Vote on the NHS pay offer for Agenda for Change staff in Scotland
Please read the information below before voting.
Your vote will be counted if your MyRCN record shows that you’re employed by NHS Scotland on Agenda for Change terms and conditions.
All other votes will be discounted.
What we’re asking you to vote on
After direct negotiations with the joint health trade unions, the Scottish government has made a pay offer for all NHS Scotland staff on Agenda for Change (AfC) terms and conditions for 2025-2026 and 2026-2027. The details of the offer are:
- An increase of 4.25% from 1 April 2025 across all bands
- An increase of 3.75% from 1 April 2026 across all bands
- An inflation guarantee to ensure the increase in pay each year is a minimum of one percentage point higher than the average Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate for the year.
Read the detail of the offer to understand what it means for you. Read our comment on the offer and on our consultation.
Background
The Scottish government has not given the NHS Pay Review Body a remit to make a recommendation on pay for Scotland for over seven years. Instead, the Scottish government continues to pursue a settlement with the health trade unions through direct pay negotiations.
The joint health trade unions lodged a pay claim in January 2025. Despite this and continued pressure from the RCN and other unions, negotiations did not commence until Wednesday 19 March.
Negotiations continued into April and a final pay offer has now been made by the Scottish government.
RCN position
Your elected RCN member representatives have reviewed the pay offer and are not making a recommendation about how you should vote.
It is up to you to decide if you accept or reject the pay offer. We encourage you to use your vote.
To be eligible to vote, you need to be logged into your RCN account.
Need more information?
Read our FAQs.
