Written Ministerial Statement and DfE statement in response to the School Teachers’ Review Body recommendations

A Department of Education spokesperson said:

“We recognise and value the hard work of teachers which is why we have accepted the pay deal proposed by the independent School Teachers' Review Body, in line with the 1% public sector pay policy.  This will ensure we continue to strike the balance between being fair to public sector workers and fair to taxpayers.

 “This deal also allows headteachers to give some teachers up to a 2% pay uplift – alongside generous training bursaries and competitive starting salaries”

Written Ministerial Statement

The Secretary of State for Education (Justine Greening): The 27th report of the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) is being published today. Its recommendations cover the remit that I issued in October 2016. The report contains recommendations on the pay award for teachers that is due to be implemented from September 2017, which are consistent with the Government’s 1% public sector pay policy. 

The STRB has recommended an uplift of 1% to the minima and maxima of all pay ranges and allowances in the national pay framework, other than the minimum and maximum of the main pay range, to which they have recommended a 2% uplift. 

Following previous reforms, schools already have significant flexibility, within the pay ranges, to set pay for individual teachers, taking account of performance and retention. 

Nevertheless, those at the bottom of the main pay scale will receive an automatic 2% increase, a small proportion of teachers. As such it is consistent with the Government’s  public sector 1% pay policy. 

A full list of the recommendations is attached as an annex. 

My officials will write to all of the statutory consultees of the STRB to invite them to contribute to a consultation on my acceptance of these recommendations and on a revised School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document and Pay Order. The consultation will last for three weeks.

I am grateful to the STRB for these recommendations and, subject to the views of consultees, I intend to accept all the key recommendations. 

My detailed response contains further information on these matters.

Annex to Written Ministerial Statement

DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION

School Teachers’ Review Body’s (STRB’s) recommendations and response from the Secretary of State for Education (Justine Greening).

The following sets out the full set of recommendations from the STRB as published in the 27th Report (CM) on 10th July 2017, together with the response from the Secretary of State for Education. The STRB’s recommendations are in bold.

The Secretary of State for Education (Justine Greening): The 27th Report of the STRB is being published today. It covers matters referred to the STRB in October 2016. Copies are available in the Vote Office, the Printed Paper Office and in the Libraries of the House and online at www.gov.uk.

In making its recommendations, the STRB was asked to consider the adjustments that should be made to the salary and allowance ranges for classroom teachers, unqualified teachers and school leaders to reflect the average of up to 1% pay award for public sector workers.

In making its recommendations, the STRB was asked to consider:

a) The need to ensure that the proposals reflect the Government’s policy that public sector pay awards in 2017-18 are limited to an average of 1% and are focused on addressing recruitment and retention pressures;

b) The need to ensure that any proposals are affordable at both a national level and within the existing budgets of individual schools;

c) Evidence of the national state of teacher and school leader supply, including rates of recruitment and retention, vacancy rates and the quality of candidates entering the profession;

d) Evidence of the wider state of the labour market in England and Wales;

e) Forecast changes in the pupil population and consequent changes in the level of demand for teachers;

f) The Government’s commitment to increasing autonomy for all head teachers and governing bodies to develop pay arrangements that are suited to the individual circumstances of their schools and to determine teachers' pay within the statutory minima and maxima.

I am grateful for the in-depth consideration which the STRB has given to this important matter. I am inviting comments on the STRB’s report and my response to its recommendations by 28th July 2017.

The STRB has recommended:

ï‚· A 2% uplift to the minimum and maximum of the main pay range;

ï‚· A 1% uplift to the minima and maxima of the upper pay range, the unqualified teacher pay range and the leading practitioner pay range;

ï‚· A 1% uplift to the minima and maxima of the leadership group pay range and all head teacher group pay ranges;

ï‚· A 1% uplift to the maxima and minima of the Teaching and Learning Responsibility (TLR) and Special Educational Needs (SEN) allowance ranges.