“But what we’re not willing to do is to open negotiations about pay and that's because we have an independent pay review body. That body makes recommendations every year and the government has accepted those recommendations in full”

Will Quince, Health Minister, BBC Breakfast

20 December 2022

Facts

Shadow Justice Secretary Steve Reed told Sky News “What happened with that body [the NHS Pay Review Body] is the Goverment told them the amount of money that they could offer to the nurses and so they capped the possible pay rise that was on offer. That’s not independent, that’s the government operating behind closed doors.”

For a useful discussion see Full Fact.

Verdict

Although the pay review body is fully independent in terms of factors such as personnel, critics say it is nevertheless constrained in its decisions by parameters set for it by te government.

We emailed Will Quice’s office and the Department for Health and Social Care offering them the chance to respond. The email was received, but no reply.

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