Chancellor Jeremy Hunt ‘hopes’ for more strike-ending pay deals - as long as they 'don’t risk economy'

16 March 2023, 18:41 | Updated: 16 March 2023, 18:55

Jeremy Hunt has said he hopes that the government's pay offer to striking NHS workers could lead to more breakthroughs among other public sector workers who have walked out in recent months.

Speaking to LBC's Andrew Marr on Thursday evening, Chancellor Mr Hunt said that he hoped the 5% pay rise offer to ambulance workers and nurses could lead to an end to walkouts among professions like teachers and civil servants.

"The government's attitude to all these groups of workers is the same, we would like to sit down and settle them reasonably but in a way that doesn't risk the economic recovery of the country," Mr Hunt said.

"And I hope today will be the start of that change."

The NHS pay offer, made on Thursday, consists of a one-off payment for the current financial year 2022/23 worth between £1,655 and £3,789 for Agenda for Change staff in England and a 5 per cent consolidated pay increase for 2023/24.

Chancellor says the new NHS pay offer to unions is not inflationary

Unions are recommending members support the deal after weeks of talks aimed at stopping strikes. The Royal College of Nursing, Unison and the GMB have all said they are backing the deal.

An argument the government had made against increasing pay for NHS staff and public sector workers was that boosting salaries in line with inflation could simply lead to inflation rising further.

Mr Hunt said: "The one thing that was always our red line throughout all of these negotiations was that we wouldn’t agree to an award that would entrench high inflation, so that we would be back here next year having the same discussion.

"I’m confident that the award we’ve given will still allow inflation to follow its downward trajectory."

NHS workers have been striking for months as they pushed for better pay and working conditions.

Chancellor: Tory government will not allow front-line services to be impacted by settlements

Asked whether the deal with the unions has been on the table since January, Mr Hunt said: "I think in fairness, you can look at the unions' position and you can see that their position has changed very dramatically since the beginning of January...

"The truth is, this was a difficult dispute, we have very big concerns on affordability because of the public finances, what happened in the Autumn Statement having to put taxes up, and very big concerns about not entrenching inflation.

Read more: Strike action paused as NHS unions and government reach deal on pay

Read more: Andrew Marr: 'Was the pay offer for striking NHS workers an attempt to move on from a Budget that hasn't landed?'

"At the same time, the NHS unions had very big concerns about the cost-of-living pressures on their members. And that's why the right thing to do was to sit and discuss it."

The government has long maintained that it should not interfere with the independent review of NHS pay. Asked to explain the U-turn, Mr Hunt said the government had tried to be "reasonable" throughout the dispute.

"We had an independent process that happened last year, but we also recognise there was a lot of cost of living pressures, which was why we’ve given about £3,000 to every family up and down the country this year and last," he added.

"But yes, we did look again at when we could do a non-consolidated payment, a one-off payment, if you like, on last year’s awards, to recognise those cost of living pressures. I think that was the right thing to do In the circumstances."

Mr Hunt was speaking on the day that the government banned TikTok from its employees' devices after security concerns about the Chinese app.

Asked about the revelation that energy security secretary Grant Shapps will keep using it on his personal phone, Mr Hunt said the decision was for his colleague to make.

He added: "I did take TikTok off my phone when I became Chancellor, because I just wasn't quite sure how the location tracking function worked on it. I have seen my kids looking at TikTok and it is very addictive."