Review of Contribution towards Professional Fees.
The 2007 settlement on pay provided for a 50% contribution by employers towards the professional registration fees for staff in Bands 5 to 8 where there was a requirement to register to practice. This applied in England only and was for three years 2007 - 2010.
During 2009, the trade unions submitted a claim for this to be uprated and paid past 2010 on an all UK basis.
The devolved administrations of Cymru/Wales, NI and Scotland all indicated that they were not prepared to support this.
However, the Staff Council Executive did agree to commission an independent review regarding is application in England and that work was reported to the Staff Council Executive in October 2010. Although the report provided a range of options including continuation for a further 2 years, the management side of the executive were adamant that they were not prepared to continue the payment past October 2010 due to the financial pressures facing the NHS ahead.
The Trade Union side continued to press the management side at the November and December meetings but have now accepted that we are unable to make any progress on this matter at the present time. We indicated that our claim remained on the table and that we would wish to return to it in more favourable conditions.
Review of National Recruitment and Retention Premia (NRRP)
Following the Tribunal judgement in the Hartley v UNISON and others case of February 2009 which required a review of NRRP to be completed by March 2011, the Staff Council commissioned the Institute of Employment studies to conduct this review. Their report, which was received by the Staff Council in November 2010, concluded that there was no case for continuing with NRRP past March 2011 although it acknowledged that there will be areas where local RRPs may be appropriate.
A copy of the report is available on the UNISON Healthcare web pages at www.unison.org.uk/file/A12276.pdf
The Staff Council Executive is due to consider the IES report further in January but in the meantime has established a small negotiating group to develop proposals for transitional arrangements (protection). We will write to you again when the outcome of these discussions is known.
Review of Mileage allowances
In July 2010 Staff Council agreement was reached on a new system of reimbursement for mileage (Section 17) subject to trade union consultation. The outcome of the trade union consultation was broadly favourable save for some concern at the impact of the 3,500 mile threshold on those who regularly do high annual mileage. The trade union side of the Staff Council have asked for further discussions to consider the impact of this threshold. The new scheme is not due to be introduced until July 2013.
