Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of aligning the (a) pay and (b) terms and conditions of staff on the Agenda for Change contract and staff on Doctors and Dentists terms and conditions.

The Department has taken measures to align the terms and conditions of National Health Service staff where appropriate. There are sections in both the doctors and dentists in training contract and the specialty and specialist doctors contract which mirror the Agenda for Change contract, such as the leave and pay for new parents and balancing work and personal life. The ambition is to do the same for a future updated contract for consultants.

The Department has not made an assessment of aligning the pay of staff on the Agenda for Change contract and staff on doctors and dentists terms and conditions. Where pay structures have been modernised, these reflect the specific needs of the workforces they relate to.