The threat of an ambulance strike in England on Monday has been lifted completely after the last union called off action and agreed to pay talks with ministers. Unite has suspended strikes that were scheduled to take place on Monday and Wednesday after receiving what it said were promises from the government that it would improve its pay offer to NHS staff. It means there will now be no walkouts by ambulance staff because the GMB and Unison called off their planned stoppages on Friday after ministers committed to holding detailed discussions about improving their £1,400-a-head pay award for 2022/23. Crucially, Unite said ministers had made it clear to them that they would make new money available to try to solve the long-running dispute in a major U-turn on their previous stance. “Following further assurances from the government over the weekend, Unite has in good faith agreed to pause the strike action,” said Gail Cartmail, its head of operations. “If the meeting doesn’t meet these assurances, strike action will continue.” Unite said it had extracted two key clarifications from ministers. The assurances “relate to a confirmation that any deal will include new money, rather than placing further pressure on NHS budgets, and an indication that discussions about ‘efficiencies’ and ‘productivity savings’ will not result in attacks on the conditions of NHS staff.” The health secretary, Steve Barclay, is expected to meet representatives of the three ambulance unions and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy on Tuesday for what will be the first substantive talks about pay since December, when nurses in England and Wales staged the first of what has become a series of strikes by them, ambulance staff and physiotherapists. Unite members working in five of England’s 10 regional NHS ambulance services were expected to strike over two days this week. They were scheduled to affect the West Midlands, East Midlands, North West, South Central and South East Coast ambulance service and would have been the first stoppages to affect the last two services. The union had decided not join Unison and the GMB and call off its strikes on Friday because of “the government’s unreasonable pre-conditions”. It said then that ministers were being unreasonable by proposing to end the dispute over pay levels in 2022/23 by offering staff a lump sum rather than an improved permanent pay rise, and also by insisting that a search for productivity and efficiency savings be included in the talks.