Commenting on the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Spending Review,
Dr Mary Bousted, Joint General Secretary of the National
Education Union, said:
“The Chancellor said he wants stronger public services but has
delivered a body blow to staff in our schools and colleges.
“Education workers are key workers who have kept the country
going during the pandemic, but pay cuts are their only reward
from this Government.
"Teachers and support staff are working in schools and colleges
without PPE, without social distancing and without adequate
cleaning. Teachers are teaching their normal timetable and then
preparing remote learning for pupils isolating at home. They are
supporting pupils who are anxious and stressed because of the
increased challenges Covid is bringing to their families.
"It is not enough for Government ministers to thank teachers for
their vital contribution during Covid. Such sentiments ring
hollow when they are then subject to a pay freeze which follows
previous pay freezes and years of below-inflation pay increases
which have eaten into the real value of their pay since 2010.
Support staff face the prospect of yet more below-inflation pay
increases. These pay cuts will hit education workers just as
inflation is expected to pick up in late 2021.
"Today’s announcement will negate all the Government’s attempts
to keep teachers in the profession. It will make recruitment and
retention problems even worse to the detriment of our young
people, their parents and the economy.
“This attempt to divide and rule makes no economic sense. The
Government should be acting to support pay for all workers at
this difficult time. Cutting the pay of teachers and other public
sector workers will reduce spending power in the economy. It will
reduce the amount they spend on sectors already in crisis such as
retail and hospitality, so attacks on public sector pay are
attacks on private sector workers too.
“While it is welcome that the Chancellor has not cut back the
planned spending on schools as some feared, this spending
increase is not enough to complete the job of restoring previous
cuts and includes nothing for the extra costs of Covid-19 which
schools are currently facing.
“True levelling up means investing more in education and other
public services, not levelling down by further attacks on pay.
The Government is breaking its promises to increase teacher pay,
but the recruitment and retention problems that gave rise to
those promises have not gone away. At a time when staff in
education have contributed so much to the pandemic response, this
attack on education staff is neither fair nor economically
defensible.”
