Eluned Morgan, Minister for Health and Social Services
Further to my written statement of 20th April 2023 which provided an update on the pay offer for Agenda for Change staff for 2022-23 and 2023-24.
The NHS trade union side yesterday informed Welsh Government that their collective decision is to accept the two year pay offer which I outlined in my previous statement.
I am pleased that, overall, union members have accepted our offer and am grateful to all our unions for working with us in social partnership.
I have therefore decided to implement the offer for all Welsh NHS Agenda for Change staff and Welsh Government will immediately begin the process for making the pay award so that workers receive the payments as soon as practicable.
There are important non-pay elements in the accepted offer and we will begin discussions in social partnership to move to implementation without delay. We will be meeting NHS unions and employers at a regular partnership committee today where we will begin this discussion.
The offer we made came as a result of negotiations which were challenging for all sides. We have been transparent regarding the difficult financial position facing the Welsh Government without additional funding from Westminster. Hard decisions have had to be taken across all Welsh Government departments and within the health and care budget to reach the position we have. This position has not changed and to date there has been no indication of additional funding from UK treasury.
Two unions remain in dispute regarding the 2022-23 pay award and I do recognise the strength of feeling amongst members of all unions whether they voted to accept or to reject. While maintaining the collective agreement, we will continue discussions where we can in order to seek to address legitimate specific concerns and to avoid any further industrial action.
Welsh Government remains fully committed to working in tripartite social partnership, through our Welsh Partnership Forum, to deliver better working lives for NHS staff and better public services for our people.