3 APRIL 2023 | NEWS
NEW TEACHER STRIKES AS PAY OFFER REJECTED
The National Education Union has announced two further days of strike action for teachers in the coming weeks, after a ballot of members rejected the Government’s pay offer by 98%, in a 66% turnout.
The strikes are set for Thursday 27 April and Tuesday 2 May. The move comes amid news that almost a quarter of teachers are working 12-hour days, according to research carried out by the Department for Education last year that has not yet been formally published.
Government negotiators had made an offer to teaching union representatives of a 4.3% pay increase from next year, along with an additional bonus of £1,000 on an individual basis this year. It had also offered to raise starting salaries for teachers to £30,000 per annum from September.
But speaking at the union’s annual conference, Joint General Secretaries Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney said the pay offer was “not fully funded” – referring to whether or not schools would receive additional budget increases to accommodate it – and would not address issues with teacher recruitment.
The Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, said that the union’s rejection of the pay offer would “simply result in more disruption for children and less money for teachers today”.
“The offer was funded, including major new investment of over half a billion pounds, in addition to the record funding already planned for school budgets,” she added. The Government has allocated an extra £2.3 billion in funding to the schools budget over the next two years.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that the Government’s pay offer had been “very reasonable”, adding that he found the news of the new strike dates “extremely disappointing”. Teachers at most state schools saw a 5% rise in their pay last year.
A vote is set to be taken on the next day of the NEU’s conference tomorrow, covering further potential strike dates in June and July. However, the final decision as to whether or not to approve these would need to be taken by the NEU’s executive.
The union’s rejection of the Government’s pay offer also means the one-off payment of £1,000 to all teachers will now no longer be made.
NEW MEASURES TO TACKLE GROOMING GANGS
The Prime Minister has said that “political correctness” has been partially to blame for victims of grooming going unheard.
Unveiling plans to stamp out “evil” gangs that target children and young women today, Mr Sunak said that abusers should not be able to use “cultural sensitivities” to evade justice. Under the plans, the police will now record ethnicity data when investigating alleged crimes, assisted by a new Grooming Gangs Taskforce in individual cases.
Speaking at launch events for the new Taskforce in Leeds and Greater Manchester, the Prime Minister said: “The safety of women and girls is paramount. For too long, political correctness has stopped us from weeding out vile criminals who prey on children and young women. We will stop at nothing to stamp out these dangerous gangs.”
Introducing a ‘mandatory reporting duty’, Home Secretary Suella Braverman added: “The protection of children is a collective effort. Every adult must be supported to call out child sexual abuse without fear.”
The Labour Party has called the proposals “far too inadequate”.
PM URGED TO LET UK REJOIN EU HORIZON SCHEME
A range of business leaders have appealed to the Prime Minister to allow the UK to rejoin the EU’s Horizon scheme for funding scientific research and innovation.
It is understood that 30 major figures have signed a letter to Mr Sunak urging him to explore the possibility of associate membership of the scheme “without delay”. The UK left Horizon when it departed from the European Union on 31 January 2020.
The Prime Minister is said to be wary of recommitting to the scheme owing to its cost, but the letter’s authors argue that it allows for results to be achieved that “the UK alone could not”, with the Interim Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Matthew Fell, adding that the programme’s merits “go far beyond funding”.
It is hoped within the business community that the recent signing of the Windsor Framework deal between the UK and EU – which is designed to mark a new chapter in UK-EU relations – will lay the groundwork for an improved mood for rejoining the scheme.
The Government has thus far struck an emollient tone, with a spokesman telling journalists: “Both the UK and the EU have been clear that we are open to taking forward discussions on UK association to EU Programmes.
“We look forward to meeting the EU shortly to discuss future scientific research collaboration, including Horizon Europe association.”
