Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether social enterprises which have been commissioned by the NHS to deliver work on its behalf and which employ staff on agenda for change contracts will receive Government funding to enable them to fulfil the 2022/23 NHS non-consolidated pay awards.

The 2022-23 non-consolidated pay uplift for Agenda for Change staff applies to staff directly employed by an National Health Service organisation as set out in Annex 1 of the NHS Employers handbook. The eligibility criteria was agreed by all parties during negotiations, including Trade Unions and NHS Employers.

Independent providers remain free to develop and adapt their own terms and conditions of employment. This includes the pay scales that they use and any non-consolidated pay awards they choose to make. Staff employed by independent providers who utilise the Agenda for Change terms and conditions may be entitled to the non-consolidated pay award that staff working for eligible NHS organisations will receive, and organisations should consider their contractual obligations.