Classification: Official
Publication reference: PRN02027
To:
- Provider trust and integrated care board (ICB) chairs
- Provider trust and ICB chief people officers
Dear colleagues,
Very senior managers pay award for 2025/26
I write to advise you formally of the 2025/26 annual pay increase for very senior managers (VSMs).
On 22 May 2025, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care accepted the Senior Salaries Review Body’s (SSRB) headline pay recommendation in a Written Ministerial Statement. In accepting the recommendation, government awarded a 3.25% uplift for VSMs in the NHS in England, backdated to 1 April 2025.
The SSRB’s report to government can be found on the GOV.UK website: Senior Salaries Review Body Report: 2025 – GOV.UK. The SSRB also made a further recommendation for an additional 0.5% of the VSM pay bill in each employing organisation to be used to address specific pay anomalies, specifically pay overlaps with the Agenda for Change pay scale. As set out in the written statement, this recommendation was rejected by government
Interactions with the NHS VSM pay framework
On 15 May 2025, the new NHS VSM Pay Framework was published. As set out in the new framework, VSMs who work in an organisation designated segment 5 under the new (soon to be launched) NHS Performance Assessment Framework (NPAF), will not be eligible for this annual pay award, unless they meet the requirements of an exemption (see section 3.3 of the VSM pay framework for exemption criteria).
It is expected that the initial data for determining segmentation under the new NPAF will be published during this summer. We therefore advise local remuneration committees to carefully consider the appropriate time to implement VSM pay awards and arrears, and to refrain from applying the pay uplift before the segmentation for their organisation is known. Most NHS staff will receive their 2025/26 pay award this August.
Chief medical officer pay
As in previous years, medical directors employed on the consultant contract will receive the agreed pay award for their consultant pay, as per the Government’s response to the Doctors and Dentists Review Body (DDRB) recommendations. Extra contractual payments pertaining to their role as a VSM will be subject to the VSM pay framework, for example, a VSM related management allowance may be uplifted by a 3.25% increase.
Approvals and next steps
The new VSM framework sets out thresholds where you would need to submit a pay case to NHS England where a VSM’s proposed pay exceeds the agreed levels. I want to confirm that pay cases are not required where the sole reason for pay going above the relevant threshold is due to implementing the SSRB’s pay recommendations. Should you have a case where a VSM’s pay is proposed for increase beyond the normal thresholds, and the reason is not solely related to the pay award, a pay case is still required.
Our team can guide you through any individual cases and can be contacted on england.vsmcases@nhs.net.
I would like to thank you again for your ongoing, personal commitment to providing the best possible patient care and supporting our staff.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Navina Evans CBE MRCPsych, Chief Workforce, Training and Education Officer, NHS England.
Further details can be found below:
- NHS England » NHS provider and integrated care board (ICB) pay ranges for the financial year 2025/26 (02/2025)
- NHS England » Very senior managers (VSM) pay framework