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NEWS • VIEWS • INFORMATION • ADVICE





‘Race to the bottom’ warning on pay proposals



The Coalition Government has signalled its intention to introduce local and regionalised pay in England and Wales. The NASUWT is vigorously resisting these plans and has set out a robust argument to the School Teachers’ Review Body explaining why such a move would be deeply detrimental to standards of education and teacher professionalism.



The proposals



Education Secretary of State Michael Gove MP has asked the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB), which makes recommendations to the Secretary of State on teachers’ pay and conditions, to consider:



how the pay framework for teachers can be made more ‘market-facing’ in local areas. This clearly indicates the Minister’s intention to introduce localised pay;

how the main and upper pay scales should be reformed to more effectively link pay and performance;

what other reforms should be made to teachers’ pay and conditions in order to raise the status of the profession and best support the recruitment and retention of high quality teachers in all schools.



The NASUWT’s position



The NASUWT has told the STRB that introducing localised pay will drive down educational standards and could result in teacher shortages in certain areas of the country.



In its detailed statement to the STRB, the Union stated that:



evidence shows that teachers are more mobile than the Government assumes, meaning that any proposals to introduce regionalised pay could result in teacher shortages in certain parts of the country as teachers migrate to areas where pay levels are higher;

reducing teachers’ pay could result in a ‘brain drain’ from the state sector to private schools;

evidence shows that world-class, global corporations favour national pay frameworks because they make financial sense and help to ensure consistency of service;

the Government has sought to suggest that teachers are overpaid, but data shows that teachers in England receive only average pay when compared with graduates in other countries;

introducing regionalised pay is likely to discriminate against disabled, older and women teachers as they generally have less mobility in finding work;

the Treasury has based its economic arguments for introducing changes to teachers’ pay by changing the pay comparative to non-graduate jobs.



Independent research



The NASUWT commissioned Incomes Data Services (IDS) to undertake research on local pay. Key messages from the Report are:



‘There appear to be good reasons for maintaining the status quo, but little evidence to support the introduction of further local pay differentiation.’



‘The possibility of equal pay challenges are one reason why private sector employers require robust processes when varying pay by location.’



‘Far from increasing private sector employment, cutting pay for public servants in the North of England, or in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland or even regions like the South West could affect consumer spending power and have a detrimental effect on local economies.’



The STRB will be making an interim report to the Secretary of State by the end of September. Once he has considered the findings, he will then ask the STRB to compile a final report on how the reforms could be implemented.



For the NASUWT detailed evidence and the IDS research, visit www.nasuwt.org.uk/STRB

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