Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the financial impact of the higher pay bands for health care assistants introduced in July 2021 on NHS trusts.

No new pay bands were introduced in July 2021. The NHS Staff Council, which has representatives from both employers and trade unions, agreed minor wording amendments to the profiles for band 2 and band 3 Healthcare Support Worker roles in August 2021. The profile levels and scores were not changed.

However, the clarifying amendments to the profiles led to some rebanding requests. This is a local matter and it is the responsibility of every employing organisation to ensure their staff are correctly evaluated and paid in accordance. For that reason, no assessment has been or will be made.