Health strikes: Unions hold 'frank' meeting with NI secretary

Rita Devlin from the RCN said it was seeking clarity over pay at the meeting with Chris Heaton-Harris on Wednesday

Health worker unions in Northern Ireland have described a meeting with the Northern Ireland Secretary over a long-running pay dispute as "full and frank".

Ahead of the meeting on Wednesday, Chris Heaton-Harris told BBC NI he had "pretty much" no power to resolve the dispute.

Another meeting would take place in the near future, the unions said.

Health workers in the rest of the UK have received pay offers.

The Department of Health said last week it could not strike a deal in NI in the absence of a Stormont budget.

Healthcare staff took strike action last Friday, but action planned for Monday was called off after talks were set up with Mr Heaton-Harris.

• Health workers call off strikes planned for Monday

• No pay offer for staff says Department of Health

The unions said they asked a number of questions over whether there will be new money on the table from the UK government, through the Barnett consequentials.

Anne Speed, lead negotiator for health trade unions, refused to rule out further strikes.

"We had a full and frank exchange of views," she said.

"We asked a number of questions, the Secretary of State said he would get clarification which will be based on the outcome of the deal in England, information on the Barnett consequentials, what that would look like, when or if it would be applied to Northern Ireland.

"So we will have to await that outcome but we have agreed to a return meeting with him face to face, and we think that's as far as we could take it this evening."

Speaking on Wednesday afternoon Mr Heaton-Harris said any power in the dispute lay with Northern Ireland's permanent secretaries and he had "no legal power with which to step in".

Earlier the Royal College of Nursing's NI director Rita Devlin said healthcare workers in Northern Ireland are stuck in "a political limbo" in efforts to secure a pay deal.

She added that nurses in Northern Ireland would not allow themselves to "go out of pay parity again".

'Not a tea and buns meeting'

The Barnett formula is used to determine annual changes in the block grant to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

A 5% pay rise from April has been offered to NHS staff in England, including nurses and ambulance workers.

In addition, staff have been offered a one-off payment of at least £1,655 to top up the past year's pay award.

The offer covers all NHS staff except doctors, who are on a different contract.

Strike action has also been paused in Wales and Scotland by most unions while new offers are considered. The GMB in Scotland has accepted the Scottish offer, worth 14% over two years.

Staff on the picket line at the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine on Friday

Speaking before the meeting, Ms Speed said: "There is always a point to discussion - it won't be a tea and buns meeting, it will be a frank meeting but we are pleased to have the opportunity.

"It did take some weeks to bring him to offer the meeting but we are glad to have that opportunity."

In a statement, the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) said Wednesday's meeting is "to offer clarity on the pay offer that was made to health workers in England and Wales earlier this month and to discuss the Northern Ireland budget for 23/24".

It added that the secretary of state has "no authority to negotiate pay in Northern Ireland".

"The pressures affecting Northern Ireland health services demonstrate the pressing need to have locally accountable political leaders in place to take fundamental decisions on Northern Ireland's public services and deliver better outcomes for the people of Northern Ireland," an NIO spokesperson said.