Welsh Government urged to give NHS and care workers ‘real’ pay rise

Plaid Cymru has urged the Welsh Government to support its amendment to the Welsh draft budget to give healthcare staff an 8% pay rise – the first real terms pay increase in over decade.

The Draft Budget for 2023-24 will be debated today and Plaid’s amendment calls on the Welsh Government to raise additional revenue by varying the rate of tax to give both health and care workers a fairer pay offer as part of a longer-term investment in the service.

The Welsh Government on Friday confirmed a “revised pay offer” for NHS staff of an additional 3%, of which 1.5% is consolidated.

Plaid Cymru Leader Adam Price said the 1.5% increase was a “sticking plaster” and would do “nothing” to address an NHS that is “understaffed” and a care system that is “underfunded”.

Mr Price said that Plaid Cymru’s plan would generate an extra £317 million to offer NHS workers an 8% pay rise – the first real terms pay increase in over a decade – to help tackle staffing shortages and provide care workers with £12 an hour as a minimum.

The Plaid Cymru Leader also urged the Welsh Government to back the party’s calls for Wales to set its own tax bands to create a “fairer taxation system”.

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Plaid Cymru Leader Adam Price MS said: “Public services – cut. Waiting times – up. Families are struggling to put food on the table while local businesses are going bust.

“This is the direct result of thirteen years of Tory cuts and twenty-five years of Labour failure provide real and radical solutions to the challenges facing our communities.

“Plaid Cymru has shown a way forward. Using the tax powers we have here in Wales, we could generate an extra £317 million to offer NHS workers an 8% pay rise – the first real terms pay increase in over a decade – to help tackle staffing shortages and provide care workers with £12 an hour as a minimum.

“Where Plaid Cymru leads, Labour follows – eventually. We urge them to follow us now, without delay and support our amendment to the Budget. And, if they truly believe in a fair taxation system, they will back us in demanding the powers to set our own tax bands just like Scotland, rather than be ruled by Westminster.”