NHS staff in Scotland get bigger pay rise than south of the Border to meet future demand on the service Warning over education system as workloads soar and morale sinks

By Scott Macnab

NHS workers in Scotland are to get a 9 per cent hike pay over the next three years, it has been confirmed. The increase is highest for health staff across the UK and will affect about 147,000 workers. Workers in England this month backed a 6.5 per cent increase over three years.

The pay rise of 3 per cent annually for frontline workers was first announced by Nicola Sturgeon at the SNP conference this month. Health Secretary Shona Robison confirmed it will apply for the next three years, making a total of 9 per cent.

“We were the first government in the UK to lift the pay cap, and today I can confirm we intend to deliver a pay rise of at least 9 per cent to our hardworking NHS ‘Agenda for Change’ staff over the next three years,” Ms Robison said.

“We’re doing all we can to recruit new talent and retain existing staff, ensuring NHS Scotland has the right skills and experience to meet future demand and rising expectations. Today’s announcement will help make our NHS an attractive employment option.”

The 3 per cent hike will only apply to staff making less than £80,000 a year meaning staff such as nurses, midwives, porters and paramedics are likely to benefit. Managers and other high earners making more than this will get a flat rate increase of £1,600 a year.

The rises will be linked to reforms to terms and conditions. This could include updating policies on sick leave and time-off for those who have worked extra hours as well as wider organisational change.

Tory health spokesman Miles Briggs said: “NHS staff in Scotland are among the most dedicated and hardworking in the country, and deserve to be rewarded.

“This pay rise is thanks to the record NHS resources the UK government has given the SNP government.”

Labour’s Anas Sarwar added: ““While any pay increase is welcome, we need a longer term agreement that restores the value of pay and rewards our amazing NHS staff.

“It is essential that the SNP government get round the table with trade unions to negotiate a longer term settlement that respects the rights of NHS employees and rewards them for the fantastic work they do.” Excessive workloads, cuts to pay and “attacks” on working conditions have sent morale among Scotland’s teachers plummeting, new research has found.

It could even affect their ability to provide the “highest level” of education to pupils.

A third of teachers say they would choose a different career if they could start again, with just half claiming they are satisfied in their work, according to a report carried out by Stirling University researchers on behalf of the NASUWT (National Association of Schoolmaster Union of Women Teachers).

Over half (53 per cent) reported there was a teacher shortage in their subject area at their school, with 83 per cent saying this had impacted on their workload.

Four out of five teachers said that cuts in education spending in Scotland have impacted on their own workload.

Nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) of teachers reported they took work home three times or more a week and nearly six in 0 Iain Gray: ‘Both teachers and pupils are being failed by SNP’ ten (58 per cent) reported they had after school meetings. Asked to rate their workload on a scale of 1 to 10, 60 per cent of secondary school teachers and 50 per cent of primary teachers rated their workload as being at nine or above. Jane Peckham, NASUWT National Official Scotland, said: “It is clear from the research that teachers do not feel valued by employers and decision-makers in Scotland and that their morale and job satisfaction is being eroded by the impact of cuts to their pay, working conditions and funding for education.

“Teachers help provide the foundations for future gener- ations of children and young people to achieve and for the country to prosper, but as teaching becomes an increasingly unattractive career for increasingnumbersof teachers, this vital work is being put at risk.

“Ministers, employers and schools must take heed and act now.”

The survey attracted nearly 1,400 responses from teachers across Scotland. It also found nearly three-quarters (72 per cent) saying the time they spent on administrative and clerical tasks has been affected by the removal of guidance for schools setting out a list of administrative tasks teachers should not be routinely asked to undertake.

Labour education spokesman Iain Gray said: “These are shocking figures that once again expose how teachers and pupils are being failed by this SNP government.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We have undertaken a range of actions to ensure a reduction in teacher workload, acting to clarify and simplify the curriculum framework and to remove unnecessary bureaucracy.”