Question 2 couldn't be answered on the day but I was promised follow up from colleagues in the finance team. In answer to Q3 I was advised the figure was approx. £2m. #NMCCouncil

To complete the thread on the recent #NMCCouncil meeting, I had the chance to ask 3 questions 👀⤵️. In answer to the first it was highlighted that TUs should have been included in the discussions and there would be follow up to ensure that this did happen.

Council meeting: 28 April 2026

Our next #NMCCouncil meeting will take place on Wednesday 28 April 2026. Register your place now:

We’re now on to Quality assurance of nursing, midwifery and nursing associate education annual report 2024-25. #NMCCouncil.

Code and revalidation reviews

Next the #NMCCouncil is getting an update on the work on the review of the Code and Revalidation. More on that here: www.nmc.org.uk/standards/fu...

The agenda moves on to a Quarterly Safeguarding update (Q3) and
Safeguarding Policy. It’s being delivered by Professor Donna O'Boyle MBE. We’ve heard today that O’Boyle will be retiring from the NMC in the summer. A substantive replacement has been recruited and will be announced soon. #NMCCouncil.

There was a brief brew break but we’re now back into the #NMCCouncil meeting. The first agenda item being covered is the organisations pay gap report.

One of the items the #NMCCouncil is asked to endorse is the budget for an ‘increase’ of employee pay by £1.85m. Whilst Barclay-Smith talks about the importance of recognising the work of employees, a 2.5% pay envelop increase is, of course, a pay cut.

An interesting comment from Rees: ‘If we had an extra £180m [the amount he contends has been lost by holding the registration fee for 11 years] we could deal with all our fitness to practise backlog within 1 year.” #NMCCouncil

I’ve previously asked for detail on how the fitness to practise budget would change. We highlighted in our fee rise response that it had increased by 29.7% (£15.8m) in 1 year. The budget suggests a £3.6m drop, so still over £12m more than 2024-25) #NMCCouncil

You can see a copy of our response to the @newsnmc.bsky.social fee rise consultation here: www.politicshome.com/ugc-1/1/36/0... #NMCCouncil

The budget suggests that the 2026-27 reserves will reduce from £45.8m to £15.9m. The paper also includes information about contracts over £0.6million expected to be signed in 2026-2027. #NMCCouncil.

We’re now onto the next agenda item, the Draft Budget 2026-2027. Whilst there was recently the fee rise consultation, as it’s not been approved (yet) it does not feature in this budget. #NMCCouncil.

There’s now an update on the #NMCCouncil midwifery quarterly report. This is including a presentation from Birte Harlev-Lam OBE who is the @newsnmc.bsky.social Midwifery Strategic Advisory Group (MSAG) Chair.

We’re now hearing from @newsnmc.bsky.social chief exec Paul Rees MBE as he provides highlights from his executive report. #NMCCouncil

We’re now into the main agenda for today’s #NMCCouncil. You can see the agenda and papers here: www.nmc.org.uk/globalassets...

Obituary: Audrey Emerton, nursing leader and peer Formidable advocate of the NHS whose illness as a child led to a determination to join the ranks of the nurses who cared for her

#NMCCouncil member Flo Panel-Coates also takes a moment to pay tribute to Baroness Audrey Emerton DBE DL observer.co.uk/news/columni...

Image of a group of people together, with text saying 'Highlights from Today's Council meeting' on 'Wednesday twenty fifth March'

📣 Today we hold our latest #NMCCouncil meeting – with key discussions on our work to uphold high professional standards in nursing and midwifery. Follow our thread for updates.

First female Archbishop of Canterbury Dame Sarah Mullally to be enthroned The Prince and Princess of Wales will be part of the congregation at Canterbury Cathedral - alongside nurses and carers, reflecting the new archbishop's past career.

We also have mention of the enthronement today of the new Archbishop Of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, a past Chief Nursing Officer for England. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... #NMCCouncil

In London for the next couple of days. First up it’s @newsnmc.bsky.social #NMCCouncil meeting. We start with Ron Barclay-Smith highlighting the NMC’s values. We hear this will happen in advance of every meeting going forward.

LinkedIn This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

For more details, view the Council papers here:
www.nmc.org.uk/globalassets...

Our next #NMCCouncil will take place on 25 March. You can find out more and register now: www.nmc.org.uk/about-us/gov...

Purple graphic with the text ‘Highlights from today’s Council meeting’ and ‘Thursday 29 January’, above an illustration of five stylised people icons in different colours.

📣 Yesterday we held our latest #NMCCouncil meeting – with key discussions and decisions on our work to uphold high professional standards in nursing and midwifery.

Here are some highlights 👇🧵

The time for questions has come to an end and we head to the last two items on the open #NMCCouncil agenda. They're both Matters for information: People and Culture Committee Report and Chair's actions.

We hear from Rees about how much @newsnmc.bsky.social has lost by not increasing the registration fee for 10 years. But in reality every NMC registrant who has paid their fee since 2012 has paid £362.70 more than if the fee had gone up in line with inflation since then! #NMCCouncil

Here's the two questions that I asked to today's #NMCCouncil meeting.

We now move to the questions from observers. The first on the fee rise and what would happen if it doesn't get agreed: Kinsella comments include: 'We are currently building a 2026-27 budget which excludes the fee increase. This will negatively impact our reserves.' #NMCCouncil

There's been a short pause but we're now back with Professor Donna O'Boyle MBE presenting an Education Quality Assurance Quarterly Report #NMCCouncil

Another look back to 2025, there was an item at March #NMCCouncil where they agreed a change in their reserves policy. I do wonder whether current reduction in reserves was argued for & agreed in March25 by #NMCCouncil and now is being used to argue for a fee rise? p10 www.nmc.org.uk/globalassets...

What a difference a year makes? #NMCCouncil bsky.app/profile/davi...

Long discussion on item 7 but Chair was lucky with a quick item 8 so now we move to the financial performance: Highlights: 'Burning a hole', deficit projected £25m by year end, £58m in reserves, down by £25m, year end will be £46m. Income slightly below due to less overseas applicants. #NMCCouncil