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 impact of not centrally funding pay rises for NHS staff employed by third parties on levels of staff retention.

No specific assessment has been made. Independent providers are 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. It is for them to determine what is affordable within the financial model they operate, and how to recoup any additional costs they face if they choose to utilise the terms and conditions of National Health Service staff on the Agenda for Change contract.