Teaching assistants, administrative staff, catering staff and caretakers make up over half the school workforce.
The School Workforce Census shows that are more than half a million support staff working in state-schools in England (510,400 full-time equivalent), and of these there are 282,000 (FTE) teaching assistants.
The School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSNB) will set up a national terms and conditions handbook, training, career progression routes, and fair pay rates for support staff.
Legislation to re-establish the body through the Employment Rights Bill was introduced in Parliament on Thursday, which the government said will play a key role in delivering its 'Plan to Make Work Pay'.
The bill will now pass through the legislative process and the government will consult on the detail of the legislation, including the right definition of support staff.
Subject to when the bill becomes law it is estimated that the body could start making pay-related recommendations in 2027-28 at the earliest.
The Department for Education said that the reintroduction of the body, which was in the Labour manifesto, is part of the education secretary’s commitment to reset the relationship with the sector.
It would also play a vital role in helping to ensure that schools could continue to recruit and retain the staff they need, they said.
The SSSNB will be made up of representatives from employers, unions and an independent chairperson, and will be tasked with making sure support staff are paid fairly and have access to training and career progression opportunities.
To ensure all school staff have access to fair pay and conditions the SSSNB will apply to support staff in both maintained schools and academies.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said, ‘Support staff make up over half the workforce and our schools would grind to a halt without our brilliant teaching assistants, catering staff, caretakers and many more vital roles.
‘They make a huge contribution to children’s education and the smooth running of our schools. By reinstating the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) we will make sure they are properly valued and respected as the professionals they are, supporting our work to drive high and rising standards so every child has the best life chances.’
The DfE said the reinstatement of the SSSNB builds on the work already underway to re-establish teaching as an attractive profession and recruit 6,500 extra teachers.
The government said it is also taking steps to support teachers’ wellbeing and ease workload pressures, including allowing teachers to carry out lesson planning at home, and improving flexible working for staff.
Commenting on the bill, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said, 'More flexible working for teachers and support staff will be good for staff, pupils and students. We think that it will also help greatly with retention. Our members should also have the right to switch off from work – we want to see an end to 10pm work emails.
'For too long schools and colleges have avoided taking action on the gender pay gap. Prohibiting performance related pay and increasing pay and progression transparency will expose poor employers and enable women to progress in their careers unheeded.
'We want to see "day one" protections and access to benefits for all teachers and support staff in the education sector. Removing the detrimental barriers to in-work support will prevent working educators from falling into poverty.
'Proposals to stop employers from exploiting and then dismissing new recruits from unfair dismissal are to be welcomed. Taking on 'fire and rehire' practices is long overdue.
'We also want to see greater protection from discriminatory dismissal for older teachers, in particular women teachers who are working through the menopause.'
