THE Labour government in Westminster “will end up in a dispute” if it fails to change approach and match Scotland’s NHS pay offer, Unite has warned.

The union’s national officer for health, Richard Munn, made the remarks ahead of a members’ ballot on the SNP Scottish government’s pay offer of 4.25 per cent this year and 3.75 the next, with an inflation-proof guarantee of 1 per cent above CPI.

He called on the British government and other devolved nations to engage in direct pay talks like their Scottish counterparts and ditch a Pay Review Body (PRB) process that workers had “lost all faith in.”

"Unite members across the UK will expect that the example set by Scottish government is at the very least matched,” he said. 

“They will also want to see real progress in respect of closing the pay gap with Scotland.

“Unless UK, Welsh and Northern Irish governments change their approach then we are seriously concerned that while Scottish members get on with their vital work, union members in other nations will end up in a dispute.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We have asked the independent Pay Review Bodies to recommend uplifts this year and look forward to receiving their reports.

“We are committed to improving the timetable for the pay round, which is why we started this year’s process far earlier than recent years and will look to build on that in future years.”