NHS pay demands would gobble up £4.8bn from National Insurance rise

NHS pay demands could wipe £4.8 billion off the additional funding from the National Insurance rise, an analysis by The Telegraph has found.

A number of the biggest health service unions have now threatened to consider strike action unless their requests are met, with the largest increase a 22 per cent rise demanded by junior doctors.

On Monday night, MPs said that the demands placed further questions over the benefits of the National Insurance rise and called for wage increases to be “proportionate and sensible” as the country faces a cost of living crisis.

Analysis by The Telegraph found that the British Medical Association (BMA) demands for a 22 per cent rise for junior doctors could set the Treasury back around £482 million, while the Royal College of Nursing demand for a rise matching the rate of inflation, which is set to reach 11 per cent, plus an extra 5 per cent, could cost £1.7 billion.

Other NHS staff, many of whom are represented by Unison, would add a further £2.7 billion to the wage bill.

It came as a growing number of professions including teachers, Civil Service workers, local government staff, and postal workers threatened to copy the walkouts by rail staff which is set to cripple the country this week.

The National Education Union (NEU) said that schools were set for “nationwide” chaos as they warn industrial action could see up to three-quarters of staff walk out.

It will ballot its members during the autumn term if they are not given a pay rise that matches inflation.

A second education union, the National Union of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT), has also said it will ballot its members for industrial action if staff are not given a 12 per cent pay rise.

Both unions represent rank-and-file teachers and between them account for the vast majority of staff in schools.

Legal fraternity also threatens walk-out

Barristers on Monday also announced that they would walk out from next Monday in a strike over pay that could bring the courts to a halt.

Lawyers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) have voted by 81.5 per cent to refuse to take on new cases from Monday June 27 and will picket the Old Bailey and five other courts from then.

Their strike action will escalate each week, starting with two days of walkouts next Monday and Tuesday, followed by three days the following week until they go on strike for the full week from Monday July 18. The strike will then become indefinite.

It will be only the second strike in the Criminal Bar’s history and the first since 2014, when barristers and solicitors staged an unprecedented mass walkout over Government plans to slash legal aid fees by up to 30 per cent.

It comes after the BMA said earlier this month that they will consider a strike ballot unless junior doctors receive 22 per cent by the end of the year.

The Royal College of Nursing said that they would consider action if they do not agree with the Government’s announcement of a pay increase, which is expected in the coming weeks following the recommendations by the NHS Pay Review Body.

Demands for increase in line with inflation

Christina McAnea, general secretary of Unison, has also warned that ministers are “risking a potential dispute” if the NHS pay review offer falls short. She has called for an increase in line with inflation.

The union demands could see an increase for the 1.2 million staff covered by the pay review as well as more than 60,000 junior doctors.

They would see an increase of £7,653 on the average junior doctor salary of  £34,790, £5,341 for the average nurse on £33,384 and a £3,080 increase for NHS workers who are paid on £28,000, if based on a level of inflation at 11 per cent.

If the Government agreed to the demands, it would wipe out a significant proportion of the £12 billion raised by the 1.25 percentage point increase in National Insurance said to be essential to fund the NHS and social care in the wake of the pandemic.

Sir Christopher Chope, who voted against the National Insurance rise, said that the demands showed why MPs should not have passed the increase.

“Originally the tax rise was justified on the basis that it was needed for social care, and where do these demands leave the social care sector?

“The sector is largely independent contractors and they are in a much weaker bargaining position. Those of us who voted against the hike could see that it would never go to social care.”

Unions won’t ballot members just yet

The Telegraph understands that none of the unions involved will begin balloting members until after they have seen the Government’s pay offer and consulted members on their reaction.

Union sources said that they are still a “long way off” and any action would be unlikely to take place until early next year.

Sir Christopher added: “The question is what can the Government do to defend the people against this blackmail, and I hope that the Government is thinking about the possibility of emergency legislation.”

Sir John Hayes, chair of the Common Sense Group of Tory MPs, had argued that the National Insurance rise should have been deferred for at least a year because of the pressure it adds to stretched household budgets.

“These requested increases would be very large in any circumstances, particularly when the country is under such financial pressure,” he told The Telegraph. “It is important that we bear that pressure in mind and any public sector pay rises need to be proportionate and sensible.”

A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We are incredibly grateful to all our NHS staff and we recognise the pressures caused by the rising cost of living.

“NHS staff received a 3 per cent pay rise last year, increasing nurses’ pay by £1,000 on average despite a public sector pay freeze, and we are giving NHS workers another pay rise this year.

“No decisions have been made and we will carefully consider the recommendations from the independent pay review bodies.”