Sunday, July 16, 2023

UK
Teaching unions prepared to call off strikes after pay offer



Louisa Clarence-Smith
Thu, July 13, 2023 

Teaching unions are set to end strike action after the pay rise offer - Guy Smallman/Getty Images

Education union leaders have said they are prepared to call off strikes after teachers were offered a 6.5 per cent pay rise.

All four teaching unions said they will urge members to accept the offer. The Government has agreed to provide additional funding for the pay rises, as well as a hardship fund of up to £40 million to support schools facing the greatest financial challenges.


“This deal will allow teachers and school leaders to call off strike action and resume normal relations with the Government,” union leaders said in a joint statement with Rishi Sunak and Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary.

They said the pay deal “recognises the vital role that teachers play in our country and ensures that teaching will continue to be an attractive profession”.

The Government said it had also agreed to bring forward wider reforms to reduce teacher and leader workload in partnership with all four teaching unions. The unions will now put the deal to their members.

Union leaders said the Government had agreed to increase school budgets by around £1 billion to cover three per cent pay rises. Funding for the remaining 3.5 per cent pay uplift will have to be found from existing school budgets.

Dr Patrick Roach, the NASUWT general secretary, said: “We are confident that the additional funding for schools should enable every school and academy in the country to deliver the 6.5 per cent award in full from this September.

“Because of the actions we have taken, NASUWT members can now expect more money in their pockets at a time when the financial pressures on them continue to bite.”

The Government’s 6.5 per cent pay offer is in line with the recommendations of the School Teachers’ Review Body, an independent panel appointed by the Government to advise on salary increases.

The funding boost for schools comes on top of the additional £2 billion given to schools in the Autumn Statement.

Mrs Keegan, who privately urged the Treasury to agree to a 6.5 per cent pay rise for teachers last week, said: “This is the highest pay award for 30 years. Teachers and school leaders work hard every day, and this pay award recognises the vital role they play in shaping children’s lives.”

Teachers on an average classroom salary in England of £41,604 are in line for a £2,700 pay rise if a 6.5 per cent average salary increase is accepted.

Starting salaries for teachers are due to rise by 7.1 per cent to £30,000 for the next academic year under plans previously agreed by the Government.

Mr Sunak hailed the deal with unions as a “major breakthrough” and said: “All teaching unions have just announced that they’re suspending all planned strikes immediately.

“Teachers will return to the classroom. Disruption to our children’s education will end. And the unions have themselves confirmed that this pay offer is properly funded, and so they’re recommending to their members an end to the entire dispute.”

‘A good place to stop industrial action’

The National Education Union (NEU) said it had received assurances that the funding boost of around £1 billion for schools will not come from cuts to frontline education services, including special educational needs funding, schools’ capital, maintained nursery or 16-19 funding provision.

Instead, it is understood that the Treasury has given the Department for Education more flexibility to retain unspent funding and use it to help cover the pay rise.

Kevin Courtney, the NEU joint general secretary, told The Telegraph: “What we understand is that the Treasury is allowing the department to be more flexible, so they do not have to return to the Treasury unspent monies.”

He said he understood that, in future years, the department would need to be given more money to cover the pay rise. A ballot of union members will take place later this month.

Mr Courtney added: “We do think it’s good enough to put to them, and I think that most members will want to take the 6.5 per cent and the £900 million.”

“I think they will say to us, ‘if we end industrial action, we will carry on campaigning’. It’s not that we think schools have got all the money we need, and teachers all the pay they need. We do think it’s a good place to stop industrial action.”

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