Meeting of the Parliament 04 March 2026 [Draft]
When half an hour was supposed to be reduced from the working week on 1 April 2024, it was only partially implemented. When half an hour was supposed to be reduced from the working week on 1 April 2025, it was pulled. Now, on 1 April 2026, a full hour is supposed to be reduced from the working week for NHS agenda for change staff. However, it has been reliably reported to me that although health boards have submitted plans to the Government, they have not been given assurances that the funding will be recurring. Neither, with four weeks to go, have they all reached agreement locally or nationally on how those plans will be implemented.
Why should our committed NHS workers believe that this time will be any different? Can the Government give our workers a cast-iron guarantee today—in Parliament and on the record—that they will all move to a 36-hour contractual working week in four weeks’ time, and that they will all do so with no loss of earnings?