Support staff: indicative survey

The recognised unions (Unison, GMB and Unite) submitted the following pay claim for 2023/24:

• A pay increase of RPI (inflation) + 2 per cent on all scale points.
• Consideration of a flat rate increase to hourly rates of pay in order to bring the minimum rate up to £15 per hour within two years. 
• A review and improvement of NJC terms for family leave and pay. 
• A review of job evaluation outcomes for school staff whose day to day work includes working on Special Educational Needs (SEN). 
• An additional day of annual leave for personal or well-being purposes. 
• A homeworking allowance for staff for whom it is a requirement to work from home.
• A reduction in the working week by two hours. 
• A review of the pay spine, including looking at the top end, and discussions about the link between how remuneration can be used to improve retention.

The National Employers made the following one-year (1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024), final offer to the unions representing the main local government (including schools) workforce:

• an increase of £1,925 (pro-rata for term-tme only (TTO) and part-time (PT) staff) on all national pay points 2 and above, to be paid as a consolidated, permanent addition to basic pay.
• an increase of 4.04 per cent on all allowances.

The flat-rate pay rise will benefit the lower-paid members of staff in percentage terms, as can be seen from the following chart:

See page 7 of the employers’ letter of 23 February 2023 

The inflation figure used in the claim was the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) annual forecast for 2023, which was 10.7 per cent at the point at which the claim was submitted. So, for the claim to be met in full, a pay rise of 12.7 per cent for all staff would be necessary.

All three of the recognised unions have rejected the offer, and are moving towards taking strike action to pursue the original claim:

Unison is conducting an industrial action ballot. It opened on Tuesday, 23 May and closes on 4 July.

GMB held a consultative ballot of their members, who voted to reject the offer. The union is now preparing to conduct a formal strike ballot.Unite members also overwhelmingly rejected the employer’s offer in an electronic consultative ballot. They are also holding a formal strike ballot, commencing this month and concluding in time to allow for action to be taken before the school holidays.

The NEU national executive met on 18 May and voted unanimously to recommend that support staff members reject the employers’ offer.

Prices continue to rise, especially of basic essentials such as groceries, with the current inflation rate standing at 13.5 per cent. This means that even for the lowest paid of our members, the employers’ final offer will mean a real-terms pay cut.

But it is not just in the short-term that support staff have suffered. It is estimated that over a decade of below average pay awards/pay freezes, support staff have lost on average 25 per cent from the value of their pay since 2010.In addition, the employers’ offer is not fully funded by central Government, meaning that there is a real danger that school jobs and/or hours will be cut in order to fund any pay rise. This is unacceptable to the NEU, and we will vigorously reject any such attempt to go down such a route by schools, MATs and academies.

The National Joint Council (NJC) which negotiates on support staff pay covers state schools in Wales and Northern Ireland as well as England. Any dispute with the employers which may be conducted alongside the recognised unions, will need to be on an NJC-wide basis.

We have written to our counterparts in Unison, GMB and Unite, pledging our support for our mutual goal of a fully funded pay rise, and stressing that the NEU remains willing to work with them to achieve that aim. We will update you as soon as they respond.

Our calculations show that seven in ten schools cannot afford teachers and support staff pay rises without making cuts to other education provision (which primarily will mean cuts in jobs and hours). The need for all unions with support staff members to work in harmony has never been greater.

The allowances payable to support staff under certain conditions are (with Green Book references):

• Sleeping-in duty payment (Part 3 Paragraph 2.6 (e))
• Nursery staffs in educational establishments – Special Educational Needs allowance (Paragraph 28 (3))
• Laboratory/workshop technicians City and Guilds Science Laboratory Technician’s Certificate Allowance and Advanced Certificate Allowance (Paragraph 28 (14))

Conducting an industrial action ballot, which opens on Tuesday, 23 May and closes on 4 July.

Held a consultative ballot of their members, who voted to reject the offer. The union is now preparing to conduct a formal strike ballot.

Voted overwhelmingly to reject the employer’s offer in an electronic consultative ballot. It is also holding a formal strike ballot, commencing this month, and concluding in time to allow for action to be taken before the school holidays.