Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 19 June 2023 to Question 189024 on NHS: Pay, for what reason no assessment was made of the full cost of passing on the non-consolidated awards for 2022/23 to all staff employed by NHS contractors.

The pay deal that was accepted by the NHS Staff Council on 2 May 2023 covered staff directly employed by NHS organisations. Independent providers, including not-for-profit organisations and social enterprises, are free to develop and adapt their own terms and conditions of employment. If they choose to utilise the terms and conditions of NHS staff on the Agenda for Change contract, it is for them to determine what is affordable within the financial model they operate and how to recoup any additional costs they face.