Careers and Training
Support staff pay scale is put on hold
The future of a national pay and conditions scale for early years and support staff in maintained schools in England is in doubt, as work by the body set up by the previous Government to determine the framework has been put on hold by the coalition Government.
A decision by the Department for Education on the future of the Schools Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) had been due in early September. But public sector union Unison, which represents the largest number of school support staff, said that they have been told that this has now been put back again until the end of the month.
In June, the independent chair of the SSSNB, Philip Ashmore, was told the Department for Education would be reviewing the SSSNB and support staff pay and conditions.
The SSSNB had been due to start testing 100 job profiles in 700 different schools, to see if role profiles matched 'real' jobs in schools between June and October. This included several different job profiles to cover the role of early years school staff.
The SSSNB was made statutory as part of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009.
Christina McAnea, (pictured), national secretary for education at Unison, the lead negotiating union in the SSSNB alongside the GMB and other unions, said the SSSNB was 'a statutory body with statutory responsibilities. The fact that there is a different Secretary of State does not change the law'.
She said that meetings between employers and the unions have continued but they have been unable to make significant progress.
Ms McAnea added, 'The election was in May and it's now September. I feel that we're getting to the point that the Government are keeping us hanging on. It's very disappointing for school staff and they feel very frustrated. A lot of work had been put into this and now it looks to be in jeopardy, with the Government treating school support staff with contempt.'
A DfE spokesman said, 'Ministers are considering the future policy for determining school support staff pay and conditions of employment, including the future role of the School Support Staff Negotiating Body. A further announcement will be made in due course.'
