Board-level managers in England are set to finally receive their 2026/27 pay award following a six month delay.

The government announced a 3% pay award for very senior managers (VSMs) and executive and senior managers (ESMs), effective from 1 April 2026. However, employers were instructed not to implement the award while the government determined eligibility criteria based on organisational performance.

In 2025/26, the award was withheld from VSMs working in NHS trusts in segment five of the NHS Oversight Framework, unless they had been in post for less than two years. The government had considered extending these restrictions to more organisations.

Following changes to the framework, which now uses four segments, the government has confirmed the eligibility criteria for 2026/27, allowing employers to implement the award backdated to 1 April 2026.

However, under the confirmed arrangements, the award will be withheld from VSMs in 28 provider trusts in the lowest segment of the Oversight Framework, unless an exemption applies. VSMs working in ICBs will not be subject to national performance-based restrictions this year and are eligible for the award, although local eligibility criteria may apply.

MiP welcomes the decision not to extend withholding more widely, something the union has strongly campaigned against. However, it remains deeply disappointed that many senior managers will continue to miss out on their annual pay award.

Withholding pay awards amounts to a real-terms pay cut for managers working tirelessly to turn around some of the NHS’s most challenged organisations. MiP believes this approach is unfair, counterproductive and risks making it harder to attract and retain experienced leaders where they are needed most.

MiP calls for an end to withholding annual pay awards

In its recently published evidence to the Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) for 2027/28, MiP called for an end to withholding annual pay awards based on organisational performance.

The union argued that national annual pay awards should maintain the value of basic salaries, not be used as a mechanism to reward or punish individual performance. MiP called for annual awards to be consolidated into base pay, implemented automatically and applied to all relevant salary ranges.

MiP’s evidence also highlighted the damage the current approach risks doing to recruitment and retention. Its latest survey found that 88% of VSM respondents opposed extending withholding to more organisations, while 72% said the VSM pay framework made them less willing to take a role in a challenged organisation.

The NHS cannot afford to discourage experienced leaders from taking on its most difficult challenges. Yet the current pay framework risks doing exactly that, financially penalising managers for working in organisations that need their skills and expertise most, MiP’s evidence said.

MiP’s submission also called for action to address growing pay overlap with Agenda for Change. The union argued that annual awards for VSMs and ESMs should be no lower than the equivalent percentage awarded to Agenda for Change staff, to prevent further erosion of pay differentials and ensure there is a meaningful incentive to progress into senior leadership roles.

MiP will continue pressing for an end to withholding annual pay awards and for reforms that ensure senior managers are fairly rewarded for their responsibilities, rather than penalised for the performance of their organisations.