Teachers pay row looming

The government is proposing inflation-only pay rises for school teachers in England and Wales, with a multi-year pay deal and increased emphasis on performance pay.

Secretary of state for education Charles Clarke has told the School Teachers' Review Body that "workload, and not pay, remains the single most important factor in improving recruitment and retention of teachers".

Clarke's approach threatens to re-ignite arguments over the "workloads" agreement signed six months ago - but opposed by the largest teaching union the NUT - which will see a big expansion in the role of teaching assistants within the school workforce (see Labour Research, February 2003).

Clarke stresses the need for "stability and predictability" in school budgets and sees teachers' pay as a key plank in this. He says there is no case for a rise above the projected average inflation rate of 2.5%.

However, he wants a long-term settlement and has urged the review body "as a minimum" to make recommendations for a two-year period (2004-2006). He also wants local variations in labour markets taken into account.

Teaching unions responded angrily, the NUT condemning the proposals as a "pay freeze" that would worsen recruitment and retention problems. Its members would be "paying the price" for the workloads agreement.