The government believes schools can still spend their cash more efficiently, a senior civil servant has said, amid widespread concern that unfunded pay rises are pushing schools into the red.
Permanent secretary Susan Acland-Hood was joined by the Department for Education’s director general for schools, Juliet Chua, and director general for skills, Julia Kinniburgh, as they were questioned by MPs at a Public Accounts Committee meeting on Monday.
Here are the main takeaways…
1. ‘We can support schools to spend more efficiently’
The DfE was asked how it will ensure the upcoming teacher pay award “can actually be afforded” by schools.
Government recommended a 2.8 per cent pay rise – but the teacher review pay body is reportedly calling for 4 per cent.
School leaders say any unfunded rises would cause “ruinous harm”. Schools are already starting redundancy processes.
Acland-Hood said that in setting the remit for the pay review body, “we said that we could see enough headroom in schools budgets overall to afford about 1.3 per cent in pay for teachers and support staff…and that if schools were able to [make a] 1 per cent efficiency saving on their total budgets, that would deliver about another 1.7 per cent in pay.”
This contributed to “why the government said that 2.8 per cent pay increase was affordable”.
Acland-Hood acknowledged cutting costs is “difficult”, but urged schools “to wait until we have the actual [pay] outcome”.
There are things we know we can do [to] support schools genuinely to spend more efficiently
One MP expressed concerns an unfunded pay increase could lead to “more expensive but more experienced teachers” being cut by schools to save costs.
Acland-Hood said schools tend to “try and hold [onto] teachers” and make non-pay savings first.
But she said: “There are savings you can make. There’s always risk in using it [the word efficiencies], because people just hear cuts.
“But there are things we know we can do where we can support schools genuinely to spend more efficiently”.
She highlighted the government scheme that helps schools buy goods collectively, which has “saved billions”, as well as its self-insurance scheme.
She said the DfE is also “looking at energy schemes…which we think can schools buy energy more efficiently”.
However the permanent secretary appeared to avoid directly answering the question of whether redundancies “are likely” following the national insurance hike and unfunded teacher pay increase.
2. 6,500 teacher recruitment ‘underway’ (but no more details)
The permanent secretary appeared uncertain when questioned on how the government’s pledge to deliver 6,500 new teachers for schools and colleges during the course of this Parliament is progressing.
A recent NAO report revealed that between 2023-24 and 2027-28, 1,600 more secondary teachers will be needed to meet demand, while 12,400 more FE teachers will be needed by 2028-29.
It also revealed that 10 months after the pledge was announced, the DfE assessed delivering it as “significantly challenging”, given the fiscal context.
Acland-Hood said delivery on the 6,500-teacher pledge “is underway” and there are “positive signs” in recruitment and retention activity.
But she appeared unclear when quizzed on the timeframe and other details.
“We think it’s got to relate to this Parliament…it’s got to be 6,500 more than it was before you started,” she said.
She said the “fine detail” – including how the new recruits will be split across schools and colleges – will only be announced following the spending review.
“It sounds like [the pledge is] underway, but you don’t know what it is,” said one MP.
Acland-Hood said the pledge was “a really important spur to action” but that is “not a cap or a limit”, and “it won’t stop us trying to recruit as many teachers in both schools and FE as we can”.
3. DfE expects to retain 2.5k more teachers …
The DfE has consistently failed to meet recruitment targets in recent years, particularly in secondary.
Last month, the DfE revealed it was cutting its recruitment target for the coming academic year by 19.3 per cent for secondary, and 19 per cent for primary.
The department said this is due in part to a boost in recruitment, which has led to “more favourable” secondary supply forecasts. Around 2,000 more teachers are expected to be training this coming year than the previous one. Meanwhile the recent 5.5 per cent pay rise is also expected to help improve retention.
Acland-Hood said on Monday government now “expect to retain about 2,500 more teachers” than previously projected.
This equates to around 6 per cent of the near 44,000 teachers who left in 2023.
Chua also pointed to a “historical high in terms of numbers of returners coming back to the profession this year”.
She said around 29 per cent of the “new entrants” will be returners, who “will bring with them experience and their specialist knowledge”.
Acland-Hood suggested one reason behind the record-high returners could be because new parents are choosing to leave their jobs altogether after having children, because of insufficient parental leave.
“A large number of our returners have only been out of teaching for a year, and I think some of those are teachers who make their own choice to try and effectively extend their maternity or paternity period.”
4. … but admit better parental leave offer needed
The panel was also quizzed on parental leave. One MP described the two weeks paternity leave fathers are allowed under the burgundy book as “absolutely rubbish” and “not really in lockstep with where a lot of the private sector is heading”.
He asked if the DfE “should go further” on paternity leave “to help the retention crisis and teachers”.
Acland-Hood said this is “absolutely something [the DfE] should be looking at”, pointing out there “have been similar questions” about maternity leave.
She said the burgundy book “is for employees and the trade union side to discuss and negotiate”, but that “it’s worth us looking at, and raising”.
5. Concerns over £26m Get into Teaching website
The panel was quizzed over the £26mil cost of its Get into Teaching website.
The website features information on routes into teaching, with DfE guidance on training courses, finding funding, and what teaching is like.
One MP said it “seems an awful lot of money for a website”, and asked for “a breakdown of how on earth a website’s costing £26mil and how many full time-equivalent people are working on that”.
Acland-Hood defended the marketing strategy. The cost is “a combined budget for marketing,” she explained, and also covers “a service which helps people step through the stages of applying for and becoming a teacher…[which] allows us to see really clearly in our data where people might drop out”.
But another panel member suggested the DfE should be spending more.
Independent Burnley MP Oliver Ryan said: “The Army, Navy, RAF, spend something like £70 or 80 million trying to advertise in the same space for a similar number of personnel.”
Acland-Hood said they are still approached by people who “don’t know enough” about scholarships and grants available.
6. Wellbeing charter sign-up ‘not good enough’
The DfE was also quizzed on whether its “education staff wellbeing charter” is “fit for purpose”.
The charter – drawn up in 2021 by sector bodies including unions, the DfE, Ofsted, a number of schools, and mental health charity Mind – is a declaration of support for, and a set of commitments to, the wellbeing and mental health of education staff.
Sign-up is voluntary, but all state-funded schools and colleges are invited to join.
By January 2023, just 10 per cent of schools (2,350) had signed up.
The recent NAO report shows that almost two years later, in November 2024, only around 3,700 schools and colleges had taken the pledge – around 17 per cent of those eligible.
Kinniburgh said the number of sign-ups is “good but they’re not good enough, and we would want more people to”.
She said that “from a college perspective”, the DfE is keen to establish “what is it that’s holding people back”.
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