Commons Sense

House of Commons · Written Ministerial Statement

NHS Very Senior Managers Pay Framework

15 May 2025 · Department of Health and Social Care

Proposed by Karin Smyth Lab Bristol South

NHS

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

View on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Key points

  • The NHS Very Senior Managers Pay Framework aims to incentivise high performance and penalise poor performance.
  • Employers can reward exceptional performance with bonuses up to 10% and withhold pay for poor performance.
  • The framework introduces a new segmentation system based on organisational performance metrics to determine pay eligibility.

Issue summary

The announcement concerns the publication of a new NHS Very Senior Managers (VSM) Pay Framework aimed at incentivising high performance while penalising poor performance.

Action requested

This framework will support changes in the NHS through the government’s Plan for Change, enabling employers to reward exceptional performance with bonuses up to 10% and withhold pay for VSMs in poorly performing organisations. It introduces a new segmentation system based on organisational performance metrics to determine eligibility for pay uplifts.

Key facts

  • The new pay framework removes differentiation between different types of trusts and introduces benchmarks accounting for organisational size and turnover.
  • Employers can apply temporary increases to attract top talent to poorly performing organisations.
  • VSMs in the lowest-performing segment (NPAF segment 5) will not be eligible for pay uplifts unless an exemption applies.
  • NHS organisations must explain their pay decisions in annual accounts and submit a yearly report to NHS England.
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