Hikes to the reimbursable amounts for ARRS staff are in line with the 5.5% Agenda for Change pay increases announced earlier this year, NHS England has confirmed.
However, networks will need to find the money for these uplifts within their existing 2024/25 budgets, it added.
The Government announced a 2024/25 pay award of 5.5% for Agenda for Change staff on NHS terms and conditions at the end of July.
However, PCNs had been waiting for confirmation for updated ARRS reimbursements until late last month when the Network DES update was published. But this document did not state whether this was in line with the Agenda for Change uplift.
In a clarification to our sister publication Pulse PCN, a spokesperson for NHS England said this was the case.
They said: ‘The maximum reimbursement amounts per role for existing (non-GP) ARRS staff have increased (1 October 2024-31 March 2025) by 5.5% for employees’ pay following the NHS Pay Review Body Report 2024 and employers’ national insurance and pension contributions added.’
On the issue of overall PCN funding not being increased to accommodate this uplift, the spokesperson added: ‘Funding for the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) was uplifted for the full 2024/25 year by 2% in April 2024.
‘In applying the 5.5% uplift from 1 October, networks will need to ensure that the 2024/25 cost of their overall ARRS establishment remains within their available 2024/25 Network contract funding.’
Last year, reimbursements for ARRS roles were also uplifted to match Agenda for Change, but there was similarly no overall change to the funding available for the scheme.
Dr Sarit Ghosh, clinical director at Enfield Unity PCN, said: ‘A rise in the reimbursement figures without an increase in total budget puts PCNs in a difficult position caught between potential retention issues and financial stability.
‘In previous years, where either the full budget was not spent or there was an incoming increase in the allocation, this was not such an issue as there was a margin. Now with a push to utilise all of the funding, there is nothing left for rises meaning dipping into other pots.’
A version of this article was first published by our sister title Pulse PCN
