NHS pay re-opener clause
Published: 01 August 2008
This year's pay settlement allows for a re-opening of discussions in 2009/10 if certain criteria are met. The clause states:
'The NHS PRB will continue to gather evidence throughout the period of this agreement. In the event that the NHS PRB receive and identify new evidence of a significant and material change in recruitment and retention and wider economic and labour market conditions, they may request a remit from the Secretary of State to review the increases set out in this agreement for 2009/10 and/or 2010/11'.
The RCN and other NHS unions have been working together to submit evidence to the Pay Review Body (PRB) in order to trigger the re-opener clause. We were doing this well before the recent notice of gas price rises and have been doing it on a collective basis with other unions. Nothing in the last few days has changed this approach and no individual union can trigger the re-opening clause on their own.
With Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation higher than the Government target, high Retail Price Index (RPI) inflation, as well as increasing fuel and other costs it is clear that the economic climate has significantly changed since the three year proposals were agreed.
The RCN was clear in the discussions leading up to the current agreement that no resolution could have been possible without a strong re-opener clause that dealt with not just inflation but also wider economic issues, recruitment and retention and workforce issues. The fact that there is a re-opener clause is down to the determined negotiating of the RCN. Members will recall that the Health Minister said at Congress this year that if the unions and the PRB wanted the re-opener clause opened there was no force on earth that could stop that.