RCN calls for end to ‘shady’ DH payment deals

Published: 17 February 2012

For immediate release: Friday 17 February 2012

Shady tax avoidance schemes at the Department of Health must end, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said today (17 February). Responding to revelations that 25 senior staff across the Department of Health were paid salaries direct to limited companies , the RCN said serious questions need to be asked about opaque pay dealings across the top of the Department of Health.

The RCN today raised concerns about the possibility that the payment of tax and national insurance may have been avoided. Coupled with news that a senior Department of Health civil servant was recently paid a bonus of around £40,000 the RCN also called for a full disclosure of bonus payments and the performance justifying them.

The RCN pointed to the contrast with nurses and other public sector staff who are in the middle of a two year pay freeze and subject to threats on their pensions.

Tom Sandford, Director of the RCN in England, said:

“It is deeply concerning that shady deals appear to be taking place where people are being awarded huge sums of money from the public purse with little accountability and transparency. Those at the very top, including the Secretary of State for Health, need to be very clear about what kind of message this sends to frontline staff who are suffering an assault on their pay and pensions.”

The RCN today expressed concern that if continued unchecked, these arrangements could result in conflicts of interest and wasted public money under the terms of the proposed health bill which include increasing different types of providers.

As a result of the exposed arrangements the RCN today fully backed an immediate Treasury review into the extent of pay arrangements. It also called for:

• A full disclosure on bonus payments paid to senior Department of Health staff
• Transparency across the public sector on how pay deals are arrived at including the practice of employing staff on limited company arrangements
• A guarantee that contracts awarded under legislation proposed in the Health Bill will be conducted in an open manner
• Fairness across the public sector as to how contracts are awarded and the pay deals that are contained within them

Tom Sandford continued:

“With the Health Bill currently going through Parliament these issues add to our honestly held concerns about the increasing private sector involvement in the NHS. Our public sector contracts should be above probity and the government must not take their eye off the ball on this. Especially at a time when finances are so tight and the NHS is having to save £20 billion.”

ENDS

Notes for Editors

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Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is the voice of nursing across the UK and is the largest professional union of nursing staff in the world. The RCN promotes the interest of nurses and patients on a wide range of issues and helps shape healthcare policy by working closely with the UK Government and other national and international institutions, trade unions, professional bodies and voluntary organisations.