The School Teachers’ Review Body has recommended a pay rise of “close to 4 per cent”, potentially setting government on a fresh collision course with unions.
The Times reported last night that the recommendation for teachers is higher than the 2.8 per cent ministers said was “appropriate” for next year.
The proposed lower pay rise was already unfunded, with schools told they would have to find “efficiencies” to cover part of it. Official government research estimates schools can only afford a rise of 1.3 per cent next year.
The news comes after the body representing councils offered support staff unions a pay rise of 3.2 per cent. Again, schools would need to make cuts to afford most of this rise, according to the government.
According to the Times, the government is expected to accept the recommendation of the STRB. But approving a higher pay rise without providing extra funding would still potentially lead to action by unions.
The Guardian has today quoted the prime minister’s spokesperson as saying there would be “no additional funding for pay if recommended awards exceed what departments can afford”.
‘The ball is in government’s court’
The NASUWT teaching union has said it would formally ballot members if a higher pay call is ignored and if any offer is unfunded.
The National Education Union has said it could strike as soon as this autumn if the pay offer remains “unacceptable” and isn’t fully-funded.
NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede said teachers were “sick of hearing things through the press”, and demanded the full STRB report and government response be published.
“This government was elected on the promise of change, of recruiting 6,500 new teachers. Its existing proposal of a completely unfunded 2.8 per cent rise simply won’t wash. That will only add to the crisis in recruitment and retention, rather than reduce it.
“The ball is in this government’s court. They need to ensure the pay award is above inflation, that it takes steps to address the crisis in recruitment and retention, but most of all that it is fully funded.
“No one wants to take strike action but of course as a trade union we do stand ready to act industrially if we need to.”
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of ASCL, said it was “vital that schools are provided with the funding they will need to pay such an award.
“If the government fails to do this then we will see many schools having to make very significant cuts to their budgets – and consequently educational provision. We cannot emphasise enough how important it is that the government does not rely on the fantasy that this can be addressed through ‘efficiencies’.”
Trust boss warns of ‘ruinous harm’
Jon Coles, chief executive of United Learning, the country’s largest academy trust, posted on X that if the 4 per cent report was true “the one thing government can’t do is accept that without funding”.
He said funding for his trust was only rising by 0.7 per cent per pupil next year, and funding for the national insurance rise was “£1.5 million less than its cost”.
“So we would have £10.5m of unfunded costs. It’s no good Treasury waving their hands and saying ‘efficiency’ – that would be ~400 job losses. Sector wide, that would extrapolate to ruinous harm in the one well-functioning public service: tens of thousands of redundancies.”
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