{"id":138748,"date":"2018-06-09T20:44:16","date_gmt":"2018-06-09T20:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/snp-conference-sturgeon-announces-immediate-nhs-pay-rise\/"},"modified":"2018-06-09T20:44:16","modified_gmt":"2018-06-09T20:44:16","slug":"snp-conference-sturgeon-announces-immediate-nhs-pay-rise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/snp-conference-sturgeon-announces-immediate-nhs-pay-rise\/","title":{"rendered":"SNP conference: Sturgeon announces &#8216;immediate&#8217; NHS pay rise"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure>                                  <img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"nicola sturgeon\" src=\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/320\/cpsprodpb\/11E81\/production\/_101954337_sturgeonpa.jpg\"\/>Image copyright                  PA<figcaption>Image caption                                      Ms Sturgeon&#039;s announcement was met by cheers from delegates at the conference                              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"caps\">The majority of NHS Scotland staff will receive a 3% pay rise this year, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.<\/p>\n<p>She told the SNP conference that staff currently earning up to \u00a380,000 will receive at least a 3% increase.<\/p>\n<p>And she pledged that the &quot;immediate&quot; pay rise &quot;will be in their pay packets next month&quot;.<\/p>\n<p>She said the move meant the vast majority of frontline NHS Scotland staff will be paid more than in NHS England.<\/p>\n<p>It was confirmed on Friday that more than a million NHS workers in England will receive a three-year pay deal worth 6.5% after staff voted in favour of the offer. They will also get the money in their July pay packets, backdated from April.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Brian Taylor: Subdued anticipation at the SNP conference<\/li>\n<li>Keith Brown elected SNP deputy leader<\/li>\n<li>Brexit bill &#039;uncharted territory&#039; warning<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ms Sturgeon also used her speech to contrast the &quot;shambolic&quot; UK government with her party&#039;s achievements at Holyrood.<\/p>\n<p>She repeated her call for immigration policy to be devolved to the Scottish Parliament. <\/p>\n<p>And she announced 750 new or refurbished nurseries to help deliver an increase in free pre-school provision, and more funding for students who have been in care.<\/p>\n<p>But she gave no details of when a second Scottish independence referendum could be held.<\/p>\n<p>Ms Sturgeon was speaking as the two-day conference in Aberdeen drew to a close.<\/p>\n<h2>How will the NHS pay rise work?<\/h2>\n<figure>                                                                                                       Image copyright                  Getty Images<figcaption>Image caption                                      The announcement will benefit 147,000 nurses, midwives, paramedics and other NHS staff                              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Ms Sturgeon told delegates that the past few years of pay restraint had been &quot;tough&quot; on NHS staff and other public service workers.<\/p>\n<p>She added: &quot;We&#039;re currently in negotiations to agree a three year pay deal for NHS staff in which we aim to not just match but exceed the deal agreed in England. I hope these talks reach a positive conclusion soon.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;But I don&#039;t want those working so hard in the NHS to have to wait for that agreement to get a pay rise this year. So I can announce today that we will make a payment on account as negotiations continue.&quot;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sarah Smith: Tension within the SNP&#039;s broad church<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Staff currently earning up to \u00a380,000 will receive at least a 3% uplift, and those earning \u00a380,000 and over will receive a flat rate increase of \u00a31,600. <\/p>\n<p>Staff not at the top of their pay bands will also receive any incremental progression they are due.<\/p>\n<p>The announcement will benefit 147,000 Agenda for Change staff, such as nurses, midwives, allied health professionals, therapists, paramedics, support staff and administrators. <\/p>\n<p>Ms Sturgeon said the move would mean auxiliary nurses in Scotland with a year&#039;s experience in Band 4 would be over \u00a3800 a year better off than those in England, and nurses with five years&#039; experience in Band 5 \u00a3400 better off.<\/p>\n<h2>What did she say about independence?<\/h2>\n<figure>                                                                                                       Image copyright                  Reuters                                                    <\/figure>\n<p>In her speech the first minister urged supporters to focus not just on the &quot;when&quot; of a second independence referendum, but also to &quot;use our energy and passion to persuade those who still ask &#039;why?&#039;&quot;.<\/p>\n<p>Ms Sturgeon did not directly address the potential timing of any referendum, having previously pledged to do so in the autumn when the implications of Brexit become clearer.<\/p>\n<h2>Analysis by Philip Sim, BBC Scotland political reporter<\/h2>\n<figure>                                                                                                       Image copyright                  Getty Images                                                    <\/figure>\n<p>The SNP conference has been a slightly subdued affair this year, with a heavy focus on the technicalities of the party&#039;s internal constitution rather than rhetoric about the national one. <\/p>\n<p>But Nicola Sturgeon&#039;s keynote speech can always be relied upon to get the faithful on their feet.<\/p>\n<p>There was a hefty dollop of &quot;day job&quot; material, from nurseries and tuition fees to a big announcement on NHS pay.<\/p>\n<p>But the memorable moments in the speech were red meat for the masses of the SNP membership - attacks on the &quot;shambles&quot; of a Westminster government and assurances that independence is closer than ever.<\/p>\n<p>Is it? <\/p>\n<p>In terms of timetabling for a referendum, no. The telling moment was when Ms Sturgeon urged her troops not to focus just on the &#039;when&#039; of independence, but to work on winning people over to the &#039;why&#039; of it, &quot;as we wait for the fog of Brexit to clear&quot;.<\/p>\n<p>In terms of winning the argument, then? SNP members are heading off to a series of &quot;national assemblies&quot; to discuss the growth commission report on the economy. <\/p>\n<p>But their votes are in the bag already. The greater question is what the rest of the country makes of it.<\/p>\n<p>Ms Sturgeon praised her party&#039;s recent Growth Commission report, which she said &quot;doesn&#039;t shy away from challenges&quot; or &quot;pretend there are always easy answers&quot;.<\/p>\n<p>And she said the document &quot;lays strong foundations&quot; for independence and &quot;offers a brighter future than Brexit and Westminster austerity&quot;.<\/p>\n<p>The report was met with a mixed response from independence supporters when it was published a fortnight ago.<\/p>\n<p>It examines the economic options for an independent Scotland, and proposes keeping the pound and embarking on a major deficit reduction programme in the first years after leaving the UK.<\/p>\n<h2>What else did the SNP leader say?<\/h2>\n<figure>                                                                                                       Image copyright                  PA                                                    <\/figure>\n<p>The first minister claimed that the &quot;shambolic Westminster Tory government is holding Scotland back, while the Scottish government is moving Scotland forwards&quot;.<\/p>\n<p>And she highlighted the &quot;disastrous&quot; impact she believes the UK government&#039;s &quot;hostile migration policy&quot; is having on Scotland&#039;s public services and economy.<\/p>\n<p>Ms Sturgeon added: &quot;Scotland is a welcoming country - our prosperity and our public services depend on it.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;If Westminster cannot or will not act in our best interests, it is time that our own parliament was able to do so. It&#039;s time for powers over migration to come to Scotland.&quot;<\/p>\n<h2>What else happened at the conference?<\/h2>\n<figure>                                                                                                       Image copyright                  Reuters<figcaption>Image caption                                      The SNP is overwhelmingly supportive of Clara Ponsati and the Catalan independence movement                              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Pro-independence Catalan politician Clara Ponsati, who is fighting a legal battle against being extradited from Scotland to Spain, spoke directly before Ms Sturgeon. <\/p>\n<p>Prof Ponsati thanked her Scottish supporters Scots for their &quot;overwhelming&quot; backing in her fight, and told the conference: &quot;I am really overwhelmed by the affection and the support I have received since I put my feet back in Scottish territory.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;What you are doing is showing your belief in democracy and human rights. Catalans are deeply grateful to you for that.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>Prof Ponsati has been accused by the Spanish authorities of rebellion - defined under Spanish law as being involved in a violent uprising - and misappropriation of public funds for her role in the Catalan referendum.<\/p>\n<p>The conference opened on Friday morning with Keith Brown being confirmed as the SNP&#039;s new deputy leader following a vote by party members. <\/p>\n<p>Mr Brown, who is also Scotland&#039;s economy secretary, succeeds former MP Angus Robertson in role after finishing ahead of activist Julie Hepburn and Inverclyde councillor Chris McEleny in the contest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Image copyright PAImage caption Ms Sturgeon&#039;s announcement was met by cheers from delegates at the conference The majority of NHS Scotland staff will receive a 3% pay rise this year,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":138749,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-138748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138748","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138748\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}