Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Industrial Dispute Resolution

Monday 12 June 2023 · 6 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 4 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Government made a fair and reasonable offer funded by an additional 620 million, on top of the already announced 2 billion.
  • Government encourages record numbers of teachers entering the profession through financial incentives totaling 181 million.
  • Government will consider the independent pay review body's recommendations and publish its response in due course, as it does every year.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Theresa Villiers Con
Education Employment
Context

The industrial dispute involves education trade unions and the government over issues such as recruitment, retention, and funding. The current debate centres on the offer made by the government to resolve this issue.

Question

What steps she is taking to resolve the industrial dispute with education trade unions. After making a fair and reasonable offer funded through £620 million additional funding, have the government considered other options?

Answer from Gillian Keegan

After an intense negotiation with all four trade unions, we made a fair and reasonable offer, which would have been fully funded through £620 million of additional funding, on top of the additional £2 billion already announced for both this year and next—a cash injection that means that by next year we will be funding our schools at the highest level in history, totalling £58.8 billion. Unfortunately, the trade unions rejected our offer. We are in the process of reviewing the independent School Teachers' Review Body's recommendation on teacher pay for 2023-24, and we will publish our response in the usual way.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific steps to address the rejection of the current offer by trade unions were not detailed

How: Under Review

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Q2 Theresa Villiers Con
Education
Context

Recent statistics show a record number of teachers entering the profession, indicating improvement in recruitment and retention. The question aims to use these positive figures as an argument for ending the dispute.

Question

I thank the Secretary of State for her answer. One issue in the dispute is recruitment and retention. Recent stats show a record number of teachers—nearly 48,000—entering the profession. That means that in Barnet there are 227 more teachers than in 2010. Does she agree that those encouraging figures are another good reason to call off the dispute and end the disruption to children's education?

Answer from Gillian Keegan

I, too, am encouraged by the record numbers entering the teaching profession. We are doing a lot to attract the top talent into teaching through financial incentives totalling £181 million, including bursaries, scholarships and a levelling-up premium in priority areas. We are also delivering on our commitment to raise starting salaries to at least £30,000. We know that there is more to do, but the data shows that the steps we are taking are benefiting children and teachers, in Chipping Barnet and across the country.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific argument about ending disputes due to positive recruitment statistics was not directly addressed

How: Working With Partners

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Q3 Emma Hardy Lab Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice
Education
Context

Headteachers urgently need information from the independent School Teachers' Review Body to help with budgeting and retaining staff, yet this information is delayed.

Question

It is six weeks until the end of the summer term and headteachers are desperately trying to budget. They need the STRB proposals on pay now, as well as information on how they will be funded. The release of that information could prevent all the strikes, which we know will damage the education of so many. When will headteachers have the information they desperately need, including to help retain some of the excellent teachers we keep losing?

Answer from Gillian Keegan

This is the same process we follow every year. We take the independent pay review body's recommendations seriously, are considering the report and will publish in due course, just as we do every year.

Not addressed: No specific timeframe was given for when the information would be released

How: Too Early To Say

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Q4 Jonathan Gullis
Education Taxation Employment
Context

National Education Union representatives expressed shock at the suggestion that teachers should not get a proposed 6.5% pay rise, which was meant to be reported in May.

Question

I met some National Education Union reps in my office for an hour and a half last week, and they were shocked to hear that I was going to say this to the House today. If the STRB has recommended that teachers should get a 6.5% pay rise—it was meant to report in May, something I signed off when I was in the Department—they should be given that pay rise. The Minister will rightly ask where that money is going to come from. I say we take it out of the foreign aid budget, year in, year out.

Answer from Gillian Keegan

Following the union's rejection of the Government's fair, reasonable and funded offer, the report has been submitted by the independent STRB. I will not comment on speculation or leaks, or indeed on funding, but we will consider the recommendations and publish our response in due course.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific question about 6.5% pay rise was not directly addressed

How: Not Commenting On Speculation

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Q5 Peter Grant SNP
Education Employment Scotland
Context

The Scottish Government agreed a pay deal that would increase Scottish teacher salaries by 14.6% by January next year, in contrast to the current dispute in England.

Question

The Scottish Government did not stonewall the unions and have not claimed that the unions are responsible for all our social ills. The Scottish Government engaged constructively with unions, in education and elsewhere in the public sector, and have agreed a pay deal that means that Scottish teacher salaries will increase by 14.6%—I will say that again: 14.6%—by January next year. In this tale of two Governments, which Government can teachers trust to look after their interests?

Answer from Gillian Keegan

Pay awards for this year needed to strike a careful balance between recognising the vital importance of teachers and the work they do, and being affordable and not exacerbating inflation. We have taken that very seriously. We also take standards seriously, and I am delighted that the standards in England are continuing to rise. The question with teachers' pay rises is always: are they funded? I am aware that the Scottish Government have had to take the funding from other places, including skills and higher education.

Not addressed: The direct comparison was not addressed; instead focused on affordability and standards in England

How: Changing Subject

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Q6 Bridget Phillipson Lab Houghton and Sunderland South
Education
Context

There is ongoing debate about the delay in publishing the independent School Teachers' Review Body's recommendations, which could affect planning for September.

Question

We were all reminded today that the Secretary of State is already keen to move on, yet parents know that it is her ongoing failure to resolve the disputes that is damaging our children's education. She told us to wait for the independent pay review body's recommendations. Those have been made and now she refuses to publish them. Will she come clean, allow headteachers to plan for September and publish the recommendations today?

Answer from Gillian Keegan

I assure the hon. Lady that I have no intention of moving on—I am sure she will be delighted to hear that. This is the same process that we go through every year. I take the independent teachers review body very seriously. That is why, on my very first day in this job, when I had a letter from all the teaching unions asking for an additional £2 billion to fund the increase for last year that the STRB had recommended, which was much higher than the 3% that schools had budgeted, I took it seriously and got that extra funding. That takes time. I have just received the report. We are considering the recommendations and we will definitely publish it within the same sort of timeframes that we usually publish it.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific question about immediate publication was not addressed; instead, there is a focus on historical context

How: Too Early To Say

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