Teacher strikes in England likely to end

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By Hazel Shearing, education correspondent and Nathan Standley, BBC News 13 Jul 2023 18:25 GMT

Updated 53 minutes ago

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Teachers unions have recommended that their members accept the government’s salary offer of 6.5%.

Teachers’ strikes are likely to end in England, after union leaders announced their support for a new wage offer.

The government proposed a 6.5% wage increase, which both sides in the dispute said was “adequately funded” and would not come from existing school budgets.

The four guilds involved would now return to their members and recommend that they accept the deal.

They were considering more strikes next season – but that would be out of the cards if the members agreed.

There have been seven national strikes since February by members of the National Education Union (NEU).

Teachers from the four unions demanded wage increases above inflation rates, as well as additional funds to ensure that no raises would come from existing budgets.

The inflation rate is currently 8.7%.

NEU Joint General Secretary Marie Boustead told Sky News that she would recommend this offer to members of the ‘bank’, which will be in September 2023.

“If the members accept this deal, the dispute we are currently having with the government over wages will end this year,” she said. This is the end of this feud.

With two daughters, ages seven and nine, Sally Hasselwood, of Harrogate, N.Y., is “very excited” that they are coming to an end.

Image source, Sally Haslewood

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Mum Sally Heslewood says it’s a “huge relief” that school strikes may finally be over

“It’s a huge relief that when they come back in September, they should have a full year of school without any interruption for the first time in three years,” she says – referring to teachers’ strikes and the Covid-19 virus.

“It’s been a nightmare in general for parents if they’re trying to plan for it, and it’s upsetting for kids. So all in all, it’s just great news.”

Brighton-based father-of-two Sam, who has asked that his surname be withheld, has supported striking teachers and is pleased with the decision.

“I sympathized a lot with the strikers because I know how difficult the school situation is – it feels like an underfunded service,” he says.

“But more work in the fall would have felt like a nightmare, so getting that off the table is a huge relief.”

extra pay

The government says it will give schools an additional £525m in 2023-24 and £900m in 2024-25, from the Department for Education (DfE) budget, to fund wage increases.

The prime minister’s official spokesperson said the savings would come from a “re-prioritization” within government departments.

At the Ministry of Education, he added, this would mean a decrease in civil service training and “skills training camps”.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said ministers were “painfully going through every single line of the budget and looking at where we think we don’t need to use all the money we were expecting”.

“We think there will be underspending on certain things or that certain things will change,” she said.

“We basically got permission from the Treasury Department…to turn that money over to fund the extra salary.”

Long term strategy

Unions say the money will not be diverted from special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or further education provisions – or from funding needed to ensure the safety of school buildings.

“We understand that a portion of the money will come from unspent appropriations that would normally be recovered by the Treasury,” said Jeff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders.

This week, the National Foundation for Educational Research warned that a 6.5% wage increase is unlikely to solve recruitment and retention problems in the teaching profession, and called for a “new long-term strategy.”

The 6.5% award “still doesn’t compensate most teachers for the increases in inflation over the past decade,” said James Zokolo of the Education Policy Institute. And some schools “may find funding inadequate and struggle to pay the full raise for their teachers”.

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