Jeremy Hunt says NHS pay rise is worth between 6-29% to staff – Politics live

Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs and Boris Johnson’s evidence to the Commons foreign affairs committee 1.41pm GMT Asked whether the announcement on NHS pay meant that other public sector workers could expect settlements above the former 1% cap, a Downing Street source said: The independent pay review bodies will make their recommendations in the normal way. We have said as a government that the arbitrary 1% pay cap is no longer in place. If people recommend changes to that, they will be considered. But let’s just focus for a second on the fact that this is, we hope, a generous and important offer that recognises the incredible hard work, dedication and professionalism of NHS staff up and down the country. 1.40pm GMT Here is some reaction to the NHS pay announcement.From Sara Gorton, head of health at the Unison unionThe agreement means an end at last to the government’s self-defeating and unfair 1% pay cap. It won’t solve every problem in the NHS, but would go a long way towards making dedicated health staff feel more valued, lift flagging morale, and help turn the tide on employers’ staffing problems. Members campaigned hard to put an end to the years of poor pay rises and this deal is a significant move in the right direction from a government still committed to austerity. When there are 40,000 unfilled nurse jobs in England alone, it should begin to make the profession more attractive to nurses of today and tomorrow alike. At long last, after years of pay austerity, there has been a significant recognition that this harsh pay regime imposed on hard working and dedicated NHS staff can no longer be sustained. Unite welcomes many aspects of this deal, on which we will be consulting our membership over the next couple of months. However, we regard this as the start, not the end, of the journey for true pay justice for NHS staff, which we will campaign for with vigour in the coming months and years. Continue reading…
Via: Jeremy Hunt says NHS pay rise is worth between 6-29% to staff – Politics live