derogation

The authority said it had asked for a derogation for special school staff, but this had been declined.

Sugar-beet farmer Michael Sly, who has land across north Cambridgeshire and south Lincolnshire and is the chair of the NFU's sugar board, said he was "relieved" the derogation had been granted.

In a letter to NHS England Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard, BMA Chairman Professor Philip Banfield said the refusal of hospitals to provide the necessary data “is fundamentally undermining the derogation process.”

The union accused NHS bosses of misusing the system known as derogation and bowing to political pressure to undermine the strike.

He said this was "undermining" the derogation process and placing the BMA in an impossible position.