England teachers and doctors granted 4% pay hike after strike pressure

Time of India

23-05-2025

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Doctors and teachers in England have been granted a pay hike by 4 per cent, after the government accepted the salary recommendations made by pay review bodies.
According to BCC, the reaction from the majority of education unions have been positive and welcoming, with a caveat that spending cuts given no extra funding to school budgets might hamper covering costs.
But the health unions have reacted sharply to just 3.6% rise to other NHS staff including nurses and midwives. The British Medical Association (BMA) said an appraisal of 5.4% to resident doctors, was 'woefully inadequate' and they would put it to vote next week, mulling possible strike.
Resident doctors staged 11 separate strikes throughout 2023 and 2024, demanding a 35% pay increase to compensate for 15 years of below-inflation wage growth.
They eventually received average pay increases totaling 22% over the past two years, which ended the strikes. However, the British Medical Association (BMA) maintains that this year's pay offer still falls short of fully addressing the gap.
Meanwhile, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) criticized the smaller raise given to nurses compared to doctors, calling it 'grotesque.' The RCN also condemned the current pay review process as flawed and biased, claiming it keeps nurses at the bottom of the pay scale.
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The union intends to consult its members to gauge satisfaction with the pay offer. If nurses reject it, the RCN may proceed with a formal ballot to consider industrial action.
A series of announcements on Thursday confirmed:
a 4% headline award for doctors, dentists, and teachers in England, as well as prison officers in England and Wales
resident doctors will get an extra £750 top-up, which the health department says brings their average rise to 5.4%
a 3.6% rise for NHS staff in England on Agenda for Change contracts, including nurses and midwives
a 3.25% rise for civil servants, including senior civil servants
a 4.5% rise for members of the UK armed forces, with 3.75% for senior military staff.
The recently out inflation numbers, which unexpectedly rose to a high of 3.5% have only complicated the matter. With unions representing junior civil servants, PCS contrasted their latest raise proposal of 3.25% with these figures.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting called the pay increase for nurses "above inflation," but the Royal College of Nursing argued that rising costs would completely offset the raise.
Meanwhile, the Institute for Fiscal Studies noted that the 4% pay offer for teachers would likely amount to only a modest real-terms increase, as official forecasts project inflation at 3.2% for the current financial year.
Concerns around funding
The pay increases follow the government's acceptance of recommendations from several pay review bodies, which advise on salaries for about 45% of the public sector workforce.
These awards exceed the 2.8% initially allocated by the Treasury, with ministers stating that most of the additional costs will need to be covered through existing departmental budgets.
The education department has allocated an extra £615 million to help fund the increases, though it noted that schools would be expected to contribute through "improved productivity and smarter spending."
The National Education Union, representing teachers, warned the pay rise was "not fully funded" and cautioned it could result in "cuts in service provision" for many schools.
NEU's general secretary Daniel Kebde said to BBC, said his union will undertake discussion on the offer and strike was 'highly unlikely' with 'broader acceptance'.
"The question is the issue of funding. Members care deeply about that, and of course will want us to campaign heavily on it," he added.
The health department maintained that it could secure the additional funding for the pay increases without affecting "frontline services."
It pointed to savings from lowering reliance on temporary staff, eliminating "duplication and waste," and implementing its plan to dissolve NHS England as potential sources of funding.
Labour brought an end to prolonged public sector strikes last summer by agreeing to recommended pay increases ranging from 4.75% to 6% for the previous year.
Ministers defended the decision as necessary to prevent harm to the economy, though it drew criticism from Conservatives, who claimed the government had lost control over public sector pay.
Shadow health secretary Edward Argar said: "We warned Labour that the unions would simply come back for more when they gave into the strikes and agreed to above inflation pay demands with no strings attached.
"The government needs to get a grip, say how they'll pay for above inflation pay rises without taking money from services for patients, and to stand up to the unions by negotiating a fair affordable deal for taxpayers".