Westminster today: Government announces pay rise for NHS staff after seven year cap - as it happened

Interesting - Theresa May dodged the question on the Conservatives' links to Cambridge Analytica. We know the party held meetings with the controversial company but the Tories have denied they commissioned the firm for any work.

More questions about fishing rights after Brexit...

Tory MP Mark Francois asks the Prime Minister to confirm that the UK will "absolutely, unequivocally take back full control of our waters from 2021". 

Theresa May says Britain will "take back control of our waters" but refuses to put a timeframe on this.

Louise Haigh, the shadow policing minister, has raised a point of order about Theresa May's use of statistics on police funding. It comes after the UK Statistics Authority rebuked the  Prime Minister for using language that it said “could have led the public to conclude incorrectly” that the Government was providing an extra £450m for police spending.

John Bercow, the Speaker, says it is not his job to make judgements on accuracy but that ministers should correct themselves if they have made false assertions. 

Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, is now making a statement on NHS pay.

He says the new package will see pay rises ranging from 6.5 per cent to 29 per cent, with those on lower salaries seeing the biggest increases.

The lowest starting salary in the NHS will increase from £15,400 to £18,000, and pay for new nurses will rise by 12.6 per cent. 

Staff will also be given shared parental leave and the ability to buy and sell back annual leave. 

Mr Hunt says the deal, which will cost £4.2bn over three years, "cements the Government's commitment to protecting services for NHS patients while also recognising the work of NHS staff up and down the country".

"Rarely has a pay rise been so deserved by NHS staff, who have never worked harder."

Unison has welcomed the Government's announcement on NHS pay.

Sara Gorton, the union's Head of Health, said:

"The agreement means an end at last to the Government's self-defeating and unfair 1% pay cap.

"It won't solve every problem in the NHS, but would go a long way towards making dedicated health staff feel more valued, lift flagging morale, and help turn the tide on employers' staffing problems.

"If health workers accept the offer, everyone's wages will go further, and the lowest paid would get a significant income boost. Starting salaries for nurses, midwives and other health professionals would also become more attractive to people considering a career in the NHS."

The new NHS pay deal was reached after discussions between the Government, 14 trade unions and health service employers.

Most organisations, including major unions Unite and Unison, have welcomed the agreement. However, the GMB union said it will recommend members reject the offer because it will see some of the longest-serving NHS employees given a pay rise that is less than inflation.

GMB national officer Kevin Brandstatter, said:

"Jeremy Hunt's promise of jam tomorrow is simply not good enough for NHS workers who, during the past eight years, have faced the biggest pay pinch in living memory.

"Long-serving, dedicated health service workers have had thousands of pounds swiped from their pay packets since 2010 by the Government's cruel and unnecessary pay cap.

"After all that suffering, is a below inflation pay rise the best they can offer?

"If it is, GMB will have to recommend that our members in NHS and ambulance trusts reject it."

Health Committee chair Sarah Wollaston welcomes the NHS pay rise and say it is important this is funded through new investment, not out of existing budgets:

The Prime Minister's spokesman has said the Government is checking whether it has any contracts with Cambridge Analytica. 

He said: “We are looking across government to see if there are any other contracts. As the Prime Minister said we are not aware of any current contracts.”

The spokesman also confirmed that the controversial company approached the Tories when David Cameron was prime minister but that the proposals had been rejected once Ms May took over.

Here's more, from Lizzy Buchan, on Jeremy Corbyn blaming the collapse of Northamptonshire County Council on the Government's "slash and burn" approach to local authority funding: