Many MiP members are set to benefit from faster pay progression after the government accepted a review body recommendation to introduce an ‘intermediate pay point’ for Bands 8A and above. Staff will move to the new pay point after two years’ service, bringing Bands 8 and 9 into line with most other Agenda of Change pay bands.

MiP chief executive Jon Restell said the union “has long been warning governments of the specific recruitment and retention challenges for Bands 8A and above and welcome action taken to begin addressing it”.

He added: “While we don’t think the additional pay points will resolve these challenges on their own, it’s a good start. There are still too few incentives for staff to seek promotion, especially from Band 7 to 8A, due to the modest increase in salary and loss of overtime and unsocial hours payments.”

The new pay point is effective from April 2024, meaning staff who reach two years’ service on or after that date will have their pay increases backdated. Payments are expected to be made with November salaries, subject to testing, NHS Employers has said.

The NHS Staff Council ratified the decision in August and the NHS Terms and Conditions Handbook has been updated to reflect the new pay points. While the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB) covers staff in Wales and Northern Ireland, the new pay points will only apply to staff in England for now. Both devolved administrations are expected to accept the recommendations, but neither had responded formally at the time of writing.

The UK government also accepted a review body recommendation to begin talks on addressing wider structural issues within the Agenda for Change framework, such as the compression on pay bands resulting from variations in pay awards over the years. This work will be carried out through a funded mandate to the NHS Staff Council, working with the Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive.

“MiP will continue to represent our members interests when this piece of work gets underway,” Restell said. “Managers make a vital contribution to the NHS and they will be needed more than ever as the government attempts to drive up productivity and bring down waiting lists.”

He added: “While there is still a long way to go, we hope that the government’s recognition of specific challenges for managers reflects a change in attitude from its predecessors, and that they will value the contributions that managers make to the NHS, its patients and its staff.”