(The Minister of State for School
Standards):Today I am confirming the updated allocations
for the Teachers’ Pay Grant and the first allocations for the
Teachers’ Pension Employer Contributions Grant for 2019-20.
The Teachers’ Pay Grant was first announced in July 2018 by the
Secretary of State for Education. It was introduced to provide
additional funding to schools to support them with the costs of
the 2018/19 teacher pay award, over and above the 1% rise schools
would have expected and been planning for.
In July 2019, the Secretary of State accepted the School
Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendation of a 2.75% uplift to the
minima and maxima of all teacher pay ranges in 2019. In
recognition that this award was more than the 2% we assessed was
affordable nationally in our evidence to the STRB, the Secretary
of State confirmed an additional investment of £105 million into
the Teachers’ Pay Grant this year. This is on top of the £321
million of funding already committed in 2019-20.
As with 2018-19, the grant will be paid to all state-funded
schools and academies, including maintained nursery schools. This
will be on the basis of pupil numbers in mainstream schools, and
place numbers in special schools and other specialist provision.
All schools will be funded for at least 100 pupils or 40 places.
We are also fully funding the increase in pensions contributions
that state-funded schools and colleges will have to make from
September 2019. In April we announced the Teachers’ Pension
Employer Contribution Grant (TPECG), worth £848 million this
year, which will provide this funding for all state-funded
schools and academies, including maintained nursery schools. In
September, the Secretary of State announced that, as part of the
Government’s investment in schools, this funding – worth £1.5
billion each year – will continue for the next three years.
As with the Teachers’ Pay Grant, this will also be paid on the
basis of pupil and place numbers, with all schools funded for at
least 100 pupils or 40 places.
The grant will be accompanied by a Supplementary Fund, which
schools can apply for if their grant allocation falls short of
their actual pension costs increase by more than 0.05% of their
overall budget. This will make sure all schools are properly
protected from rising pension costs. Mainstream schools will be
able to apply to the fund from 2 December 2019, with payments due
in March 2020. Specific guidance on completing the application
form will be published later in the autumn. A similar scheme will
apply to local authorities, in respect of the specialist
provision in their areas.
Further details and guidance will be published on GOV.UK.
