now to employees, the employer and taxpayers."

He also said that pay would not be cut in absolute terms irrespective of the rate of inflation for the 2024 negotiating period.

Pictured: The pay deal offered to nurses and other 'Agenda for Change' staff comes at a time when the States are forecasting the annual rate of inflation to be anything up to 9% by the end of the year.

Deputy Mahoney said the Committee's pay offer "sought to balance the need for restraint in expenditure with the increasing cost of living and to give certainty to both employees and to the community by proposing a deal covering a three-year period".

He said that pay talks with the various unions involved had been "constructive". Those talks are continuing and he said he "looks forward to concluding them soon". 

Deputy Mahoney said that rumours of agency staff receiving free healthcare to work in Guernsey were untrue.