The chair of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) will receive a pay increase of £6,000, bringing their allowance to £130,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) from next May, the council has confirmed.
The current chair, Dame Janet Finch, will step down from her position next April after nearly four years in the role. The incoming chair will be given a more complex job specification, and the council therefore decided that they should work three days a week instead of the current two.
As the pay for the chair had not been changed since 2009, the NMC recommended that their fixed allowance should be increased and asked an independent panel to review this recommendation.
The current chair receives a fixed annual allowance of £48,000 for two days work a week – equal to £120,000 FTE, at an equivalent daily rate of around £460.
It has now been decided, based on the independent panel’s report, that from May 2018 the new chair will receive a fixed annual allowance of £78,000 for a time commitment of three days a week, alongside a rise in the equivalent daily rate to around £500. As well as increasing to recognise the extra day’s work involved, this allowance also includes a raise of £6,000 to reflect ‘the expanded scope of the role’.
An NMC spokesperson said: ‘The role and time commitment of the chair is subject to review whenever there is a reappointment or recruitment process. Our council recently agreed a new role description and an increased time commitment of three days per week for the new chair. This reflects the complex challenges faced by the organisation and the expanded scope of the role of the chair.
‘The current allowance for the chair has not changed since 2009 and is based on the role and time commitment of two days a week. With these important changes to the role and the need to attract high calibre applicants, Council felt it was the right time to review the allowance. It did so by seeking advice from an independent panel.
‘Following the panel’s review, Council accepted the recommendation to increase the chair’s allowance by 8.5% on the current annual pro rata rate. This represents an increase of around 1% per year since 2009, when the remuneration level was last reviewed.’
The pay for NMC council members was also increased last year by 10% to £13,250, or an equivalent rate of about £370 per day.
A further review by the independent panel on the council’s allowances will take place this month.
