Agenda item

Richard Hand introduced the report (Agenda Item 11), which informed members about the activities of the teaching trade unions.

Richard Hand provided an update on paying conditions given the current situation and the possibility of an indicative ballot. He reported that the independent teacher pay review body was due to make its recommendations by the end of term. The indication was that there would be a two year deal and new teachers would be given an increase of seven and eight percent, which would take it to the £30k promised as part of the manifesto in 2019. Experienced teachers could expect a three and two percent pay rise with a sliding scale between the two points. The NEU had written to the Education Secretary and would be sending a letter the following day once the inflation figures had been published. 

Catie Colston referred to the part of the report on grievances and noted that there had been an increase in these in the last year. Catie Colston queried if this was part of a trend and if anything could be learnt from it. Richard Hand did not believe it was part of a trend however, would look at the figures in more detail to see if there was something emerging.

Ian Pearson referred to the funding figures on page 34 of the report. He noted that the funding envelope was just over £55k and this had been divided across the three unions NEU, NAHT and ASCL. It was noted that there was not a line for NASUWT and this was likely because there was not a representative at this time. If a NASUWT representative was appointed he queried how the money would be divided so that they could have facilities time in a year when it had been allocated to others. Richard Hand was unsure of the answer on this and had used the table provided by Abi Witting in HR Services. Richard Hand stated he would be happy to check and Ian Pearson suggested that they continue the conversation outside of the meeting.

RESOLVED that:   

·         Richard Hand would look into figures on grievances to see if the increase over the last year was part of a trend.

·         The Schools’ Forum noted the report.