We welcome the opportunity to submit evidence to the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB) on behalf of NHS trusts and foundation trusts, to inform the 2024/25 pay round. The key messages from our submission, based on a number of information sources including our survey of trust HR directors, are as follows:

• The NHS and its staff remain under considerable pressure, including the challenges of winter. The 2024/25 pay round commences in challenging operational and economic conditions, both for staff and trusts. Such pressure impacts retention and recruitment, as well as staff morale and wellbeing. The last 12 months have also seen the most extensive period of industrial action in the NHS’ 75 year history
• Trust leaders are clear that a meaningful pay increase for NHS staff is vital in 2024/25, with 42% of respondents to our pay survey advocating a 5% uplift for Agenda for Change (AfC) staff to support retention and recruitment. 18% of respondents support an uplift of 4%, and 13% support a 6% increase. 13% support an uplift of 7-9%, while 4% support an uplift of 10% or more
• The majority of respondents (56%) do not support targeted pay awards for groups under the remit of the PRB, but for the 36% who do, their preference would be for these to be targeted towards bands 3, 2 and 4 (in order of preference)
• It is essential that the 2024/25 pay award is fully funded by central government. We again ask that the PRB makes an explicit recommendation for government to commit to fully funding the pay uplifts it decides to award NHS staff, rather than funding the award from existing budgets which will undermine vital plans for service transformation
• The announcement of funding for some non-NHS organisations to support their implementation of the 2023/24 pay increases was welcome, however, 66% of trust leaders who employ staff on local authority contracts remain not at all confident or not confident that they will receive funding to cover the cost of AfC uplifts agreed as part of the 2024/25 pay round
• National funding was not provided for the non-consolidated elements of the AfC pay deal for bank staff. As a result of this, 65% of trust leaders responding to our survey said they did not apply these elements to their bank staff, and that this damaged relationships between the trust and bank staff
• The delayed announcement of pay awards continues to be damaging to staff morale and their personal financial planning, as well as to trust financial planning. As a point of principle, NHS staff deserve to go into each new financial year knowing their pay for that period.