Sir Simon was questioned on the matter today by Health and Social Care Committee chair and former health secretary, Jeremy Hunt.
Mr Hunt asked: “The NHS Long Term Plan you put together after you and I negotiated extra funding in 2018 showed NHS salaries budgeted to increase by 2.1% this year, were you told of the government decision to recommend changing this to 1%? And if so, what reasons were you given?”
In response, Sir Simon agreed that the plan had been a 2.1% rise but noted that "things have changed" in the two years since then.
“But at the time, the working assumption was that there would be available 2.1% for the costs of the AfC pay group in 2021-22, together with the overhang from the 2021 elements of the multi-year AfC pay deal," added Sir Simon.