Labour Faces Criticism Over Funding of Teacher Pay Rises

The Labour party is facing accusations of mismanaging funds after it emerged that increased teacher pay rises are being financed through savings made from the pensions of school support staff. The GMB union, representing 100,000 support staff including dinner ladies, caretakers, and librarians, has labeled the move "disgusting" and called for Education Secretary Lucy Powell to "be ashamed."

According to the union, the move involves utilizing a surplus in the local government pension scheme. This surplus allows schools to reduce their employment contributions for support staff by an average of 4.9 percent, with these savings then being redirected to fund teacher pay increases. The GMB emphasizes that support staff pensions themselves will not be reduced or negatively impacted by this change. However, the union objects to the diversion of funds, arguing that the money should instead benefit the support staff directly.

This financial adjustment comes as teachers are set to receive a 3.5 percent pay increase, while support staff will receive a 3.3 percent raise. Stacey Booth, GMB national officer, criticized the decision, stating, "School support staff are already paid a pittance for nurturing, feeding and helping to educate our children. To take money from their pensions to give others a pay rise is completely disgusting."

Booth further asserted, "Ministers should be ashamed of themselves – if they can't fund a pay rise they should have the guts to admit it rather than stealing the money of others." The union plans to meet with Ms. Powell to express its concerns that its members have been marginalized.

The Department for Education confirmed that the adjustment "does not reduce the pension benefits support staff receive." The announcement from Ms. Powell followed threats of strikes from the National Education Union (NEU), which is predominantly composed of teachers, over concerns that their pay rise was not fully funded. Schools had initially anticipated having to cover approximately half of the pay rise from their existing budgets, raising fears of potential staff cuts.

Daniel Kebede, NEU General Secretary, commented on the GMB's stance, stating, "Not one support staff pension has been cut – this is a fall in what employers pay in, set independently by actuaries because these funds are healthier than expected." He added that the NEU's campaign and threat of strike action were instrumental in ensuring the money remained within the school system, protecting 8,300 jobs that were at risk due to an unfunded award. The local government pension scheme is a defined benefits scheme funded by both employer and employee contributions and is separate from the Teachers' Pension Scheme.