To: AfC Project Managers
AfC KSF Leads
SPRIG/AFC/SGL/2006/002
Date: 13/06/2006
Dear Colleague
Agenda for Change - Knowledge and Skills Outlines and related ‘Broad Banding Issues
The attached paper on KSF Outlines and issues relating to ‘Broad Banding’ was produced by the UK KSF
Group and has been endorsed by the Scottish Pay Reference and Implementation Group (SPRIG).
This paper provides a useful reminder of three of the key principles of Agenda for Change – Change, Equity and Partnership and outlines how these principles should be applied when dealing with issues resulting from the broader pay bands which exist within the Agenda for Change Agreement.
SPRIG agree that ‘broad banding’ issues must be dealt with locally and hope that the content of this paper will assist in explaining the value of the broader pay bands and dealing with employee concerns.
If you have any enquiries on this paper, please refer these to Janis Millar – Janis.millar@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
.
Yours sincerely Yours sincerely
Ian Reid
Ian Reid Elizabeth Stow
Co-chair SPRIG Interim Co-chair SPRIG
Enquiries to: Agenda for Change, Workforce Modernisation Unit, Springfield House,
Laurel Hill Business Park, Laurel Hill, Stirling, FK7 9JQ
Telephone: 01786 406624

Knowledge and Skills Framework (KSF) Outlines and ‘Broad Banding’
The majority of Agenda for Change pay bands are broader (have more incremental points) than previous
NHS grades, which means that staff from two or more old grades (eg D and E grade nurses for example) may be assimilated to the same pay band.
When using the NHS KSF with posts that are affected by this, it is important to keep in mind three of the basic principles, which underpin Agenda for Change - Change, Equity and Partnership.
Change in role design and staff development is fundamental to the implementation of Agenda for Change in order to improve services for patients and the public. Whilst it is recognised that some would prefer to keep the status quo, the purpose of Agenda for Change and the way in which it has been jointly negotiated is to offer opportunities and support for development, with the expectation that all staff will develop continuously throughout their working life. The broader paybands allow staff to develop within their roles and receive yearly pay increases for longer without having to change jobs.
Equity must be maintained when developing KSF outlines. If separate KSF outlines for old D and E grade nurses are used after assimilation there is essentially no change from the previous Whitley system in terms of knowledge and skills applied (because E grade outlines would reflect a higher level of development).
However there is a change in pay (as Ds and Es would both be on payband five, and therefore now both have the opportunity to reach the same top increment). Outlines should therefore ultimately be developed for the new broader roles that fit with the new paybands (eg for ‘band five’ nurses, rather than D or E grade nurses). It is not, however, necessary for new job descriptions to be agreed before the start of the outline development process. Outlines can and should, wherever possible, be developed based on current roles and modified as and when required.
It must be emphasised that it is not possible to modify the gateway policy to artificially hold people at fixed points on the payband (eg by not letting old D grade nurses go through the second gateway). It should also be recognised that when two old grades are placed on the same payband those on the lesser grade will be assimilated at a lower increment which acknowledges that they are likely to need longer to reach full development within that band.
Having different KSF outlines for the same professional/occupational group on the same payband is possible of course when the people involved are required to do different things in the different posts. An example might be where some nurses have responsibility for rotas, staff management and whilst in other posts there is a greater requirement for information collection and analysis ie they are both working at the same level but have different roles.
Partnership is about working with all of the key stakeholders involved – staff, managers, staff side representatives and those responsible for the design and delivery of services - to identify opportunities for improving services and using the tools of Agenda for Change to support this. New roles, and their KSF outlines should be developed and implemented in partnership, and a partnership approach should be used to manage this process of change. This should support all staff to see the opportunities for development and service improvement which the new system as a whole will bring.
Additional information : In the National Library of NHS KSF outlines (at www.e-ksf.org
) there are already some posts which clearly have a new payband attached to them - such as the Band 5 Thoracic nurse from
Papworth. These were developed with Grade D and E nurses to work out the implications for their roles under the new broader pay bands. There is also a report on the KSF pages accessed via the NHS
Employers website which outlines the issues raised at Papworth during the implementation of the KSF.
Enquiries to: Agenda for Change, Workforce Modernisation Unit, Springfield House,
Laurel Hill Business Park, Laurel Hill, Stirling, FK7 9JQ
Telephone: 01786 406624