NHS Redundancy Consultation Process and Timelines

Redundancy timelines are one of the most anxiety-inducing parts of this whole process, precisely because the clock genuinely matters — for your Trust's legal obligations, and for your own decisions about applying for other roles, requesting voluntary redundancy, or simply knowing how long you have before a final answer. This guide sets out the actual legal framework and typical practical timeline, and flags where the rules are shifting through 2026 and into 2027, rather than quoting a single figure that might already be out of date.

Individual vs collective consultation — two obligations, not one

It's easy to assume "consultation" is a single thing, but in a redundancy exercise affecting a meaningful number of NHS staff, two distinct legal obligations are usually running in parallel, and understanding which is which helps you know what to expect from each.

• • Individual consultation is about you specifically — why your role is affected, how you were pooled and scored if selection applies (see our companion guide on selection criteria and pooling), what alternative or redeployment options are being explored for you, and your own suggestions. This applies regardless of how many people are affected overall, even if only one role is at risk.
• • Collective consultation is a distinct statutory duty under section 188 TULRCA, owed to recognised trade unions or elected employee representatives (not to you individually), covering the redundancy proposal as a whole — the numbers involved, the reasons, the selection method being used across the board, and ways of avoiding, reducing or mitigating the redundancies collectively. This only becomes a legal requirement once the numbers threshold below is met.

Both should be happening together where the collective threshold is met — collective consultation doesn't replace your individual right to be consulted about your own situation, and vice versa. A process that only ever talks to your union about numbers, with no individual conversation about your own circumstances, is generally regarded as falling short.

The statutory minimum timelines

The legal trigger and minimum periods for collective consultation come from section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. Where an employer proposes to dismiss 20 or more employees as redundant at one establishment within a period of 90 days or less, the duty to consult collectively is triggered automatically — it isn't optional or something a Trust can choose to skip because it would rather move faster.

These are legal minimums, not targets — consultation has to begin "in good time" before the first dismissal, and a Trust proposing changes at this scale is also required to notify the Secretary of State using the prescribed HR1 form. Genuinely large-scale NHS reorganisations — trust mergers, major service reconfigurations, or NHS England/ICB restructuring exercises affecting significant numbers of staff — will usually meet this threshold and trigger the full collective consultation duty; a single ward closure or a small back-office restructure affecting a handful of posts typically won't, though individual consultation obligations still apply regardless of scale (see the FAQ below).

What "at risk" status actually means, and when it starts

Being told you're "at risk" is usually the first formal step you'll personally experience, and it typically coincides with the start of individual (and, where the threshold is met, collective) consultation. Being placed at risk means your role has been identified as potentially redundant — it is not itself a dismissal, and a meaningful proportion of staff placed at risk are ultimately redeployed into a different role rather than actually leaving. In practice, at-risk status usually brings with it: formal written notification, registration on your Trust's redeployment register, priority consideration for suitable vacancies elsewhere in the organisation (and often at neighbouring NHS employers), and the start of your individual consultation meetings. Our dedicated guide to the at-risk register and redeployment process covers exactly what happens during this period, including how long it typically lasts before a final decision.

What your Trust is legally required to consult ON

This is genuinely one of the most misunderstood parts of the whole process. Consultation is not a legal requirement simply to inform you, or your union, that redundancies are happening — it's a requirement to consult meaningfully, "with a view to reaching agreement," on specific things, while proposals are still genuinely capable of being changed:

• ✓ Ways of avoiding the proposed dismissals altogether — for example redeployment, retraining, recruitment freezes, or reducing reliance on agency and bank staff instead of substantive posts
• ✓ Ways of reducing the number of employees to be dismissed — such as voluntary redundancy or early retirement schemes offered before compulsory redundancy is used (see our companion guide comparing voluntary and compulsory redundancy)
• ✓ Ways of mitigating the consequences of the dismissals — for example enhanced notice, outplacement support, extended redeployment searches, or phased implementation

A consultation process that only ever explains a decision that's already fixed, without genuinely engaging on these three questions, risks falling short of what the law actually requires — regardless of how many meetings are held or how much paperwork is produced. If every conversation with your Trust feels like it's confirming, rather than discussing, these questions, that's specifically worth raising with your staff-side representative or union.

The role of staff-side and union representatives

Where collective consultation applies, your Trust is legally required to consult appropriate representatives — and under section 188B TULRCA, where an independent trade union is recognised for collective bargaining purposes covering the affected staff, it's the trade union's representatives who must be consulted, rather than a separately elected staff body, for those staff. In practice, most NHS Trusts have well-established recognition agreements with unions including Unison, the Royal College of Nursing, Unite, GMB and the BMA, and these union representatives (often called "staff-side" collectively when representing several unions together) sit on formal consultation and organisational change groups throughout the process — reviewing proposals, negotiating alternatives, and feeding back concerns raised by affected members.

This collective, organisational-level representation runs alongside, not instead of, your own personal right to bring a union representative or colleague to your individual consultation meetings. If you're a union member, your rep can tell you what's being discussed and negotiated at the collective level — which can be useful context for your own individual meetings — as well as representing you directly in those individual meetings themselves.

What's changing through 2026 and into 2027

Collective redundancy law is genuinely in a period of active change under the Employment Rights Act 2025/2026 reforms, and it's worth understanding what's already changed and what's still being worked out, rather than treating any single figure as fixed indefinitely.

The practical timeline, step by step

Putting the legal framework together, a typical larger-scale NHS redundancy exercise tends to move through a sequence something like this — though the exact length varies considerably by Trust and by the scale of the change:

Get notified about NHS redundancy guidance updates

We'll email you when we publish new guidance on NHS redundancy consultation, timelines and selection rules.

Notify me

Related guides and tools

Frequently asked questions

Does the 30 or 45-day period mean I'll definitely know my fate within that time? +

Not necessarily — it's a minimum, not a promise of a fixed outcome date. The 30 or 45-day period under section 188 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 is the earliest point at which the first dismissal can legally take effect once collective consultation began; it isn't a guarantee that a final decision, your individual selection outcome, or your actual leaving date will land exactly on that day. In practice, consultation on a large-scale reorganisation often runs longer than the legal minimum, particularly where genuine alternatives are still being explored or a redeployment search is ongoing. Treat the statutory figure as the floor, not the expected length of your own process — ask your Trust's HR team or your union rep for the specific timeline that applies to your reorganisation.

What's the difference between being 'at risk' and being formally made redundant? +

They're different stages, and it's easy to conflate them under stress. 'At risk' status means your role has been identified as potentially redundant and you're going through consultation and, usually, a redeployment search — it is not itself a dismissal, and plenty of people who are placed at risk are ultimately redeployed and never actually made redundant. Formal redundancy is the final outcome, reached only after consultation has run its course, selection (if needed) has been applied, and no suitable alternative has been found or accepted. See our dedicated guide to the at-risk register and redeployment for what being at risk actually involves day to day.

Do I get individual consultation even if I'm also being consulted collectively through my union? +

Yes — collective consultation with recognised unions or elected staff representatives about the redundancy exercise as a whole doesn't replace your right to individual consultation about your own specific situation. The two run in parallel: collective consultation covers the bigger picture — numbers, timing, ways of avoiding or reducing the redundancies, and how consequences will be mitigated across the whole affected group — while individual consultation is where your own circumstances, your own selection (if a pool applies to you), and your own redeployment options are actually discussed with you personally. A process that only ever consults collectively, with no individual meetings at all, is generally regarded as procedurally deficient.

Can my Trust make the collective consultation period shorter than 30 or 45 days if it's in a hurry? +

No, not lawfully, where the statutory threshold for collective consultation applies (20 or more redundancies proposed at one establishment within a 90-day period, rising to 45 days where 100 or more are proposed). These are legal minimums under section 188 TULRCA, not targets a Trust can shorten simply because it wants to move faster — an employer that begins consultation late, or dismisses before the minimum period has elapsed, risks a tribunal claim for a protective award (which, since April 2026, can now reach up to 180 days' pay per affected employee — double the previous maximum). Financial pressure or a tight deadline from above is not a recognised legal excuse for cutting the statutory period short.

What if fewer than 20 people are affected — is there no consultation requirement at all? +

There's still a consultation requirement, just not the specific collective one under section 188. Below the 20-employee threshold, your Trust doesn't have a statutory duty to consult collectively with recognised unions in the formal section 188 sense, but general unfair dismissal law under the Employment Rights Act 1996 still expects a fair process, which in practice means meaningful individual consultation with each affected member of staff regardless of numbers. NHS organisational change policies also typically apply their own internal consultation standards regardless of whether the statutory collective threshold is met, so don't assume a smaller-scale change means no proper process at all.

What actually happens at an individual consultation meeting? +

It should be a genuine two-way conversation, not simply being told a decision. Typically this covers why your role is affected, how you were pooled and scored (if selection applies to you — see our companion guide on selection criteria and pooling), what redeployment or suitable alternative roles are being explored on your behalf, your own suggestions for ways to avoid your redundancy, and your questions about the process and timeline. You're generally entitled to bring a trade union representative or a work colleague to these meetings — check your Trust's specific organisational change policy for exactly who counts, but this right is standard practice across the NHS.

Can consultation happen after the decision to make redundancies has effectively already been made? +

This is one of the more genuinely contested areas of redundancy law, and it matters more than it might seem. Consultation is meant to happen while proposals are still genuinely open to change — while alternatives to the redundancies themselves, not just to who specifically is affected, are still realistically on the table — not as a box-ticking exercise after a final decision has effectively been made behind closed doors. Employment tribunals have found that consulting only on the detail of implementation, once the underlying decision to reduce headcount is already fixed and unchangeable, can fall short of a genuine consultation. If it feels like every meeting is simply confirming a decision that was clearly made before consultation started, that's worth raising through your staff-side representative.

Does my notice period run alongside the consultation period, or only after it ends? +

Your contractual or statutory notice period is a separate thing from the consultation period, and the two can overlap depending on timing, but your notice of dismissal should not normally be given until consultation has genuinely concluded (and, where collective consultation applies, not before the statutory minimum period has elapsed from when consultation began). In other words, the 30 or 45-day figure is about when the first dismissal can take effect at the earliest — your own personal notice period is then calculated from whenever your individual dismissal is actually confirmed, which in a lengthy reorganisation is often well after that statutory minimum has already passed.

This page explains the statutory consultation framework under the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 and the Employment Rights Act 1996, and common NHS practice, as FrontlinePay understands them, correct to the best of our knowledge as of September 2026. Collective redundancy law is actively changing through 2026 and into 2027; where a rule is still in transition, this page says so rather than quoting a single figure that may already be out of date by the time you read it. This is not legal advice and should not be relied on as a substitute for advice from your trade union, ACAS, or a specialist employment solicitor about your specific process. FrontlinePay is an independent site and is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, NHS England, any NHS trust, ACAS, or any trade union.