NHS Pay Review Body remit letter: 2027 to 2028
Published 15 July 2026
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Stephen Boyle
Interim Chair, NHS Pay Review Body
Office of Manpower Economics
First floor
10 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0NB
Dear Mr Boyle,
I would like to offer my thanks, on behalf of the government, to you and the members of the NHS Pay Review Body (NHSPRB) for your work over the past year on the 2026 to 2027 report. The government appreciates the independent, expert advice and valuable contribution that the NHSPRB makes.
We were pleased to be able to accept your recommendations for 2026 to 2027 in full. I write to you now to commence formally the next pay round for 2027 to 2028 in line with your terms of reference. As part of this, we will provide our departmental evidence as usual in the autumn, setting out the funds available to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) for 2027 to 2028, as well as the recruitment and retention context, earnings data and the 10 Year Health Plan - our strategy for building an NHS fit for the future.
With regards to the outstanding recommendation from 2025 to 2026 and 2024 to 2025 for a mandate to NHS Staff Council for pay structure reform, I am pleased to be able to update you that following NHS Staff Council’s acceptance of the mandate, we have commenced negotiations. The mandate includes the potential to include headline pay uplifts for 2027 to 2028 and 2028 to 2029 as part of these negotiations. We will of course ensure that members of the NHSPRB are kept up to date with the progress of this work, in particular if there are implications for the work of the NHSPRB of any deal agreed with NHS Staff Council.
Alongside the progress on pay structure reform, we were pleased to accept the pay recommendation from the NHSPRB 2 months earlier than last year, meaning that the uplift was in pay packets from the start of April for the first time in 6 years. This shows our commitment to delivering pay increases to NHS staff promptly. We know that public sector workers delivering our vital public services deserve prompt pay awards and the government remains committed to ensuring 2027 to 2028 pay announcements remain timely. That is why we are launching this pay round earlier than the previous pay round. I would be grateful if you could support a prompt pay announcement by submitting your report at the earliest point that allows you to give due consideration to the relevant evidence. I recognise that changing the timeline from recent years will present challenges for you, but I am sure you also share the government’s belief in the importance of returning to more timely annual pay processes. To enable you to submit your report earlier, our department will aim to meet your deadlines and bring the evidence process forward.
As always, while your remit covers the whole of the United Kingdom, it is for each administration to make its own decisions on its approach to this year’s pay round and to communicate this to you directly.
I would like to thank you again for the NHSPRB’s invaluable contribution to the pay round and look forward to receiving your report for 2027 to 2028 in due course.
Yours ever,
The Rt Hon James Murray, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care