Annual Report 2015
Birmingham Friday 25 March 2016 Monday 28 March 2016
President Kathy Wallis General Secretary Chris Keates Honorary Treasurer Brian Cookson Contents
Introduction 5
Policy: Pay 6 Pensions 23 Conditions of Service 44 Funding Across the UK 55 Facility Time 68 Health and Safety 70 National Trade Disputes 74 Education 78 Parliamentary 100 Work with the Wider Trade Union Movement 110 International 117
Organising: Industrial Action 129 Equal Opportunities 130 Recruitment 138 Trade Union Education and Training 140 Legal Aid, Benevolence and Services 144 Personal 153
Appendix 1: NASUWT Conferences and Seminars (other than training) 154 Appendix 2: External Conferences, Seminars and Events at which the 158 NASUWT was represented
Appendix 3: NASUWT Motions to the TUC, STUC, WTUC, ICTU, 163 TUC Equalities Conferences and International Motions Appendix 4: General Teaching Councils 177 Appendix 5: Affiliations, Donations and Sponsorships (over £500) 179 Appendix 6: Annual Conferences – Devolved Nations/Administrations 181 Appendix 7: Consultation Responses 183 Appendix 8: NASUWT Major Projects, Research and Surveys 186 Appendix 9: Advisory Committee Members 190 Appendix 10: Standing Committees 192
3 INTRODUCTION
During the year, the NASUWT continued to focus all activity upon the key issues relating to the defence of teachers’ pay, pensions and conditions of service across the UK. The focus of the Union’s campaigning was to highlight the inextricable link between teachers’ pay, terms and conditions and the provision of high-quality education for all children and young people.
Relationships were maintained and forged with a range of external organisations which shared, supported and could advance the Union’s policy and the interests of its members.
Key to the NASUWT’s campaigning across the UK was raising public and parental awareness of the impact of government policy, including policies on economic and social policies, on the educational entitlements of children and young people.
The Union also undertook extensive work to highlight issues of poverty, homelessness and the increasing cost of education on educational entitlement.
The NASUWT trade disputes continued with ministers across the UK. Some notable successes were achieved. However, by the end of the year, the trade disputes remained unresolved.
As the attacks upon public services, including education and on public service workers, including teachers, continued, the Union sustained its industrial action to defend and support members and to advance its trade disputes.
The attacks on wider trade union and human rights issues were also a major concern, with the NASUWT at the forefront of campaigning on these critical issues in the UK and internationally.
The NASUWT’s policies and strategies proved to be a critical lifeline for teachers, school leaders and the profession as a whole in a continuing hostile political climate.
5 POLICY
At the heart of the work of the NASUWT during the year was action on the Conference Resolutions adopted by the Annual Conference in Cardiff in April 2015.
The policy work also incorporated resolutions passed at the Annual Conferences in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
The detailed work on the matters arising from the Conference Resolutions is described throughout this Annual Report.
PAY
ENGLAND AND WALES
Teachers’ Pay
The 2015-16 Pay Award
1.1 The 2015-16 Teachers’ Pay Award was the subject of the 25th Report of the School Teachers’ Review Body for England and Wales. In January, the NASUWT met with the Review Body (Review Body) to present its oral evidence. This oral evidence supplemented the robust, detailed and comprehensive written evidence the NASUWT had submitted to inform the Review Body’s 25th Report in October and November 2014. The Union’s submissions, oral and written, provided a detailed analysis of teachers’ pay and conditions of service, the specific issues set out in the Secretary of State’s remit letter and the actions needed to address the growing concerns over teacher supply. The Union detailed the detrimental impact of the Government’s unremitting attacks on teachers’ pay and conditions of service since 2010 and made a strong case for a significant pay increase above the 1% pay cap imposed by the Treasury.
1.2 The NASUWT evidence highlighted the fact that the Chancellor had announced in the 2013 Budget that public sector pay restraint would continue and that pay awards in 2015-16 would be within that cost envelope, and that the Coalition Government was stifling the independence of Public Sector Review Bodies by seeking to bind them to the pay restraint limitations. The Union called on the Review Body to assert its independence and to question the appropriateness of the Treasury’s directions on a 1% average pay award.
1.3 The NASUWT’s evidence demonstrated, using research, how teachers had suffered significant reductions in living standards as a result of the Coalition Government’s wider economic strategy, public sector pay restraint, pension contributions increases and the rising cost of living. The Union’s evidence stated that: ‘In terms of the impact of inflation, for example, a teacher at the top of the main scale was paid at £31,552 in September 2010. If teachers’ pay had kept pace with inflation, the teacher’s salary level would have risen through cost of living adjustments to £36,091 by 2014. However, the actual pay for the same teacher today stands at £32,187 – a pay shortfall of £3,904 p.a. This pay gap would be further compounded if another pay award limited to 1 per cent is imposed in 2015, producing a total cumulative pay shortfall since 2010 of £16,487, if inflation rises to 3.3% in 2015 as forecast by the Treasury.’
1.4 The NASUWT’s evidence emphasised the absence of any equality impact assessment of Coalition Government policies. The Union pressed the Review Body to ensure that its recommendations required the Department for Education (DfE) to carry out a detailed and robust equality impact assessment to confirm that any proposals:
• did not contribute to unlawful discrimination; • advance equality of opportunity between different groups; and
6 • did not exacerbate the problems of unlawful discrimination and widening pay equality on the basis of gender, race/ethnicity and geography arising from the increasing pay flexibilities already being implemented.
1.5 Following receipt of the circulation of the submissions of the DfE and other statutory consultees, the NASUWT also submitted supplementary evidence to the Review Body in November.
1.6 In its supplementary evidence, the NASUWT noted the views expressed in the majority of submissions to the Review Body which:
• underlined the evidence of a widening pay gap between teachers and graduates in other sectors to the disadvantage of teachers; • indicated that the recruitment of teachers is becoming increasingly difficult; • confirmed that retention of teachers is a problem; • identified that the value of teachers’ pay has been eroded; • recommended that the pay award for teachers should be applied without differentiation to all teachers and school leaders; and • recommended that the cost of living pay award for teachers should not be linked in any way to the operation of the system for incremental pay progression.
1.7 The NASUWT responded to research commissioned by the DfE for the Review Body from the Office of Manpower Economics (OME), which published a comparative valuation of individual pension benefits for illustrative purposes. The comparative valuation was produced by Towers Watson Ltd for the OME and the NASUWT demonstrated that the Towers Watson study showed the dramatic reduction in the value of teachers’ pensions as a result of the Coalition Government’s reforms. The NASUWT highlighted the significant reduction in the ‘total reward’ package for teachers since 2010 which had been demonstrated by the OME.
1.8 In March, the Review Body published its 25th Report on what adjustments should be made to theDRAFT salary and allowance ranges for classrCOPYoom teachers, unqualified teachers and school leaders, to reflect the average of up to 1% pay award for public sector workers.
1.9 The 25th Report referenced an extensive number of points from the written and oral evidence submitted by the NASUWT, including the Union’s:
• call for a significant, above-inflation percentage pay award fully funded by the THISGovernment; VERSION IS • ‘profound concern’ at the intervention by the Chief Secretary in his letter; • strong representations about recent Review Body recommendations and the need for the Review Body to assert its independence from Government; • referenceUNPROOFREAD to the ‘integrity and independence’ of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), which had recommended a 9.3% pay increase for MPs; • representations that teachers have faced a greater degree of uncertainty and turbulence than other public sector workers as a result of changes to the national pay framework; • evidence on the impact of the two-year pay freeze followed by the 1% pay awards in September 2013 and September 2014 and the decreasing value of the teachers’ reward package, which had been eroded by inflation and pension reform; • evidence that teachers had suffered a 14.8% reduction in pay since 2010 and unqualified teachers had suffered a pay cut in September 2013; • warning of the real risk of an increasing crisis in teacher recruitment; • survey of NASUWT members and a ComRes poll on teacher satisfaction, which suggested many teachers were thinking of leaving the profession; • analysis showing that teachers’ starting salaries had fallen behind other graduate professions, which pointed to a growing need for an increase in pay so the teaching profession could compete with other professions in attracting and retaining graduates;
7 • argument that the proposal for a 1% increase in September 2015 would be inadequate to keep pace with 2014/15 inflation, given recent inflation (as measured by both the Retail Prices Index (RPI) and the Consumer Prices Index (CPI)) and forecasts for the year to September 2015; • citation of comparative analysis by Incomes Data Services (IDS) which indicated persistently higher pay for comparable graduate professional occupations; • reporting of the High Fliers Research which found that: – the median starting salary for graduates (£29,000) exceeded minimum starting salaries for teachers, and – there would be increased competition for graduates as employers expected to recruit significantly more graduates in 2014, offering 8.7% more entry-level vacancies than in 2013; • evidence that recent changes to the pay system had removed certainty on progression, thus making the profession less attractive to possible new entrants and making it difficult to retain experienced teachers; • commissioned research by IDS, which found: teachers’ starting salaries trailing those of other graduates, especially outside London; more rapid salary progression for other graduates (at three and five years); teachers’ earnings significantly trailing other specific professions; and teachers’ earnings growth significantly trailing other professions, particularly in the last three years; • emerging evidence from its members of widening pay inequalities within schools, disproportionately affecting black and minority ethnic (BME) teachers, women teachers and disabled teachers; • survey evidence that recent changes to the system for teachers’ pay progression had adversely affected teacher morale, led to discrimination against teachers with protected characteristics, and acted as powerful disincentives to graduates’ inclination to consider teaching as a career – a view substantiated by the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) research on shortage-subject teaching; • statistical evidence on the number of teachers opting out of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) and the likelihood that further real-terms pay cuts would exacerbate the problem of opt-outs and thus pose a risk to the TPS; • calculations showing that the change from RPI to CPI indexation had reduced the value of pension benefits and that the increase in the State Pension Age (SPA) would further reduce the value of teachers’ pensions; • assertion that the Review Body should challenge the affordability constraint and evidence of some of the Department’s discretionary expenditure, which shows that additional money could be found; • evidence which demonstrated that a nationally funded pay award for teachers was not affordable; • provision of statistics published by the Department on local authority and school expenditure, which showed that school revenue surplus budgets had increased significantly in recent years, with a 53% increase in school balances since 2006/07, and only 5.6% of all schools were in deficit in 2012/13.
1.10 The Review Body’s 25th Report recommended that:
• a 1% uplift should be applied to the minima of all the pay ranges and allowances in the national pay framework (unqualified teachers’ pay range, main pay range, upper pay range, leading practitioner pay range and the leadership pay range, including the minima of the eight headteacher group ranges), the three levels of Teaching and Learning Responsibility (TLR) payments and the special educational needs (SEN) allowance; • a 2% uplift should be applied to the maximum of the main pay range; • there should be no increase to the maximum of the leadership group pay range nor to the maxima of the eight headteacher group pay ranges; and
8 • an uplift of 1% should be applied to the maxima of all other pay ranges and allowances in the national pay framework (unqualified teachers’ pay range, upper pay range, leading practitioner pay range, the three levels of TLR payments and the SEN allowance).
1.11 In April, the NASUWT submitted a full and detailed response to the DfE’s consultation on the Review Body’s recommendations. The Union:
• noted that the Review Body had received compelling evidence about the impact on teacher recruitment and retention of real-terms cuts to teachers’ pay since 2010; • welcomed the Review Body’s recognition of the adverse trends in teacher supply and the increasingly uncompetitive nature of teachers’ salaries with other graduate professions; • warned that the decline in teachers’ pay levels since 2010 had led to a teacher shortage approaching crisis proportions, which jeopardised teacher supply in many areas of England and Wales; • raised serious concerns about the Review Body formulating recommendations in response to political imperatives rather than in light of the available evidence; and • concluded that the Review Body had recognised the symptoms of the disease brought about by the slashing of teachers’ pay and pension benefits, but had prescribed the wrong medicine – further pay restraint and discretion over teachers’ pay values within the minimum and maximum of the pay ranges which are not included in the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD).
1.12 In July, the Secretary of State accepted the Review Body’s key recommendations in full.
1.13 The Chancellor announced in the July Summer Budget that public sector pay restraint would continue for another four years from 2016-17 through to 2019-20 and that pay awards would be limited to an average of up to 1%.
1.14 The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Greg Hands, wrote to the Chairs of the Public Sector Pay Review Bodies in August, confirming that the Conservative Government would seek to impose:
• public sector pay restraint of 1% per year until at least 2019-20; • pay reforms that would include a renewed focus on progression pay, considering legislation if necessary to achieve the Government’s objectives, including to ensure there should not be an expectation that every worker will receive a pay award; and • further reforms to public sector workers’ terms and conditions of employment.
The School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD)
1.15 Following the publication of the Review Body’s 25th Report, the DfE engaged in its annual consultation on changes to the STPCD in July, including publishing a draft 2015 STPCD. In July, the NASUWT responded to the draft 2015 STPCD and the acceptance of the recommendations of the 25th Report by the Secretary of State.
1.16 In its response to the DfE on the draft STPCD, the NASUWT continued to oppose the wholly inadequate pay award, and drew attention to the Review Body’s expressed concern about the risks to teacher retention of depressing pay.
1.17 The Union drew to the DfE’s attention that the minimum of some of the leadership pay ranges in the draft STPCD had not been uplifted by the full 1%. The DfE subsequently corrected the errors which the NASUWT identified.
1.18 The NASUWT reiterated that it was profoundly unhelpful for the DfE not to publish the NASUWT discretionary pay reference points which had been in the 2013 STPCD, either in the
9 STPCD as is the NASUWT’s preference, or in separate DfE pay advice. The Union stressed to the DfE that the overwhelming majority of schools, academies and multi-academy trusts (MATs) had adopted, and wish to continue to adopt, pay reference points as the ‘national defined’ pay scale. In addition, the National Employers’ Organisation for School Teachers (NEOST) had confirmed that headteachers and governors wish to maintain the pay reference points as pay scales.
1.19 In its engagement with the DfE on the draft STPCD, the NASUWT made it explicitly clear that the wording of the Document must set out teachers’ pay entitlements in a manner which schools could interpret easily.
1.20 The NASUWT argued that any pay advice which the DfE issued on the STPCD should not conflict with the provisions of the STPCD and that the NASUWT should be consulted on the content of any such pay advice. However, the DfE issued highly flawed and conflicted pay advice in September. The advice was non-statutory and the NASUWT advocated it should be disregarded. The Union argued that elements of the advice were in conflict with statutory provisions in the STPCD.
1.21 In July, the General Secretary wrote to all employers in England and Wales to make clear the NASUWT’s expectation that the September pay award would be implemented in full and that teachers on the minima of all of the pay ranges would receive 1%, teachers on the maximum of the Main Pay Range would receive 2%, and teachers on the maxima of all pay ranges other than the main pay range and the maxima of the headteacher group ranges would receive 1%. The General Secretary also made it clear that the NASUWT’s expectation was that teachers on pay values between the maxima and minima of the ranges would receive 1%.
1.22 In August, the NASUWT’s Model Pay Policy was updated and reissued to:
• provide for prescribed standardised pay scales (reference points) between the statutory minimum and maximum on the Main Pay Range and the Upper Pay Range, which awarded the September pay award in full; • enable pay portability between schools; • ensure the adoption of a fair, transparent and consistent pay policy in schools, which recognises and rewards teachers as highly skilled professionals; and • ensure accountability, transparency, objectivity and equality of opportunity.
1.23 In September, the NASUWT held a successful pay workshop to support and advise NASUWT lay activists about the pay award and other pay matters. The Union addressed in the workshop the advice presented by some organisations, including the DfE, the Local Government Association (LGA) and some employers, who had issued pay advice to withhold elements of the September pay award.
1.24 Following the announcement of the 2015-16 pay award, the Union received reports from local activists that the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) was seeking to establish an all- Wales approach to the implementation of the award.
1.25 The NASUWT made an immediate challenge to the WLGA, local authorities and school governing bodies over this unwelcome approach by the WLGA, citing the Union’s clear expectations over the implementation of the award and the evidence presented to the Review Body by the Welsh Government.
1.26 The swift and decisive action taken by the national executive members, Local Association secretaries and Workplace Representatives led to the NASUWT expectations being realised and a consistent approach being achieved across Wales.
10 1.27 In November, evidence gathered by the NASUWT confirmed that many employers in England, including some MATs for which the STPCD was a contractual entitlement, had met the NASUWT’s expectations and paid the 2015-16 pay award in full.
1.28 In November, the NASUWT published the interim findings of its pay survey of members in England and Wales. The Survey highlighted the Union’s profound concerns about the withholding of teachers’ pay and potentially discriminatory practices in schools and academies in England.
1.29 The Survey found that:
• 47% of teachers did not have their school’s pay policy available to them; • 29% did not have their school’s performance management policy available to them; • 10% of teachers said that they were discriminated against; • over half (57%) of teachers stated that they have not received the 1% cost of living uplift; and • only 5% of teachers who were eligible for the 2% increase of the maximum of the Main Pay Range had either received the increase or been informed that they were receiving the increase.
1.30 In all cases, the figures from the Survey for teachers with protected characteristics were significantly higher.
1.31 The NASUWT’s pay research demonstrated a significantly worsening situation for teachers in respect of their opportunities to access their pay entitlements:
• in 2014 38% of teachers did not have their school’s pay policy available to them. This had worsened to 47%; and • in 2014 20% of teachers did not have their school’s performance management policy available to them. This had worsened to 29%.
1.32 The NASUWT used the Survey results in its evidence to the Review Body, in discussions with Ministers in England and Wales and officials, and to organise and campaign to secure teachers’ pay entitlements with employers.
The Review Body’s 26th Report
1.33 In October, the Secretary of State for Education, Nicky Morgan, issued a new remit to the Review Body calling for the following matters to be considered:
• what adjustments should be made to the salary and allowance ranges for classroom teachers, unqualified teachers and school leaders to promote recruitment and retention within an average pay award of 1%; • what adjustments, if any, should be made to the pay and conditions framework to provide additional flexibilities for schools and incentives to recognise performance; • whether the existing salary sacrifice arrangements should be extended to provide scope for a salary advance scheme for rental deposits; and • what changes to the STPCD may be appropriate following the introduction of new registration fee arrangements to finance the Welsh Education Workforce Council (EWC).
1.34 The Secretary of State for Education also asked the Review Body for a specific focus on:
• its reflections on changes to the teachers’ pay and conditions framework which had been implemented over the previous three years;
11 • whether teachers should be allowed to move down from the Upper Pay Range to the Main Pay Range; and • whether non-consolidated payments should be made to teachers.
1.35 The NASUWT’s evidence submission, made in December to the Review Body’s 26th Remit, focused on the following:
• the shortage of teachers had now developed into a crisis of teacher supply; • the uncompetitive nature of teachers’ pay, particularly in comparison with other graduate professions; • the 20% gap in the average starting salary for teachers compared with other graduates; • the widening gap between classroom teachers’ and school leaders’ pay; • the continuing gender pay gap; • the issues of teacher retention; • the total real-terms combined loss of pay suffered by teachers in the last five years which now amounted to tens of thousands of pounds as a result of the failure of pay to keep pace with inflation since 2010 and the increase in pension contributions since 2012; • the implementation of pay flexibilities and discretions since 2013 which had led to chaos in teachers’ pay in many schools and had created a culture of bullying, unfairness, injustice and discrimination; • evidence that teachers with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 reported low levels of trust in their schools’ pay processes; • affordability of a substantial above-inflation pay increase for teachers; • the Welsh EWC fee should be paid in full as a statutory entitlement for teachers, as payment of the fee is a condition of service; and • the role of a teacher on the Upper Pay Range is identical to that of a teacher on the Main Pay Range and the concept that teachers can ‘step down’ from the upper to the Main Pay Range is contrary to the provisions of the STPCD.
1.36 The NASUWT called on the Review Body to recommend a substantial above-inflation pay increase for teachers and to halt the introduction of any more flexibilities into the teachers’ pay system, including any flexibility for ‘pay regression’. The Union also called for comprehensive and robust evidence to be collected on the impact of pay flexibilities over the past three years.
1.37 The NASUWT also called for the Review Body to evaluate the evidence placed before it and frame its recommendations accordingly, irrespective of the parameters set by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. The NASUWT emphasised that the Review Body had a clear choice before it to contribute to the national pay crisis in the teaching profession or to recommend a solution.
1.38 The NASUWT urged the Review Body to demonstrate its independence from Government in respect of its remit over teachers’ pay.
1.39 The NASUWT submitted supplementary evidence to the Review Body in December, following receipt of the evidence of other statutory consultees. The supplementary evidence focused on demolishing the DfE’s submission which the Union considered was basically assertion and anecdote and was an insult to the profession, showing contempt for classroom teachers.
1.40 At the close of the year, the Union was scheduled to give oral evidence in February 2016 and the Review Body’s Report was expected in April 2016.
Joint Negotiating Committee for Teachers in Residential Establishments (JNCTRE)
1.41 During the course of the year, the NASUWT met with the LGA in England to discuss its approach to pay and conditions in the JNCTRE.
12 1.42 As a result of these meetings, the LGA agreed to issue guidance and advice to identified residential establishments. Disappointingly, this advice was at odds with the position of the NASUWT and so was not agreed.
1.43 In December, the NASUWT met with the employers to explore the issues further, but by the close of the year the matter had not been resolved.
Academies and Free Schools
1.44 The NASUWT continued its opposition to the academy and free schools programme in England, including through industrial action campaigns. The Union continued to argue that structural change does not of itself raise standards.
1.45 The Union continued to campaign for national pay and conditions frameworks to apply in academy schools.
1.46 The Union continued to promote co-operative schools as an alternative. The popularity of these schools continued to grow.
1.47 The NASUWT continued to support members in academies, individually and collectively, in maintaining the provisions of the STPCD to protect their pay and conditions of service. It is a mark of the success of the NASUWT’s campaigning that the overwhelming majority of academies adopted the provisions of the STPCD and recognition agreement.
1.48 During the course of the year, the NASUWT met with academy sponsors and academy chains on a regular basis to negotiate on pay, conditions of service issues and policies and procedures for teachers and support staff. These resulted in tangible gains for members. The NASUWT also made representations to the national MATs regarding the implementation of the 2015-16 pay award. The majority of the national MATs agreed to meet the Union’s expectations on pay in full.
1.49 In the small number of academies not operating under the national pay and conditions framework, the NASUWT submitted separate pay claims. Two examples of this were the United Learning Trust (ULT) and Ark.
1.50 ULT made a 1% pay award across the board to all teachers in both academy and independent schools with the discretion for individual schools to pay 2%. It also restructured its pay structure which is now more in line with the STPCD. ULT has 41 academies and 14 independent schools.
1.51 The NASUWT continued to act as the trade union side secretary for the National Joint Negotiating Committee and met regularly with the employer to negotiate policies and working conditions for teachers in ULT schools.
1.52 ULT held a National Forum in November to which all ULT school representatives were invited. The NASUWT was asked to present a session on ‘Drivers of Workload’, where the Union’s view of the necessary next steps to reduce teachers’ workload was outlined.
1.53 The pay claim made to Ark called for a substantial across-the-board pay rise. The NASUWT wrote separately to Ark setting out its expectations in regard to the annual pay award. In response, Ark determined without further discussion to make a 1% award to all pay points and allowances and determined to add a further point on their pay scale 2% above the previous maximum on the Main Pay Range that would only be awarded according to performance. This was opposed by the NASUWT.
13 1.54 The Union achieved some notable successes on a range of policies in academies such as the ULT policy on professional development.
Church of England Education Service
1.55 The NASUWT continued to have regular meetings with the Church of England Education Service and the new Head of Schools Policy, Rowan Ferguson.
1.56 The Church of England Education Service’s approach to academies and ways of working with the Service on policy development on pay and other conditions of service were among the issues discussed. The Church of England is actively encouraging all its diocese to set up MATs. The NASUWT worked with these academy schools employers to establish a National Joint Negotiating Committee and a Trade Union Recognition Agreement (TURA).
1.57 The Church of England National Society consulted the NASUWT on its model workplace policies which are put out to its schools for guidance and advice.
1.58 The NASUWT was unable to reach agreement with the Church of England on these, as they were not compliant with the NASUWT model policies. However, many Church of England schools continued to follow local authority policies agreed with the NASUWT.
1.59 Many of the Church of England MATs and individual stand-alone academies consulted with the NASUWT on policy issues.
Catholic Education Service for England and Wales (CESEW)
1.60 The NASUWT continued to meet regularly with the CESEW during the year.
1.61 During the year, a range of issues were raised with the CESEW by the NASUWT, including the impact of the Education and Adoption Bill, the disqualification by association regulations under the Childcare Act 2006 and matters relating to disputes in individual Catholic schools.
1.62 The CESEW consulted the NASUWT on revisions to its model workplace policies for Wales and continued to consult the NASUWT on the implementation of its policies for England.
1.63 The NASUWT was unable to reach agreement with the CESEW on these policies as they were not compliant with NASUWT model policies and, in some cases, were at variance with the provisions of the NASUWT national action instructions.
Schools Co-operative Society (SCS) and the Co-operative College
1.64 The NASUWT continued its collaborative work with the SCS through the National Joint Forum (NJF). The Union met regularly with the SCS and the Co-operative College to discuss a range of issues and to progress and identify joint areas of work.
1.65 During the year, the number of SCS schools, including trust schools and academies, grew to 843. The NASUWT continued supporting the development of good practices in SCS schools as well as working collaboratively with SCS and the Co-operative College to improve conditions for NASUWT members. The NASUWT’s good working relationships with co-operative schools were central to safeguarding their future as state education schools.
1.66 During the course of the year, the Principal and Chief Executive of the Co-operative College, Mervyn Wilson, retired and was succeeded by Simon Parkinson. The NASUWT met with him very soon after his appointment and the Co-operative College’s commitment to work with the NASUWT and develop new initiatives that support NASUWT members in SCS schools was reaffirmed.
14 1.67 The NASUWT supported the Co-operative College in continuing to develop the Co operative Identity Mark (CiM), as part of a joint-badging initiative. In addition, the NASUWT supported the development of a ‘Co-operative Fellowship’ which will recognise co operative values. Plans were made for this to be rolled out in 2016.
1.68 The NASUWT continued to work on the implementation of a ‘Co-operative Teachers Network’ with the Co-operative College and agreed to host a seminar for SCS teachers in 2016.
1.69 The NASUWT provided SCS with the NASUWT model pay policy for use in the monitoring of pay progression. The SCS shared that good practice with principals and headteachers, in addition to ensuring it was available on the SCS website.
1.70 In September, the NASUWT agreed to and provided advice for a letter supporting and encouraging facility time buy-in with local authorities and continuing adherence to STPCD in SCS schools. The SCS circulated a letter to all SCS schools advising them to ensure they continued paying in to local authority pooled arrangements for facility time.
1.71 At a joint SCS and Co-operative College event in June the NASUWT gave a presentation on ‘Where next for Co-operative Schools and Trade Unions?’ There was an excellent turnout from stakeholders and Co-operative College representatives.
National Autistic Society (NAS)
1.72 The NAS Board accepted a proposed TURA from the NASUWT. Plans were made for the NASUWT to meet regularly with the NAS to discuss, consult and negotiate policies, procedures and terms and conditions for teachers employed by the NAS.
Sixth-form Colleges
1.73 The NASUWT continued to be represented on the National Joint Council (NJC) for staff in sixth-form colleges and on the Committee for Teaching Staff in England. Brian Cookson, NASUWT Honorary Treasurer, continued to chair the Staff Side Committee.
1.74 The NASUWT, along with other unions representing teachers in sixth-form colleges, met representatives of the Sixth Form Colleges Association (SFCA), the colleges’ national body, in July and September, to seek improvements in the pay, conditions of service and job security for members working in the sixth-form college sector.
1.75 During the year, discussions continued with the NJC around a National Pay Framework that would restore pay parity with school teachers. The proposals were made to create a single nine-point pay spine in place of the Main Scale and Professional Standards Payment (PSP) Range, restore pay parity with schools by increasing pay rates at the minimum and maximum of the pay scales, and introduce a new system of responsibility payments for promoted posts. The proposals removed the progression provisions, removing the need to apply for progression and introduce a system of pay progression linked to appraisal outcomes at all points of the pay scale on an annual basis, allowing teachers the prospect of reaching the top of the pay scale earlier than previously.
1.76 The NASUWT sought a range of safeguards in order to ensure, in particular, that appraisal processes remained fair and appropriate and that the establishment of revised progression provisions were introduced without detriment.
1.77 In relation to safeguarding, the NASUWT secured the provision that teachers who would otherwise have suffered a loss through the implementation of the revised structure (i.e.
15 those on pay points in the middle of the spine which would reduce in value in the new structure) would be fully protected if remaining on that pay point.
1.78 The NASUWT took the view that this was the best available outcome through negotiation and that there were many positives to the establishment of a National SFCA Pay Framework, which re-established pay parity with teachers in secondary schools.
1.79 The NASUWT met with the SFCA several times during the Summer term to agree transitionary guidance to the revised pay framework, and during the Autumn term to discuss implementation.
1.80 The NASUWT engaged in talks to seek an agreement on a SFCA Model Appraisal Policy based on the NASUWT checklist. However, the NASUWT was unable finally to agree this as the SFCA was unable to agree a limit on observations.
1.81 Throughout the year, the NASUWT continued to promote, via bulletins, e-mails, social media and the website, involvement in its industrial action, which enabled sixth-form college members to take industrial action on pay, conditions of service, pensions and job security.
1.82 The NASUWT met with the SFCA to discuss the national dispute and its implementation in sixth-form colleges.
1.83 During the course of the year, the NASUWT held a national briefing and several regional briefings for colleges on the implementation of the revised pay framework, including seminars on ‘How to take control of your performance management’.
1.84 The DfE and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) launched a programme of area-based reviews (ABRs) to review 16+ provision in every area. The DfE envisaged completion by September 2017 and implementation by 2020. Each review covered both further education (FE) and sixth-form colleges.
1.85 During the course of the year, the NASUWT secured engagement with the ABRs and attended the union meetings before each of the steering committees. Through these meetings, the NASUWT promoted the value of sixth-form colleges in relation to academic achievement, community cohesion, value for money and closeness to the school sector. At the end of the year, the NASUWT was continuing to engage with the ABRs.
Further Education Colleges
1.86 During the year, the NASUWT continued its work to represent members in FE colleges.
1.87 The Joint Trade Unions (JTUs) submitted their joint pay claim for 2015-16 to the Association of Colleges (AoC) at a meeting of officers of the NJF on 13 May. The pay claim included:
• a call for an increase in pay of £1 per hour for all staff; • a recommendation to colleges to become accredited Living Wage employers; • a code of practice for managing workload; and • a review of the timing of future pay negotiations and the annual pay implementation date.
1.88 In June, the NJF met for the final round of the 2015-16 pay talks. The employers’ representatives stated that they intended to advise colleges to make no pay award for 2015 16.
1.89 The pay claim covered approximately 128,000 FE college lecturers in institutions which are members of the AoC.
16 1.90 Following a protracted dispute, workers in the FE sector in Wales voted, in February, to accept a revised offer of 1% from the ColegauCymru to settle the pay award for 2014-15.
1.91 The FE Joint Trade Unions Wales (FEJTUW) submitted the 2015-16 pay claim to ColegauCymru in June. The claim was discussed at a meeting of the Wales Negotiating Committee (FE) in October. The claim called for:
• an increase in pay of £1 per hour for all staff; • colleges to become accredited Living Wage employers; • negotiations on an agreement which addresses: appropriate travel time recognised within the Travel, Mobility and Workload policies within colleges and a rate equivalent to HMRC recommendations for use of private vehicles; • negotiations on an agreement covering the circumstances in which colleges could consider using agency staff; • guidance to be issued on the use of part-time contracts; and • an agreement on lesson observations, reflecting the new guidance from Estyn for FE once it is published.
1.92 ColegauCymru indicated that it would await the 2016-17 FE funding allocations before responding to the financial aspects of the claim.
NORTHERN IRELAND
1.93 The NASUWT’s trade dispute with the Department of Education Northern Ireland (DENI), lodged in 2008 and in which pay was a critical element, continued.
1.94 During the year, the employers responded to the 2014 pay claim by offering 1% on the proviso that the teacher unions agreed to engage in the development of arrangements to move away from automatic time-served pay progression, through the introduction of a formal link between pay progression and a refined Performance Review and Staff Development (PRSD) process for the 2015 pay award. The NASUWT was the only union to refuse to engage with the employers on this basis.
1.95 In July, the DENI announced an increase of 1% in salary rates from 1 September 2014. The Department published the 2014 pay scales in Circular 2015/18 Teachers’ Pay and Allowances from 1 September 2014, but a significant number of the pay values had not been uplifted by the full 1% pay increase since 2013. The NASUWT made representations to the Department for this to be rectified.
1.96 Despite continued pressure on the NASUWT to sign up to terms of reference for the 2015 Pay Award which sought to tie the Union to acceptance of the NI Executive Pay policy, the NASUWT refused to negotiate on these terms.
1.97 The Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council (NITC) submitted a pay claim in June which included:
• a 3% uplift on all pay scales and allowances including the leadership scales; • removal of the M1 scale point with the subsequent renumbering of all other points, reducing the Main Pay Scale to 5 points; • insertion of a new pay point on the Upper Pay Spine, i.e. UPS4; • increasing Individual School Range (ISR) ranges for principals/vice-principals by 2 points; and • revising maternity/paternity, adoption and assisted pregnancy pay arrangements.
1.98 The NASUWT did not support this claim as the claim was processed in the context of unions considering a mechanism for incremental progression, with a view to revised arrangements being effective from September 2016.
17 1.99 Three subgroups were set up to look at the different elements of the pay claim. These included:
• a PRSD appeals group – this will be required if PRSD is linked to progression on the Main Pay Scale; • a professional development subgroup; and • a pay claim/maternity subgroup.
1.100 The NASUWT, despite its opposition against it, attended all meetings related to teachers’ pay to protect the interests of members.
1.101 The NASUWT prepared an alternative pay claim for 2015-16 calling for a substantial above- inflation pay award to ensure that teaching remained competitive with other graduate professions and attracted and retained highly qualified and committed teachers.
1.102 At the close of the year, a response was still awaited from the employers on the NITC claim.
SCOTLAND
1.103 The NASUWT’s trade dispute continued. A key element of the dispute was pay.
Teachers’ Pay Award
1.104 During the year, the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) discussions took place on the employers’ pay award for 2015.
1.105 In February, the employer made an initial one-year offer of 1% which was rejected by the NASUWT and the teachers’ panel. A request was made for an improved offer. The teachers’ panel also intimated to the employer that a multi-year offer would assist with achieving an improved offer.
1.106 The NASUWT expressed deep concern that discussions around the pay offer were happening via the SNCT Extended Joint Chair meetings, as this did not allow for the involvement of all the constituent members of the teachers’ panel, including the NASUWT. The Union requested circulation of the protocol that laid out the agreed process for pay negotiations.
1.107 The NASUWT was deeply concerned by increasing evidence that employers were not implementing pay and conditions in accordance with SNCT provisions. The Union proposed a motion to the SNCT Teachers’ Panel that a move to achieving statutory terms and conditions should be taken forward by the SNCT. The motion fell on the basis that other unions asserted that this was not a matter for the SNCT but for an individual union to progress.
1.108 In March, a revised offer of 2.5% over two years was received which was formally rejected by the NASUWT as inadequate to address the substantial reduction in teachers’ real-terms pay since 2010 of nearly 15%. At this stage, the other unions followed the NASUWT’s lead and rejected this offer.
1.109 In June, the 2.5% offer remained on the table. The NASUWT continued to confirm its rejection of the offer as it did not meet any of the provisions the Union had requested in its pay claim. The other teacher unions indicated that they remained open to further discussions, even though they recorded a ‘failure to agree’.
1.110 In September, the SNCT Joint Secretary met with the NASUWT to provide an update on the employers’ offer. The employers had attempted to make the offer more palatable by
18 including recommendations on workload from the Curriculum for Excellence Tackling Bureaucracy Working Party which had been secured by the NASUWT. However, in addition to the derisory below-inflation pay award, the previous deteriorations in terms and conditions arising from the 2013-15 SNCT Agreement remained in place, as did the two-tier pay system for short-term supply teachers.
1.111 Effectively, the September 2015 pay offer did not amount to a significant improvement on the March 2015 pay offer and the NASUWT National Executive rejected the 2015-17 Teachers’ Pay Offer at its September meeting, believing it to be inadequate in addressing the key issues of teachers’ pay, the shortage of supply teachers and excessive workload.
1.112 In October, at the SNCT Teachers’ Panel meeting, the NASUWT opposed the September 2015 pay offer. However, the other unions accepted the offer and the full SNCT was advised that the majority decision was acceptance of the offer. Teachers received 1.5% backdated to April 2015 and would receive a further 1% uplift in April 2016.
Short-notice Teachers (Supply) across the UK
1.113 The NASUWT continued to offer ongoing support to supply and substitute teacher members across the UK, through regular events designed specifically for them and advice through the national, regional and local structures. Supply teacher seminars continued to be held on a termly basis and attracted increasingly large numbers of supply teachers. The seminars offered advice, information and professional development opportunities.
1.114 A supply teacher programme was developed to be rolled out throughout England. Plans were made for events to be incorporated into the regional training calendar.
1.115 Issues raised by supply teachers at the seminars included:
• their poor treatment at the hands of supply agencies; • concerns about the practices of many offshore umbrella companies which forced supply teachers into signing dubious contracts, denying them basic legal rights and entitlements and allowing the agencies to avoid tax and national insurance liabilities; • the inappropriate use of cover supervisors in schools instead of qualified teachers; • the use of the ‘Swedish Derogation’ by some supply agencies to deny them the right to equal pay; and • concerns about the Trade Union Bill and the suggestion that supply teachers working with agencies could be brought into schools to cover for teachers who are on strike.
1.116 Following on from the supply seminars, the NASUWT wrote to attendees and provided them with a certificate that could be used as evidence of continuing professional development (CPD).
1.117 The Union also highlighted the benefits of using the Supply Teacher Facebook page with a view to populating this with more information for followers.
1.118 Following the adoption of the resolution at the 2015 Annual Conference on the ‘Exploitation of Supply Teachers’, the NASUWT carried out a programme of work to highlight the impact of this exploitation.
1.119 This programme of work included lobbying politicians to seek to secure the regulation of supply agencies, as well as submitting consultation responses on hiring agency staff during strike action.
1.120 The General Secretary wrote to Ministers seeking meetings to discuss supply teacher issues.
19 1.121 The NASUWT ‘Supply Advisor’ website continued to be popular with supply teachers and provided them with a voice that enables them to rate and review supply agencies.
1.122 As a consequence of the launch of the website, the NASUWT identified the top ten supply agencies in England with a view to engaging with these during the year.
1.123 The Union continued to press for an end to the two-tier workforce, under which agency workers have no employment rights when compared to permanent employees, and called for supply teachers to have equal access not only to appropriate pay and working conditions, but also to pension provisions and high-quality CPD.
1.124 The Union also actively examined how it could assist in providing quality CPD to its supply members so that they could enhance their employability, including ongoing discussions with external agencies where appropriate.
1.125 The NASUWT responded to the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement in 2014 on umbrella companies by setting out the details and findings of the evidence the Union had collated on the issue.
1.126 In April, the Union published the results of its annual Supply Teacher Survey, which demonstrated the continuing poor practices of many supply agencies. The Survey found that:
• almost three fifths (56%) of supply teachers working for agencies reported problems getting to work; • only 14% of supply teachers work four days a week and 20% work five days a week. However, almost a third stated that they wished to work five days a week; • 36% of supply teachers working for agencies said that they were not members of the TPS; • more than half of supply teachers (52%) working for agencies reported that they do not always have access to car parking and almost half (48%) said that they do not have access to food and drink facilities; • only just over one in ten supply teachers (11%) reported that they are always given the appropriate information and policies, including health and safety information, when entering a new school and 5% stated that they had never been given this information; • almost four fifths of supply teachers (78%) working for agencies reported that they were not paid at the appropriate levels; • almost a fifth of supply teachers (17%) stated that they had had to claim Jobseeker’s Allowance since becoming a supply teacher and over one in ten (11%) reported that they had had to claim other state benefits; • almost three fifths of supply teachers (58%) reported that they were not made aware that after 12 weeks of working in the same workplace, they would be entitled to the same pay and conditions as permanent members of staff; • two thirds of supply teachers (67%) stated that they had been asked to sign a contract or agreement with an umbrella/offshore organisation; and • almost two thirds of supply teachers (63%) reported that they had not had any access to CPD opportunities.
1.127 The Union supported members in seeking and obtaining financial redress from supply agencies and umbrella companies who had acted unscrupulously.
1.128 The NASUWT continued to lead the way in its representation of supply agency workers. This included proactive responses to Government and the pursuit of individual cases through solicitors as appropriate.
20 1.129 The Union continued to highlight the way in which some supply agencies and umbrella companies have worked together to disadvantage teachers and schools for their own ends.
1.130 The NASUWT continued to develop a number of trade union education and professional development courses specifically designed for supply teachers.
1.131 At the NASUWT Supply Teachers Seminar in September, hundreds of supply teachers pledged their support for the TUC Protect the Right to Strike campaign in opposition to the provisions in the Trade Union Bill to use agency workers to cover for workers taking strike action.
1.132 In Wales, the NASUWT submitted its response to the Children, Young People and Education Committee (CYPEC) request for views on the Effective Management of School Workforce Attendance, as part of its inquiry into supply teaching.
1.133 The NASUWT also monitored continuing developments with regards to the preferred supply agency in Wales, New Directions, and the implication this had for supply teachers, particularly in respect of ‘Regulation 10 contracts’. The General Secretary wrote to the Minister for Education expressing concerns about the employment practices of New Directions and requested an opportunity to meet to discuss a new approach to supply teacher employment following the statement the Minister made at the NASUWT Cymru Conference in November.
1.134 The NASUWT continued to press for appropriate levels of remuneration for all supply teachers and continued its opposition to the changes imposed in Scotland to the remuneration of supply teachers and the failure of schools to pay the appropriate salaries under the terms of the STPCD in England and Wales.
1.135 The NASUWT welcomed SNCT Circular 1556 which allowed councils to increase the award for supply teachers if they considered it to be inadequate to fill short-term posts.
1.136 However, the NASUWT stated its disappointment in relation to the SCNT decision to delay the reporting of the Supply Teachers Working Group until January 2016, particularly as supply teachers in Scotland had continued to face derisory levels of pay when compared to the rest of the UK.
1.137 In Northern Ireland, the NASUWT broadly welcomed the Management Side of the Teachers’ Negotiating Committee’s response to the Northern Ireland Substitute Teacher Register (NISTR) guidance in respect of supply teachers in September. The clarifications provided had the potential to have a positive impact, but the NASUWT developed mechanisms to continue to monitor its effectiveness in regulating the supply of substitute teachers.
1.138 In April, the NASUWT launched a number of new resources for supply teachers, adding to its supply teachers’ ‘tool kit’. These included advice on:
• the use of umbrella organisations; • the tax implications of supply teaching; • the pay system for supply teachers; • checklists for supply teachers in each of the devolved nations; • the ‘Swedish Derogation’; • holiday pay in each of the devolved nations; • Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS); and • Disqualification by Association.
21 STATES OF JERSEY
1.139 The NASUWT submitted a comprehensive pay claim to the States of Jersey in December 2014, which clearly set out the need for a substantial above-inflation uplift to the pay of all teachers, which had declined by 15% in real terms since 2008.
1.140 Despite the overwhelming evidence of the need for a substantial uplift, the States Employment Board (SEB) announced in April that it intended to impose a pay freeze for 2015, followed by pay restraint for the following three years.
1.141 In response, the NASUWT organised a public sector march and rally in October in protest over the pay freeze and proposed public service cuts.
1.142 Following the march and rally, the SEB returned to the negotiations, offering to discuss removing the freeze for 2015 and 2016.
1.143 At the close of the year, negotiations were still ongoing.
STATES OF GUERNSEY
1.144 In July, the NASUWT submitted a detailed pay claim to the States of Guernsey. Negotiations with the States over the pay award from September began in November.
1.145 The NASUWT rejected the States’ initial offer of RPI over two years. At the close of the year, negotiations were continuing.
ISLE OF MAN
1.146 The Isle of Man teachers’ pay scale is informally linked to the England and Wales STPCD.
1.147 Teachers in the Isle of Man, therefore, received a 1% uplift to all salaries in payment.
1.148 Despite protests from the NASUWT, the Department for Education and Children did not award 2% to teachers on scale point M6.
1.149 The NASUWT was the only union to object to a lack of a 2% uplift for teachers on M6.
Directorate of Children and Young People
1.150 The NASUWT membership increased within the Directorate of Children and Young People (DCYP) (Queen Victoria School, Dunblane and the Service Children’s Education (SCE) sector) and the Union’s influence continued to grow across schools in Germany, Cyprus and other Ministry of Defence (MOD) establishments around the world. 1.151 The NASUWT now represents the vast majority of the teaching staff in this sector.
1.152 The NASUWT continued to have a direct relationship with the MOD through its contractual relationship with the MOD-recognised trade union PROSPECT.
1.153 During the year, the NASUWT continued to meet regularly with SCE.
1.154 The staged closure of schools in Germany which commenced in July 2013, to conclude in July 2018, continued, although it was suggested that some of the schools due for closure in July 2018 may close earlier, but not before December 2017.
22 1.155 The NASUWT continued to press SCE in relation to the issue of teacher retention across the Service, arguing that professional development opportunities as a way of retaining staff would be key, and requesting that SCE be clearer about the mechanisms to allow staff to access these opportunities.
1.156 With the demise of SCE as an agency and the establishment of an overarching body, DCYP, for all MOD establishments, SCE has unilaterally brought the SCE JNC to an end with no proposal on how they would wish to engage with the NASUWT and other unions in the future.
1.157 The NASUWT, through its relationship with PROSPECT, submitted a proposal supported by the MOD on a DCYP-wide teacher trade union forum. The terms of reference were put to the DCYP. At the close of the year, the NASUWT was continuing through its links with PROSPECT to impress upon the MOD the importance of a framework at Department level for consultation within the DCYP.
GIBRALTAR
1.158 During the year, the Gibraltar Government and the NASUWT (the Gibraltarian teachers’ union representing all teaching staff in Gibraltarian schools) agreed a framework for a groundbreaking social partnership.
1.159 As a result of ongoing constructive dialogue between the Gibraltar Government and the Gibraltar Teachers’ Association (GTA) NASUWT, a formal social partnership agreement was reached and signed by National President Graham Dawson, at the Gibraltar May Day Rally. The partnership agreement summarised the aspirations of both parties for a new way of working to ensure the education service in Gibraltar delivers the entitlement of all children and young people to high-quality educational opportunities.
1.160 During the year, the NASUWT met regularly with Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar and secured the equalisation of maternity service benefits with civil service employees.
PENSIONS
ENGLAND AND WALES
2.1 During the year, the implementation of pension reforms initiated by the Coalition Government continued and from May the newly elected Conservative Government continued with a further programme of reform.
2.2 The NASUWT responded to all consultations on changes to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) for England and Wales.
2.3 The NASUWT also responded to the Department of Work and Pensions and Treasury consultations on pensions reform. 2.4 The NASUWT trade dispute in England and Wales continued and pensions remained a key issue for resolution of the trade dispute.
Teachers Working Longer Review
2.5 In 2014, the NASUWT national action had resulted in an offer from the Coalition Government for a review into the issues relating to teachers working longer. The NASUWT continued, during the year, to participate in the DfE Teachers Working Longer Review.
2.6 At its conclusion, the Teachers Working Longer Review will issue a report, including recommendations for the Secretary of State for Education. The report is scheduled for publication in September 2016.
23 2.7 The core agreed objectives of the Review are to:
• explore the health and deployment implications of teachers working longer; • consider possible options to mitigate these implications where necessary; • make recommendations to the Secretary of State; and • provide evidence that can be used by stakeholders to contribute to any Government reviews of the State Pension Age (SPA) and the link between the Normal Pension Age (NPA) and SPA in public sector schemes.
2.8 The NASUWT did not accept the increase in the teachers’ pension age and has continued to engage with the Review on this basis. The NASUWT also ensured that a review of the link between the SPA and the teachers’ NPA was central to the Teachers Working Longer Review. The NASUWT used the Review to argue for:
• a focus on retention of teachers at all stage of their careers; • improved working conditions for all teachers; • vastly improved access to flexible working for all teachers; • a complete change in culture in the way older teachers are treated; and • the breaking of the link between the SPA and the teachers’ NPA .
2.9 The NASUWT argued successfully for a focus in the Review on why teachers with protected characteristics drop out of teaching and for discrimination to be researched.
2.10 In March, the Review began the process of considering the existing evidence about teachers working longer and the NASUWT submitted, during that month, detailed evidence as part of the Reviewer’s Stage 1 Call for Evidence.
2.11 The evidence the NASUWT submitted to the Review included detailed research carried out by the Union into why teachers leave the teaching profession and the extent of discrimination against teachers with protected characteristics, including older teachers. Evidence from the NASUWT Big Question survey, was submitted alongside this.
2.12 Following the election of the Conservative Government in May, the DfE cancelled several Teachers Working Longer Review meetings. The NASUWT General Secretary wrote to the Secretary of State for Education in July to express concern about this development and received correspondence from the Schools Minister, Nick Gibb, reinstating the Review.
2.13 In November, the NASUWT engaged with the DfE on the commissioning of research in connection with the Review.
Annual Service Returns
2.14 In January 2015, the NASUWT wrote to over 800 employers who had not completed the Teachers’ Pensions (TP) Annual Service Return (ASR) for the Scheme Year 2013/14 by 13 October 2014 and asked for the return to be completed by 31 January 2015, or in circumstances where the return had been completed between 13 October and December 2014, to confirm this to the Union.
2.15 The deadline for completing the return each year is 6 July and a failure to complete the return potentially jeopardises members’ pension benefits at a time when they are often most financially vulnerable. The NASUWT was the only union to take this action.
2.16 The Union informed members in the affected schools that it had sent this correspondence.
2.17 The actions taken by the NASUWT resulted in a significant response to the Union from employers confirming that they had returned their ASR to TP in response to the Union’s correspondence.
24 2.18 Through this action, the NASUWT was able to protect pension entitlements for thousands of members.
2.19 Following the NASUWT’s campaign to ensure the return of ASRs, TP contacted the Union to indicate that it intended to adopt a similar strategy in future years to ensure the return of ASRs by employers.
The Reformed Teachers’ Pension Scheme
2.20 In April, the reformed TPS was introduced by the Coalition Government. The NASUWT remained in dispute over the implementation of this detrimental pension scheme.
2.21 Continuous industrial action by NASUWT members had secured progress throughout the course of the Coalition Government’s pension reforms which would otherwise not have been possible. The Union had secured:
• full transitional protection against all aspects of pension reform, apart from the new employee contribution rates, for all teachers in the NPA 60 scheme who were 50 or over on 1 April 2012; • tapered protection for teachers in the NPA 60 scheme who were 46.5 years of age or over on 1 April 2012; • progressive tiering of pension contributions to ensure that those who earn the least pay the least; • protection for more than 40% of teachers from the full impact of the Coalition Government’s original proposed 9.6% employee pension contribution rate; • an employee contributions structure based on actual salary, ending discrimination against teachers who work part time; • publication by the DfE of an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) of the TPS Proposed Final Agreement; • commitment by the DfE to engage in the collection of equalities data for scheme members with protected characteristics as defined under the Equality Act 2010; • commitment by the DfE to the ongoing review of the equality impact of pension reforms; • establishment of the DfE Teachers Working Longer Review; • publication by the DfE/Teachers’ Pensions of monthly TPS opt-out data; • NASUWT representation on the TPS governance structures for England and Wales; • appointment of the NASUWT nominee to the TPS Pension Board for England and Wales; • the Coalition Government’s costing of the equalisation of survivor benefits for same-sex married couples; and • improvements to ill-health pension provisions.
2.22 In March, the NASUWT produced a suite of new pensions information publications on the reformed TPS. NASUWT activists and members were briefed regularly throughout the year on pensions reform.
Freedom and Choice
2.23 In April, the Coalition Government’s Pensions Freedom and Choice reforms were implemented. These reforms enabled savers in defined contribution pension schemes to extract their pension savings in one go rather than having to purchase an annuity, which would provide them with regular pension income for the rest of their life.
2.24 The NASUWT believed this to be a risky strategy for savers and for society because many people with private pensions may not be left with any pension for their old age. The Union, therefore, opposed the Government’s Freedom and Choice reforms, which were dressed up as a significant electoral giveaway by the Coalition Government.
25 2.25 As an unfunded defined benefits scheme pension, a TPS pension was not subject to the Coalition Government’s reforms and teachers could not extract their ‘pension pot’ from the TPS, other than by transferring it to a defined contributions (money purchase) pension scheme. The NASUWT argued for the relevant regulations to be amended to close the loophole which enabled teachers to transfer their teachers’ pension to a money purchase scheme. This occurred in April.
2.26 The NASUWT continued to advise members to take independent financial advice before access to the teachers’ Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVC) pension, a money purchase pension pot, subject to the Freedom and Choice reforms and flexibilities. The NASUWT continued to recommend Wesleyan for this purpose.
Teachers’ Pension Contributions
2.27 The NASUWT continued to draw to the Government’s and the Review Body’s attention the detrimental impact of the increase in teachers’ pension contributions from 2012 to 2016.
Additional Pension Contributions (APC) paid by teachers in England and Wales (2012 to 2016)
Additional Pension Additional Pension % Contributions (over Contributions (over Total increase Salary at Increase 6.4%) paid between 6.4%) paid in 2016 in pension 1 September (over 2012 and 2016 contributions 2016 6.4% £pa with £ with tax rate) £pa £ tax relief relief Main Pay Range M1 £22,467 1.0 224.67 179.74 883.65 706.92 M2 £24,243 1.0 242.43 193.94 953.50 762.80 M3 £26,192 1.0 261.92 209.54 1,030.17 824.13 M4 £28,207 2.2 620.55 496.44 2,414.87 1,931.90 M5 £30,430 2.2 669.46 535.57 2,605.18 2,084.15 M6 £32,835 2.2 722.37 577.90 3,197.35 2,557.88 M6 (2% in 2015) £33,160 2.2 729.52 583.62 3,211.59 2,569.27 Upper Pay Range UPS1 £35,571 3.2 1,138.27 910.62 4,584.91 3,667.93 UPS2 £36,889 3.2 1,180.45 944.36 4,754.79 3,803.83 UPS3 £38,250 3.2 1,224.00 979.20 4,930.30 3,944.24 Leadership Pay Range L6 £44,102 3.8 1,675.88 1,005.53 6,724.81 4,034.89 L8 £46,335 3.8 1,760.73 1,056.44 7,564.97 4,538.98 L11 £49,976 3.8 1,899.09 1,139.45 8,596.02 5,157.61 L28 £75,708 5.3 4,012.52 2,407.51 14,982.15 8,989.29 L43 £109,366 5.3 5,796.40 3,477.84 25,165.04 15,099.02
2.28 The amount in additional pension contributions paid by TPS members (without tax relief) during this three-year period ranged from £883.65 to £25,165.04. The NASUWT continued to assert that the employee contribution increases were nothing more than a tax on teachers and were wholly unjustified.
Opting out of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme
2.29 The NASUWT continued to express concern about the numbers of teachers opting out of the TPS, which continued to increase during the year.
26 2.30 The opt-out data collected by the DfE for March, the last month for which the DfE provided monthly opt-out data which enabled comparisons to be made with previous datasets, confirms that: • for the scheme year there were a total of 5,801 elections to opt out. This was an increase of 2,465 (42.5%) on the same time in 2013-14; and • it was members with relatively little service who were deciding to opt out of the TPS. As with previous months, the highest numbers of those opting out had less than five years’ service. In total, 73% of all opt-outs in March had less than five years’ service and 87% had less than ten years’ service. Of the 353 opt-outs with less than five years’ service, 62% had no full years’ service (i.e. they are teachers opting out at the start of their teaching career), 15% had one year, 10% had two years, 6% had three years and 7% had four years.
2.31 The figures show that the majority of the increase in March 2015, when compared to March 2014, was from members with less than five years’ service. The majority of service levels saw an increase, with the exception of those with more than 30 years’ service, with all levels above this having a decrease.
2.32 The March 2015 data confirmed:
• 52.5% of members opted out due to personal financial reasons; • 1.0% opted out as a result of the contribution increase; • 0.5% opted out as a result of scheme reforms other than contribution increases; • 1.7% joined other schemes; • 4.8% left teaching; • 16.0% indicated ‘other’; • 20.2% opted out as a result of auto-enrolment.
2.33 3.3% did not provide a reason for opting out.
2.34 Over half of TPS members, therefore, opted out for ‘personal financial reasons’.
2.35 The clear picture of opt-outs on younger teachers, women and part-time workers can be seen in the following distribution graphs provided by the DfE.
Total Opt Outs by age and working pattern – Mar 2015
70 60 50 Male/FT Male/PT 40 Female/FT 30 Female/PT 20 10 0 <25 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60+
Total Opt Outs by service and working pattern – Mar 2015
160 140
120 Male/FT 100 Male/PT 80 Female/FT Female/PT 60 40 20 0 0-4 5-9 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40+
27 2.36 This data indicated that female full-time teachers between 25 and 29 and female full-time teachers in their first four years of service were most likely to opt out of the TPS. This could not be explained as a feature of auto-enrolment of older teachers who already had adequate pension provision and did not wish for further pensionable service for this reason. During the year, the NASUWT repeatedly drew to the DfE’s attention that the pattern of TPS opt- outs proved a long-term threat to the TPS.
2.37 Following the election of the Conservative Government in May, the DfE ceased to publish opt- out data. The NASUWT General Secretary wrote to the Schools Minister, Nick Gibb, on this issue in August, drawing to his attention the recklessness of the Government failing to monitor opt-outs at a time of TPS reform. The DfE resumed the practice of collecting opt-out data.
TPS Adult Survivor Benefits
2.38 The NASUWT continued to campaign to achieve full equalisation of partner survivor benefits in the TPS. There had been discriminatory provision since 1989, when survivor benefits for widowers were first introduced, but only backdated to 1988, whereas widows received survivor benefits backdated to 1972. When survivor benefits for civil partners were introduced in 2005, benefits were only backdated to 1988 and this discrimination against Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) partners remained in place when same-sex marriage was introduced in 2013. 2.39 Based on assumptions provided to HM Treasury by the Government Actuary’s Department, securing equalisation across all public sector schemes would add only 0.2% of pensionable pay to employer contribution rates over a 15-year term.
2.40 Following NASUWT representations and campaigning, the DfE obtained costings from the Treasury of the equalisation of TPS adult survivor benefits for the England and Wales TPS. The costings were consistent with the Treasury assumptions for the whole of the public sector.
2.41 The NASUWT argued that this is affordable within the context of England and Wales TPS reform. The DfE did not challenge the NASUWT view that the equalisation of adult survivor benefits was unlikely to lead to a breach of the employer cost cap.
2.42 During the year, the NASUWT continued to press for an end to unacceptable discrimination against women and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) teachers.
2.43 At TUC Congress in September, the NASUWT seconded a motion proposed by UNITE, opposing continuing discrimination in the provision of adult survivor benefits to same-sex partners. The motion was unanimously carried and the Congress resolution committed the TUC to campaigning for an end to discrimination.
Employee Pension Contributions
2.44 The employee pension contribution structure in the reformed England and Wales TPS was implemented by the Coalition Government in April.
2.45 During the negotiations with the Coalition Government, and in the face of opposition from the ASCL and the NAHT, the NASUWT progressed its policy position and secured a high level of tiering and a progressive contribution structure to protect lower-paid teachers from the full impact of the Coalition Government’s original intended pension contribution increases and continue to ensure that those who earn the least pay the least. The adopted employee pension contribution structure is detailed below.
28 Annual salary for the financial year 2015-16 Employee contribution rate £0 - £25,999 7.4% £26,000 - £34,999 8.6% £35,000 - £41,499 9.6% £41,500 - £54,999 10.2% £55,000 - £74,999 11.3% greater than £75,000 11.7%
2.46 The NASUWT also achieved its policy ambition that pension contributions should be paid on the basis of actual salaries. This benefited teachers who work on a part-time basis and had a particularly positive impact for women teachers, who are disproportionately employed on part-time contracts.
Protecting the Interests of Supply Teacher Members
2.47 During the year, the NASUWT continued to oppose the exploitation of supply teacher members by employment agencies. This exploitation included avoidance by the agencies of participation in the TPS by establishing or participating in an alternative pension scheme, which complied with minimum auto-enrolment rules and had far inferior benefits to the TPS.
2.48 The NASUWT continued to campaign for all employers of teachers, including employment agencies, to have to participate in the TPS and for all teaching service, including agency teaching service, to be pensionable in the TPS.
Ill-health Pension Provision and Dependents’ Benefits
2.49 In April, new arrangements were introduced for ill-health pensions. The two-tier criteria for being granted an ill-health pension remained unchanged, as did the application process. The new arrangements were broadly more favourable and took into account extended diagnosis timescales for some medical conditions. The NASUWT, therefore, supported these changes, within the context of maintaining its opposition to the overall TPS reform.
England and Wales Teachers’ Pension Scheme Governance
2.50 The England and Wales TPS Pension Board (TPSPB) assists the Scheme Manager in England and Wales, the Secretary of State for Education, to secure compliance with the overarching legislation and Scheme regulations.
2.51 The TPSPB has an equal number of scheme member and employer representatives and also includes Government representatives. Membership of the Board is subject to appointment by the Secretary of State for Education.
2.52 The TPSPB has a crucial role in ensuring that the TPS continues to be the pension scheme for all teachers via Participation Agreements and other means to ensure compliance with TPS regulations.
2.53 The NASUWT secured the appointment of its nominee, Dave Wilkinson (National Negotiating Official), to the TPSPB for England and Wales. Scheme member representatives represent all scheme members, not solely those from their own union.
2.54 The TPSPB met on three occasions (including a shadow Board Meeting) during the year.
2.55 The Scheme Advisory Board advises the Scheme Manager, at the Scheme Manager’s request, on the desirability of changes to the TPS and on matters of policy.
29 2.56 As a result of NASUWT representations, the Scheme Advisory Board in England and Wales was given a wider remit than that set out in primary legislation and became a policy forum for the NASUWT and other unions. The Scheme Advisory Board held its inaugural meeting in September. The NASUWT used the Board meeting to present the Union’s opposition to the further Government attacks on teachers’ pension provision which had just been announced.
Conservative Government Pensions Reform
2.57 The Conservative Government acted very promptly after its election in May to introduce further detrimental reform to teachers’ pension provision. These included the public sector exit payment cap and changes to pensions taxation.
Public Sector Exit Payments Cap
2.58 In May, the Government announced that it intended to end ‘six figure exit payments for public sector workers.’ This was presented for media consumption as reining in ‘fat cat payments’ in the public sector. The Treasury consulted on its specific proposals for a public sector exit payments cap of £95,000 in a short consultation in July/August.
2.59 The NASUWT responded to the consultation proposals. The Union called for the Government’s proposals to be withdrawn, stating that any ‘savings’ accrued by these proposals would be at the expense of the welfare and wellbeing of public sector workers and their families, often at the most vulnerable point of their lives.
2.60 The NASUWT stressed that the real purpose of the Government’s proposed exit payment cap had become clear when consideration was given to those cases for which the cap would not apply. For example, Fred Goodwin, previous CEO of the Royal Bank of Scotland, who presided over the financial meltdown of the Bank which led to its nationalisation, reportedly received a multi-million pound pension. Mark Byford, former director-general of the BBC, reportedly received a very high settlement when he left the BBC. These payments, and the organisations in which they worked, were specifically excluded from the Government’s proposed cap.
2.61 In fact, the Government’s specific proposal was to exclude from its proposed public sector payments cap all public financial institutions (such as the Royal Bank of Scotland and Bank of England), together with the BBC and the Armed Services. The proposed cap was to be focused on public sector workers in health, education, local and central government.
2.62 The proposal was that a series of statutory and contractual entitlements for many public sector workers, together with early occupational pension release, should be costed and aggregated to form a notional ‘exit package’ cost, which will be subject to the cap. Despite the Government’s presentation of this issue, the proposal amounted to a further attack on the terms and conditions of many public sector workers, who were moderate earners, and could affect many public sector workers who receive redundancy payments well below the proposed £95,000 level of the cap.
2.63 The NASUWT made it clear to the Government that applying the cap may well breach the statutory and contractual entitlements of teachers and school leaders to redundancy payments, holiday pay and payments in lieu of notice, also making it clear that it is unacceptable for the Government to seek to over-ride contractual entitlements. The NASUWT also opposed a proposal that the cap should apply to exit benefits taken individually or in combination.
2.64 The NASUWT drew attention in its response to the proposals that the Treasury’s claimed savings from the proposed public sector exit cap were £1 billion out of £6.5 billion which
30 was spent between 2011-12 and 2013-14 on exit packages for public sector workers. However, this expenditure, which was focused on closing down public services, would not have occurred if the Government had invested in public services rather than following its austerity policy.
2.65 The NASUWT opposed the inclusion of early access to unreduced pension within the cap, making it clear that employer and local authority discretion to award teachers early retirement should not be impeded by the cap.
2.66 The NASUWT made clear that, in the TPS, early access to unreduced pension is a discretion which employers can exercise to manage redundancies in accordance with statute, which places a duty on employers to take action to avoid or reduce the number of redundancies or mitigate the impact of redundancy. The Union stated that it would militate against employers fulfilling their statutory duty in respect of redundancy should restrictions be placed on the full use of TPS flexibilities to achieve this.
2.67 The NASUWT also made it clear that any restriction to access of unreduced pension would break the 25-year guarantee which the Coalition Government gave over its TPS reforms.
2.68 The NASUWT expressed concern about the following statement in the Government’s proposals:
‘In addition to this measure to cap the value of the highest exit payments, the government is also keen to ensure that exit payments in the public sector more widely offer a proportionate level of support to employees and are value for money to the taxpayer. The government is therefore considering further reforms to the calculation of compensation terms and to employer-funded early retirement in circumstances of redundancy.’
2.69 The Union made clear that redundancy compensation terms in schools are determined by agreement, but where redundancy payments are higher than statutory redundancy pay, these are normally calculated on the basis of actual salaries. The Union asserted that the level of redundancy payments should continue to be a matter of agreement between unions and employers.
2.70 The NASUWT drew attention to the potentially discriminatory nature of the Government’s proposals, highlighting that there would be an immediate potential detrimental impact on public service workers who are entitled to the highest redundancy payments, by virtue of length of service and also, currently, an unreduced pension if made redundant at age 55 or over. However, the Government had selected those parts of the public sector with a majority female workforce – education, health and local and central government – for the implementation of the proposed exit cap, and the proposals were therefore potentially discriminatory on grounds of gender.
2.71 The Government’s proposals stated that the cap would extend to all bodies where employment and remuneration practices are the responsibility of the Government. It would be the responsibility of the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive to determine whether they wished to implement similar arrangements in relation to devolved bodies and workforces. The NASUWT General Secretary therefore wrote to Ministers for Education and for Finance in the devolved nations/administrations in August to ask them not to implement the cap.
2.72 The NASUWT raised its opposition to the public sector exit payments cap at TUC Congress in September in a motion to secure a commitment to campaigning against the cap by Congress Resolution.
31 2.73 In September, the Government announced in its response to its consultation that it intended to proceed with its proposed cap of £95,000 which would be applied before tax, therefore potentially increasing the detrimental impact of the cap in practice. The Government’s intention was that the level of the cap could be varied in the future and hence it announced that it intended to introduce primary legislation to impose the cap.
2.74 The Government’s response to the consultation stated that the cap should apply to ‘a wide range of payments related to exit, including cash compensation payments, the cost to employers of early access to pensions and other payments’. The response to the consultation stated that ‘untaken annual leave’ will not fall within the scope of the cap. However, all other payments which the Government defined as ‘exit payments’ in its consultation proposals fell within the scope of the cap.
2.75 In its response to its consultation, the Government stated that it is ‘currently minded not to include those individuals with protected TUPE terms in the scope of the cap’.
2.76 The Government’s chosen primary legislation vehicle for the implementation of the public sector exit payments cap was the Enterprise Bill, which was introduced in the House of Lords in September, had its second reading in October and is currently in House of Lords Grand Committee. The primary purpose of the Enterprise Bill is to establish a Small Business Commissioner, but Clause 26 of the Bill covered the public sector payments cap.
2.77 The proposed legislation would enable the Government to ‘make Regulations [which] may make provision to secure that the total amount of exit payments made to a person in respect of relevant public sector exits occurring in any period of 28 consecutive days does not exceed £95,000’.
2.78 Clause 26 stated that the following payments will fall within the scope of the cap:
• any payment on account of dismissal by reason of redundancy (read in accordance with section 139 of the Employment Rights Act 1996); • any payment on voluntary exit; • any payment to reduce or eliminate an actuarial reduction to a pension on early retirement or in respect of the cost to a pension scheme of such a reduction not being made; • any severance payment or other ex gratia payment; • any payment in respect of an outstanding entitlement; • any payment of compensation under the terms of a contract; • any payment in lieu of notice; and • any payment in the form of shares or share options.
2.79 In September, the DfE advised the NASUWT that it intended to consult on changes to teachers’ voluntary severance and premature retirement regulations to ensure that such payments fell within the scope of the proposed cap. The NASUWT made clear to the DfE its opposition to detrimental changes to the regulations, including any regulations which would lower the maximum level of enhanced severance payments or stop or reduce pensions in payment once they reach the level of the cap.
2.80 In November, the Labour Party proposed a series of amendments to Clause 26 of the Enterprise Bill, including amendments which would increase the level of the cap to £145,000 and would exclude early release of unreduced pension from the scope of the cap. Labour also opposed Clause 26 forming part of the Enterprise Bill.
32 The Pensions Taxation Regime
2.81 In July, the Government began a consultation on changes to the pensions taxation regime, ‘Strengthening the Incentive to Save’. The Government announced that it intended to review the UK pensions taxation regime.
2.82 The established pensions taxation regime was Exempt-Exempt-Taxed (EET), with the following exceptions:
• total pension contributions are subject to an annual and lifetime allowance; and • 25% of the pension pot can be taken as a tax-free lump sum.
2.83 The lifetime allowance was the maximum amount of tax-free pensionable savings which could be built up over a lifetime and the Coalition Government had previously announced in March that this would reduce to £1 million in April 2016.
2.84 The Chancellor of the Exchequer claimed in the Government’s consultation that the gross cost of registered pension scheme tax relief was nearly £50 billion in 2013-14 and that increases in life expectancy meant that there is a need for a ‘more sustainable’ pensions system.
2.85 The Government set out the following options in its consultation:
• a Taxed-Exempt-Exempt (TEE) pensions taxation regime; • removing anomalies in the system (e.g. maintaining an EET system but taxing pension lump sums); and • reducing the higher rate of tax relief.
2.86 The NASUWT robustly opposed all potential changes to the pensions taxation regime and made the following points to the Government:
• detrimental changes to pensions since 2010 had already called into question whether many teachers would have an adequate pension in retirement; • detrimental changes to the pensions taxation regime would further reduce provision, for many teachers, to inadequate levels; • taxation of pension contributions would reduce income to the TPS unless contributions increase further; • reduced TPS income would lead to a potential further deficit in the TPS, leading to reduced pension benefits; • the design of the final salary TPS reflected the entitlement to a tax-free lump sum. The design was fixed for many final salary TPS members; and • the ‘accrued rights’ promise made by the Coalition Government meant that there should be no change to the means by which tax-exempt lump-sum benefits had been accrued by past pension contributions.
2.87 At the end of the year, the Government was expected to announce the changes in the 2016 Budget.
2.88 The NASUWT trade dispute over pensions continues.
NORTHERN IRELAND
2.89 During the year, the implementation of pension reforms initiated by the Westminster Coalition Government and the Northern Ireland Executive continued. The newly elected Government initiated a programme of pensions reform which would potentially affect Northern Ireland teachers.
33 2.90 The NASUWT responded to all Northern Ireland consultations on changes to the Northern Ireland Teachers’ Pension Scheme (NITPS).
2.91 The NASUWT responded to the Westminster Government Department of Work and Pensions and Treasury consultations on pensions reform which affected Northern Ireland teachers.
2.92 The NASUWT trade dispute in Northern Ireland continued and pensions remained a key issue for resolution of the trade dispute.
The Valuation of the Northern Ireland Teachers’ Pension Scheme
2.93 In February, the Department for Education Northern Ireland (DENI) published the valuation of the NITPS. This differed from the valuation of the NITPS demanded by the NASUWT before the Treasury and Northern Ireland Executive imposed pension contribution increases of an average 50% between 2012 and 2014. This was because the ‘as at 2012 valuation’ took into account a crucial Westminster Government change to its calculation of how the NITPS grew in value during the final year before valuation.
2.94 The NITPS has a notional rather than an actual fund because teachers’ and employers’ pension contributions are added to general UK Westminster Government revenues. However, if the NITPS was an actual rather than a notional fund, it would grow in value and the discount rate is a financial assumption which is set by Government to determine this level of growth. One of the first acts of the Westminster Coalition Government was to reduce the Discount Rate from RPI+3.5% to CPI+3% in 2011 for all unfunded public service pension schemes in the UK, thereby wiping billions of pounds off public service workers’ pension assets at a stroke. The NASUWT, together with many economists, opposed the reduction in the Discount Rate and predicted that it would be used to justify future attacks on teachers’ pensions.
2.95 The NITPS valuation demonstrated that the NASUWT’s predictions were accurate. The valuation outcomes were as follows, with the figures in brackets indicating a shortfall.
NITPS notional assets £7,480 million NITPS notional liabilities £8,230 million NITPS notional deficit (£750 million) Change in long-term financial assumptions (£1,090 million)
2.96 The reduction in the Discount Rate was the most financially significant change in the long term financial assumptions and this changed assumption wiped over one billion pounds off NITPS assets; without this, the NITPS would have a healthy surplus of £340 million. The NASUWT opposed the use of the revised Discount Rate assumption in Northern Ireland.
2.97 The Treasury’s valuation of the NITPS demonstrates the accuracy of the NASUWT’s claim that NITPS reform negotiated by the NASUWT in 2005 created a healthy, viable pension scheme for Northern Ireland teachers and that it is Westminster Government policy which ended this.
Northern Ireland Teachers’ Pension Scheme Governance
2.98 The NITPS Pension Board (NITPSPB) assists the Scheme Manager in Northern Ireland, the Minister of Education, in securing compliance with the overarching legislation and scheme regulations.
34 2.99 The NITPSPB has an equal number of scheme member and employer representatives and also includes DENI representatives. Membership of the Board is subject to appointment by the Minister of Education.
2.100 The NITPSPB has a crucial role in ensuring that the TPS continues to be the pension scheme for all teachers via Participation Agreements and other means to ensure compliance with NITPS regulations.
2.101 The NASUWT secured the appointment of two nominees, Justin McCamphill (National Official, Northern Ireland) and Graham Agnew (Northern Ireland Treasurer) to the NITPSPB, out of a total of four scheme member representatives. Scheme member representatives represent all scheme members, not solely those from their own union.
2.102 The NITPSPB met on two occasions in June and November.
2.103 The role of the NITPS Advisory Board (NITPSAB) is to advise the Scheme Manager, at the Scheme Manager’s request, on the desirability of changes to the NITPS and on matters of policy.
2.104 As a result of NASUWT representations, the Scheme Advisory Board was given a wider remit than that set out in primary legislation and became a policy forum for the NASUWT and other unions.
2.105 The NASUWT’s representatives on the NITPSAB were Justin McCamphill, National Official (Northern Ireland), and Dave Wilkinson (National Negotiating Official).
2.106 On 1 April, the reformed NITPS was introduced by the Northern Ireland Executive. The NASUWT remained in dispute over the implementation of this detrimental pension scheme.
2.107 Continuous industrial action by NASUWT members secured progress throughout the course of the Northern Ireland Executive’s pension reforms which would otherwise not have been possible. The Union secured:
• full transitional protection against all aspects of pension reform, apart from the new employee contribution rates, for all teachers in the NPA 60 scheme who were 50 or over on 1 April 2012; • tapered protection for teachers in the NPA 60 scheme who were 46.5 years of age or over on 1 April 2012; • progressive tiering of pension contributions to ensure that those who earn the least pay the least; • protection for more than 40% of teachers from the full impact of the UK Coalition Government’s original proposed 9.6% employee pension contribution rate; • an employee contributions structure based on actual salary, ending discrimination against teachers who work part time; • publication by the DENI of an EIA of the reformed NITPS; • commitment by the DENI to the ongoing review of the equality impact of the pension reforms; • publication by the DENI of monthly TPS opt-out data; • NASUWT representation on the TPS governance structures for Northern Ireland; • appointment of two NASUWT nominees to the TPS Pension Board for Northern Ireland; and • improvements to ill-health pension provisions.
2.108 In January, the NASUWT held a series of pension briefings about the reformed NITPS across Northern Ireland.
35 2.109 In March, the NASUWT produced a suite of new pensions information publications on the reformed NITPS and briefed NASUWT activists and members on pensions reform.
Freedom and Choice
2.110 In April, the Westminster Coalition Government’s Pensions Freedom and Choice reforms were implemented in England and Wales. As an unfunded defined benefits scheme pension, an NITPS pension was not subject to the Westminster Coalition Government’s reforms and teachers could not extract their ‘pension pot’ from the NITPS, other than by transferring it to a defined contributions (money purchase) pension scheme. The NASUWT argued for the relevant regulations to be amended to close the loophole which enabled teachers to transfer their teachers’ pension to a money purchase scheme and this occurred in April.
2.111 The NASUWT continued to advise members to take independent financial advice before deciding how to take any teachers’ AVC pension which they might have. The teachers’ AVC pension is a money purchase pension pot and is subject to the Freedom and Choice reforms and flexibilities. The NASUWT continued to recommend Wesleyan for this purpose.
Opting out of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme
2.112 The NASUWT secured the collection of data relating to opt-outs from the NITPS during 2015. The data indicated that numbers of teachers opting out remained low, with auto enrolment being the main reason given for opting out. However, over 10% of teachers opting out indicated that they have done so because they cannot afford pension contributions.
Employee Pension Contributions
2.113 The employee pension contribution structure in the reformed NITPS was implemented by the Northern Ireland Executive in April.
2.114 During the negotiations with the DENI, and in the face of opposition from the other unions, the NASUWT progressed its policy position and secured a high level of tiering and a progressive contribution structure to protect lower-paid teachers from the full impact of the Westminster Coalition Government’s original intended pension contribution increases and continue to ensure that those who earn the least pay the least. The adopted employee pension contribution structure is:
Annual salary for the financial year 2015-16 Employee contribution rate £0 - £25,999 7.4% £26,000 - £34,999 8.6% £35,000 - £41,499 9.6% £41,500 - £54,999 10.2% £55,000 - £74,999 11.3% greater than £75,000 11.7%
2.115 The NASUWT achieved its policy ambition that pension contributions should be paid on the basis of actual salaries. This benefited teachers who work on a part-time basis and had a particularly positive impact for women teachers, who are disproportionately employed on part-time contracts.
36 Ill-health Pension Provision and Dependents’ Benefits
2.116 In April, new arrangements were introduced for ill-health pensions.
2.117 The two-tier criteria for being granted an ill-health pension remained unchanged, as did the application process. The new arrangements were broadly more favourable and took into account extended diagnosis timescales for some medical conditions. The NASUWT, therefore, supported these changes, within the context of maintaining its opposition to the overall TPS reform.
Public Sector Exit Payments Cap
2.118 In May the Westminster Government announced it intended to end ‘six figure exit payments for public sector workers.’ The main details of the NASUWT response are included in the previous section for England and Wales.
2.119 In relation to Northern Ireland, the NASUWT made it clear that in the NITPS, early access to unreduced pension is a discretion which employers can exercise to manage redundancies in accordance with statute, which places a duty on employers to take action to avoid or reduce the number of redundancies or mitigate the impact of redundancy. The Union stated that it would militate against employers fulfilling their statutory duty in respect of redundancy should restrictions be placed on the full use of NITPS flexibilities to achieve this.
2.120 The NASUWT made it clear that any restriction to access of unreduced pension would break the 25-year guarantee which the Westminster Coalition Government gave over its TPS reforms.
2.121 The NASUWT also expressed concern about the following statement in the Westminster Government’s proposals in line with those advanced for England and Wales.
2.122 It would be the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive to determine whether it wished to implement similar arrangements in relation to devolved bodies and workforces.
2.123 In August, the General Secretary wrote to the Minister of Education, John O’Dowd, asking the Northern Ireland Executive not to introduce the cap. The correspondence was copied to Arlene Foster, MLA, the Finance Minister.
2.124 In November, the NASUWT gave evidence to the Committee for Finance and Personnel of the Northern Ireland Assembly against the cap. The NASUWT opposed the Northern Ireland Executive’s proposal to introduce the cap by Legislative Consent Memorandum (LCM). The NASUWT made it clear that the cap would reduce the ability of the Minister of Education to manage the schools workforce in the interests of educational provision in Northern Ireland.
The Pensions Taxation Regime
2.125 In July, the Westminster Government began a consultation on changes to the pensions taxation regime, ‘Strengthening the Incentive to Save’. The Westminster Government announced that it intended to review the UK pensions taxation regime. Any changes would affect Northern Ireland.
2.126 The review is expected to conclude in 2016.
SCOTLAND
2.127 During the continuing pension reforms initiated by the Westminster Coalition and Conservative Governments and by the Scottish Government, the NASUWT responded to all
37 consultations from the Scottish Government on proposed changes to the Scottish Teachers’ Superannuation Scheme (STSS).
2.128 The NASUWT responded to Department of Work and Pensions and Treasury consultations on pensions reform which affected pension provision for Scottish teachers.
2.129 The terms of the NASUWT trade dispute in Scotland include pensions, which remained a key issue for resolution of the trade dispute.
2.130 The NASUWT continued to lead in engagement with the Scottish Government over teachers’ pension reform. The NASUWT General Secretary, National Executive Members and National Officers met with the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, Angela Constance, during the year to progress NASUWT policy aspirations and the NASUWT national trade dispute. These meetings included discussions about teachers’ pensions.
2.131 The NASUWT made representations to the Scottish Government asking it to fund increases in pension costs so that these did not translate into cuts in school funding.
2.132 The NASUWT continued to raise with Ministers and on the Scottish Teachers’ Pension Scheme (STPS) Advisory Board that, despite the Treasury driving attacks on Scottish teachers’ pensions, the Scottish Government had the power to act positively and independently to mitigate some of the most detrimental features of the Westminster Coalition Government’s Public Service Pensions Bill.
2.133 It continued to be a high-level NASUWT concern that the Scottish Government did not collect any opt-out data since the 2011/12 Scheme Year. The NASUWT raised its concerns about the lack of analysis of opt-out trends with the Scottish Government repeatedly during the year and requested that urgent work be carried out by the SPPA to assess the level of opt-outs.
TPS Adult Survivor Benefits
2.134 In accordance with the NASUWT’s campaign to achieve full equalisation of partner survivor benefits in the TPS, the Union pressed for change in respect of the STSS, but the Treasury chose instead to treat the STSS as a fraction of the England and Wales TPS when assessing costs, claiming that costs were comparable.
2.135 The NASUWT continued to make representations to both the Westminster and the Scottish Governments, demanding that further planned increases in employer costs should be funded, to avoid cuts to education budgets and potential job loss.
Employee Contribution Structure
2.136 In February, the Scottish Government announced the employee contribution structure in the reformed STPS. This confirmed that the NASUWT had secured important protections for lower paid and part-time teachers in discussions with the Scottish Government.
2.137 Ministers decided that teachers’ pension contributions for the financial year 2015-16 would be as follows:
38 Annual Salary for the financial year 2015-16 Employee’s Contribution Rate £0 - £25,999 7.2% £26,000 - £34,999 8.7% £35,000 - £41,499 9.7% £41,500 - £54,999 10.4% £55,000 - £74,999 11.5% greater than £75,000 11.9%
2.138 Teachers would pay an average pension contribution of 9.6%, but the structure would continue to be tiered, with those who earn the least paying the least. In addition, part-time teachers would pay a contribution based on their actual salary, rather than their full-time equivalent (FTE) salary. The NASUWT strongly argued that pension contributions should be paid on actual salaries, as this was fairer for lower-paid, part-time teachers.
2.139 Once the unacceptable figure of an average 9.6% employee pension contribution was set by the TPS Proposed Final Agreement (PFA), the NASUWT argued vigorously for tiering of contributions with the highest number possible to spread the financial burden more fairly and protect lower paid teachers. The Scottish Government was unable simply to implement the same post-2015 tiering structure as in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, because Scottish teachers are lower paid overall than other teachers and an identical contribution structure gave a lower overall yield to the Treasury.
2.140 The Scottish Government, therefore, consulted on two alternative models to the England and Wales post-2015 pension contribution structure. The first of these added to pension contributions for all teachers and the second reduced pension contributions for the lowest paid teachers and increased pension contributions for higher paid teachers. The NASUWT made very clear to the Scottish Government its continuing opposition to the 9.6% average pension contribution, but presented detailed evidence of the importance of protecting lower paid teachers from the worst impact of the pension reforms, to try to minimise opt-outs from the STPS and in the interests of fairness and equality.
2.141 Following NASUWT representations, the second alternative model, which reduced pension contributions further for the lowest paid teachers, was adopted. Within the context of the overall detrimental impact of the pension reforms, the NASUWT had secured a mitigation of the worst impact of these.
STPS Governance Boards
2.142 In February, the Scottish Government appointed members of the Scottish Teachers’ Pension Scheme Pension Board (STPSPB). The NASUWT was successful in ensuring the appointment of the NASUWT National Treasurer, Brian Cookson, to the Pension Board.
2.143 The STPSPB has an equal number of scheme-member and employer representatives and also includes government and Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) representatives. Membership of the Board is subject to appointment by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Personnel. Scheme member representatives represent all scheme members, not solely members of their own union.
2.144 The STPSPB has a crucial role in ensuring that the TPS continues to be the pension scheme for all teachers via Participation Agreements and other means to ensure compliance with STPS regulations. The STPSPB also oversees the management and administration of the STPS by the Scottish Government and the SPPA.
2.145 The STPSPB met on two occasions during the year.
39 2.146 The Scottish Government also appointed members of the STPS Advisory Board (STPSAB). The role of the Scheme Advisory Board is to advise the Scheme Manager, at the Scheme Manager’s request, on the desirability of changes to the STPS and on matters of policy. The Scheme Manager for the STPS is the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Personnel, acting on behalf of all Scottish Ministers.
2.147 As a result of NASUWT representations, the STPSAB has a wider remit than that set out in primary legislation and became a policy forum for the NASUWT and other unions, resembling the previous Scottish Teachers’ Pension Scheme Negotiating Group (STPSNG).
2.148 The NASUWT was successful in being appointed to the STPSAB. Dave Wilkinson, National Negotiating Official, was appointed to the Board.
2.149 The first STPSAB meeting took place in June. A second meeting took place in December. The NASUWT raised detailed concerns about the valuation of the STPS, the implementation of Fair Deal and the adoption of the public sector exit payments cap by the Scottish Government in STPSAB meetings.
Teachers Working Longer
2.150 In February, the NASUWT General Secretary wrote to Angela Constance, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, to propose that the Scottish Government establish a Review into issues relating to teachers working longer. The General Secretary made it clear that the NASUWT position remained that the Scottish Government should fund provisions which would prevent the increase in the pension age.
2.151 The General Secretary outlined to the Cabinet Secretary the remit of the Westminster Government reviews into NHS employees working longer and teachers working longer and the details of the DfE Teachers’ Working Longer review.
2.152 The General Secretary offered NASUWT assistance in establishing a Scottish Government review into the implications of teachers working longer. The Cabinet Secretary replied to the General Secretary by indicating that this was a helpful offer. The NASUWT continued to progress this matter by engagement with the Scottish Government during the year.
Reduction in the Lifetime Allowance
2.153 In March, the SPPA issued Circular 2015/09 on protections against reductions in the Lifetime Allowance (LTA). The LTA is the maximum amount of tax-free pensionable savings which can be built up over a lifetime and reduced to £1.25 million on 6 April. The SPPA advised STSS members that they could avoid losing potential LTA protections by opting out of the STPS before it was implemented on 1 April. The SPPA also advised employers to bring this information to the attention of employees.
2.154 In March, the NASUWT General Secretary wrote to John Swinney, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, to express concern about Circular 2015/09. The General Secretary drew attention to the alarmist impact of the Circular, stating, ‘because at least one local authority has circulated Circular 2015/9 to the whole teaching workforce, teachers who are nowhere close to the £1.25 million LTA level (and for whom therefore there would be no adverse consequences of losing LTA protections) are currently concerned that they may need to opt out of the STPS by that date. There is a real danger that the Circular may lead to teachers opting out of the reformed STPS because of entirely false perceptions of a detriment in remaining a member.’
2.155 The General Secretary received a reply from the Cabinet Secretary for Finance in April 2016, stating that, even though the intentions of the SPPA were to provide necessary information
40 to employees, ‘on this occasion, communication could have been clearer.’ The Cabinet Secretary also advised that SPPA officials were ‘standing ready’ to work with the NASUWT on subsequent advice to Scottish teachers. Following this correspondence, the SPPA worked with the NASUWT to develop further advice for Scottish teachers.
The Reformed Scottish Teachers’ Pension Scheme (STPS)
2.156 In April, the reformed STPS was implemented. The continuous industrial action by NASUWT members secured progress throughout the course of the pension reforms which would not have been possible without the ongoing campaign by the Union, including securing:
• full transitional protection against all aspects of pension reform, apart from the new employee contribution rates, for all teachers in the NPA 60 scheme who were 50 or over on 1 April 2012; • tapered protection for teachers in the NPA 60 scheme who were 46.5 years of age or over on 1 April 2012; • progressive tiering of pension contributions to ensure that those who earn the least pay the least; • protection for more than 40% of teachers from the full impact of the Westminster Coalition Government’s original proposed 9.6% employee pension contribution rate; • an employee contributions structure based on actual salary, ending discrimination against teachers who work part time; • NASUWT representation on the STPS governance bodies; and • improvements to ill-health pension provisions.
The Valuation of the Scottish Teachers’ Superannuation Scheme (STSS)
2.157 In June, the Scottish Government published the Treasury’s valuation of the STSS. This was an ‘as at 2012’ valuation and was the first valuation since the ‘as at 2005’ valuation of the scheme was carried out. The valuation set the employer contribution rate from 1 September 2015 until 1 April 2019, together with the employer cost cap, for the STPS and reports whether the scheme is in notional deficit or surplus.
2.158 The valuation was completed in February and the NASUWT pressed the Scottish Government on the reasons for withholding the valuation report for so long. Some of the key headlines arising from the valuation had already been made public in an interim Scottish Government report, including the level of the employer cost cap and the increase in the employer contribution rate. The Scottish Government’s explanation for withholding the full valuation report was that it wanted to publish all ‘as at 2012’ public service scheme valuations simultaneously.
2.159 The valuation was carried out by the Westminster Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) in accordance with Directions which had been published by the Treasury. The NASUWT opposed the Directions and key assumptions used in the valuation process, not least the Discount Rate figure, which is a key financial assumption which determines the amount by which unfunded public service pension schemes, including the STPS, grow in value. One of the first acts of the Westminster Coalition Government, when embarking on public service pension reform, was to reduce the discount rate in 2011, knowing that this would wipe billions of pounds off the notional assets of public service pension schemes.
2.160 The long-term financial assumptions used in the valuation (the most significant of which is the reduced Discount Rate) created a notional deficit in the STPS. The Scheme was also in notional deficit at the ‘as at 2005’ valuation by £0.8 billion, but all of the evidence is that, without the Westminster Government’s change to the financial assumptions, the 2007 reforms to the Scheme, which included an increase in teachers’ pension contributions, would have brought it back into surplus.
41 2.161 The headline figures in the valuation report were:
• the notional deficit, as of 31 March 2012, was £1.3 billion; • the change to the long-term financial assumptions used in the valuation (the most significant of which was the reduction in the discount rate) reduced the notional assets of the scheme by £2.6 billion; • the change in demographic assumptions (including the use of UK-wide increased longevity statistics which may not be fully applicable to Scotland) reduced the notional assets of the scheme by a further £1.2 billion; and • the evidence was therefore that, as a result of the Treasury’s financial assumptions alone, a £1.3 billion surplus had been converted to a £1.3 billion deficit.
2.162 The teachers’ pension contribution rates which were introduced in April did not change as a result of the valuation. The employer’s contribution rate increased by 2.3% to 17.2% on 1 September. However, teachers in Scotland endured an average increase of 3.2% on their pension since the ‘as at 2005’ valuation, whereas employers saw no increase.
2.163 The NASUWT pressed, and will continue to press, for the Scottish Government to have greater control over the valuation process for the STPS, and for the assumptions used in the valuation to be devolved, rather than reserved, matters. This is consistent with the governance arrangements for the STPS, where the Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Finance is the Scheme manager.
Public Sector Exit Payments Cap
2.164 In May, the Westminster Government announced that it intended to end ‘six figure exit payments for public sector workers.’ The main details of the NASUWT response are included in the section for England and Wales.
2.165 In relation to Scotland, the NASUWT made it clear that in the STPS, early access to unreduced pension is a discretion which employers can exercise to manage redundancies in accordance with statute, which places a duty on employers to take action to avoid or reduce the number of redundancies or mitigate the impact of redundancy. The Union stated that it would militate against employers fulfilling their statutory duty in respect of redundancy should restrictions be placed on the full use of STPS flexibilities to achieve this.
2.166 The Westminster Government’s proposals stated that the cap would extend to all bodies where employment and remuneration practices are the responsibility of the UK Government. It would be the responsibility of the Scottish Government to determine whether it wished to implement similar arrangements in relation to devolved bodies and workforces. The Westminster Government’s cap would not apply to Scottish teachers, because of the Scottish Government’s devolved powers for education. The NASUWT General Secretary wrote to the Cabinet Secretary for Finance in August to ask the Scottish Government not to implement the cap.
2.167 The Cabinet Secretary for Finance replied to the General Secretary indicating that the Scottish Government was considering a legislative consent memorandum to introduce a cap which would be under the control of Scottish Ministers. If a cap was introduced, its level, and the payments which would fall within the scope of the cap, would be subject to further consultation with the NASUWT.
The Pensions Taxation Regime
2.168 In July, the Westminster Government began a consultation on changes to the pensions taxation regime, ‘Strengthening the Incentive to Save’. The Westminster Government
42 announced that it intended to review the UK pensions taxation regime, which was also in force in Scotland as a reserved matter.
2.169 The Westminster Government changes to the pensions taxation regime are expected in the 2016 Budget.
STATES OF JERSEY
2.170 Teachers’ pensions in Jersey were increased by 1.9% from January in line with inflation, as measured by the increases in the Jersey RPI for the year ending December 2014.
2.171 There were no plans by the States to reform the Jersey Teachers’ Superannuation Fund (JTSF).
STATES OF GUERNSEY
2.172 Teachers’ pensions in Guernsey were increased by 2.6% in January in line with inflation as measured by the increase in the Guernsey RPI for the previous June.
2.173 Discussions with the NASUWT and other public service unions on reforms to the Guernsey Public Sector Pension Scheme continued throughout the year.
2.174 Following the rejection of the proposals by the NASUWT and other public service unions in December, the States had announced they intended to impose the offer from September 2013 on new members and seek declaratory relief from the Royal Court on the States’ ability to impose on existing members.
2.175 The NASUWT organised a protest march and rally in April, immediately before the States debate.
2.176 As a direct consequence of the protest, the States returned to the negotiations with the NASUWT and other unions, rather than imposing changes.
2.177 In September, a revised offer was made by the States on pensions due to the actions and pressure from the NASUWT.
2.178 The NASUWT provided extensive information to members on the offer and conducted an opinion survey to inform the response to the States.
2.179 Although the offer was improved, it still represented detrimental change and as such the proposals were not agreed by the NASUWT.
2.180 As the majority of other unions agreed the changes, the States announced that the enhanced offer would be implemented for all from January 2016
2.181 At the close of the year, the NASUWT was considering the next steps to take, in conjunction with other unions that had not agreed the changes.
ISLE OF MAN
2.182 Teachers’ pensions in the Isle of Man are linked to the England and Wales TPS. They were, therefore, increased in line with the England and Wales TPS.
2.183 In March, the Public Sector Pensions Authority (PSPA) announced that the Isle of Man TPS would not be changing when the reformed UK TPS was implemented in April.
43 2.184 The PSPA announced in May that it wished to commence negotiations over reforms to the Isle of Man TPS, with its preferred outcome being the transition of all teachers into the Government Unified Scheme, which would involve existing members having their current pension entitlements protected, but new members entering a far worse scheme.
2.185 The NASUWT formulated a counter-proposal which would allow all Isle of Man teachers, both current and new, to receive identical pension entitlements to those currently available. This was considered but rejected by the PSPA.
2.186 At the close of the year, the NASUWT was considering the next steps to take.
The Federation of Retired Members’ Associations
2.187 Representatives of the Salaries, Pensions and Conditions of Service Committee continued to meet regularly throughout the year with representatives of the Federation of Retired Members’ Associations (FRMAs) to discuss matters of common interest.
2.188 This joint Liaison Group discussed a range of issues, including minor amendments to the constitution of the Retired Members’ Federation, meetings of the Pensioners’ Committee of the TUC and the National Pensioners’ Convention, public sector pension and state pension reform, membership of Retired Members’ Associations (RMAs) and issues of concern to retired members.
CONDITIONS OF SERVICE
ENGLAND AND WALES
3.1 The details of the national developments on conditions of service in this section apply to England and Wales. Where differences in implementation and/or application occur, these have been highlighted.
Workload
3.2 Workload continued to be a key component of the NASUWT’s trade dispute with the Secretary of State for Education and the Minister for Education and Skills in Wales.
3.3 In January, the DfE published the results of the Workload Challenge. The NASUWT commented that the Workload Challenge woefully represented the workload concerns of teachers and the impact that Government policies had upon their working lives. The NASUWT believes that this was purely a cosmetic exercise, for the DfE to be able to say it was addressing the issues facing teachers prior to the General Election.
3.4 The NASUWT’s 2015 Annual Big Question Survey, which had been tracking teacher workload since 2011, found that 87% of teachers in England cited workload as their top concern about their job. The figure for Wales was 87%. Both figures were an increase on the previous year.
3.5 In the same survey, teachers in England identified the main drivers of excessive workload as school inspection, general administrative tasks, classroom observation, teacher assessment, including marking, and curriculum/qualification changes.
3.6 In Wales, teachers identified general administrative tasks, teacher assessment, target setting and curriculum/qualification changes as the main drivers of excessive workload.
3.7 The NASUWT used the results of the survey in its discussions with ministers and officials in Westminster and the Welsh Government and in written and oral evidence submissions to the Review Body.
44 3.8 The NASUWT’s submission to the 25th Review Body made it clear that workload exacerbated the erosion of teachers’ pay.
3.9 The NASUWT submission also maintained a robust defence of non-pay conditions of service and the important contribution they make to managing workload and raising standards.
3.10 A ComRes poll, commissioned by the NASUWT in November, found that teachers were more worried about workload than ever before (84%), with administration being the primary cited cause of excessive workload (73%). Other increases in causes of excessive workload include the teacher assessment system (49%) and class size (44%). Unsurprisingly, the same poll also found that fewer teachers enjoy the work that they do (58%, down from 68% in 2013) and that motivation was declining (43%, down from 52% in 2013). The ComRes poll provided an independent validation of the NASUWT’s findings.
3.11 The NASUWT successfully defended, through its continuing action short of strike action and strike action, teachers’ non-pay conditions, including bureaucratic planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time, rarely cover and other contractual entitlements.
3.12 In line with National and Cymru Conference resolutions, the NASUWT sought to ensure that all new initiatives were workload impact assessed by the Workforce Unit within the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), and noted some progress with the announcement that the Pioneer Schools would be required to consider the workload implications of both the New Deal and the New Curriculum.
3.13 The Union did, however, remain concerned about the effectiveness of the process used and the commitment to engage meaningfully with the NASUWT and other unions.
3.14 In April, the NASUWT Resolutions from Annual Conference on ‘the Impact of Marking Regimes on Workload’ highlighted the excessive workload implications of marking and assessment policies in schools across England and Wales. In response to this, the NASUWT issued in May an additional action short of strike action instruction on marking and assessment across England and Wales.
3.15 The Union continued to emphasise the importance of industrial action through action short of strike action and strike action where necessary.
3.16 The NASUWT sought to progress its trade dispute against excessive workload in England and through the DfE programme of talks. The NASUWT set out to the DfE where action could be taken to reduce workload. This included the submission by the NASUWT of papers to the DfE on:
• clarification for schools over the new special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system; • CPD; • curriculum and qualification issues; • unnecessary workload; and • the SEN framework.
3.17 In November, the NASUWT published the results of a survey of teachers in the West Midlands carried out in conjunction with ITV Central News. The survey confirmed the results of the Union’s Big Question Annual Survey.
3.18 Eighty per cent of teachers in the West Midlands stated that they had considered leaving the profession in the last two years, and in two thirds of cases excessive workload was the reason cited.
45 3.19 The NASUWT produced an information booklet detailing the key issues that teachers face regarding workload, using information and data collected by the Union including from the Big Question Survey. The Survey found that 87% of teachers cited workload as their major concern. The percentage had risen year on year since the first survey in 2011.
3.20 The NASUWT continued to communicate with ministers in all nations/administrations on the furtherance of the national trade disputes, highlighting workload as the key issue facing teachers. Bilateral meetings took place with officials in all nations/administrations.
3.21 In October, the DfE established review groups to consider the workload implications of current practices in respect of marking, planning and the management of data in schools. These issues were identified on the basis that they were highlighted as particularly significant by respondents to the DfE’s Workload Challenge. The groups were tasked with developing practical solutions to workload pressures. The NASUWT secured direct representation on the marking group and ensured that it was able to exercise direct influence on the other groups. The NASUWT ensured that the review groups’ remits included clear reference to the need to reduce overall workload burdens, not merely workload identified by the DfE as ‘unnecessary’.
Performance Management/Appraisal
3.22 The NASUWT continued its campaign to empower members across England and Wales to take control of their performance management which included updating the performance management, hand-outs and holding extremely successful national briefings on performance management and appraisal for the second year running.
3.23 Every member in England received a handbook, Taking Control of your Performance Management, which set out the regulatory frameworks and clear advice on good practice on performance management.
3.24 Detailed advice on the use of data in objective setting was provided. The handbook was supplemented by updated guidance on the use and abuse of data in schools.
3.25 Advice and guidance was also given on the use and abuse of the Teachers’ Standards in England for the purposes of appraisal/performance management of teachers and in the formation of judgements about the quality of teaching and learning.
3.26 The performance management guidance was reinforced by the NASUWT’s action instructions including the performance management checklists. The Union, with the support of members, took escalated action in numerous schools to secure fair appraisal/performance management policies and successfully prevented in many cases the inappropriate use of raw data targets and the Teachers’ Standards.
3.27 In Wales, the NASUWT also argued consistently for employers’ pay policies to recognise that the Practising Teacher Standards (PTS) and the Leadership Standards were a backdrop to performance management/appraisal and were not a management checklist. In England and Wales, the Union agreed that there should be the presumption that teachers and school leaders were meeting the standards.
3.28 In Wales, with the strengthening of the link in the STPCD between performance management and pay progression at all levels, the NASUWT continued to reinforce the importance of its Performance Management Practical Guide for appraisers and appraisees by distributing it to all members and providing national briefings for members and NASUWT Representatives.
46 3.29 The NASUWT continued to use its action short of strike action instructions to promote fair performance management/appraisal in schools.
3.30 The Union continued to enhance the provision, on the Union’s website, of its suite of practical advice to members on performance management. The NASUWT video presentations continued to prove popular with members in England and Wales.
3.31 Despite the extensive support offered by the Union, it was clear that performance management continued to be abused. The Union’s briefings did, however, encourage increasing numbers of members to pursue appeals and the overwhelming majority were successful.
3.32 The Union adopted a specific focus on identifying and highlighting discrimination against teachers with protected characteristics.
3.33 Based on members’ serious concerns, the Union commissioned independent longitudinal research into performance-related pay from the Institute for Employment Research at the University of Warwick.
Capability
3.34 The Union continued to research and to expose the abuse and misuse of capability procedures. The NASUWT’s Annual Big Question Survey demonstrated that 4% of teachers had been threatened with capability procedures during the previous year. For older women teachers, this figure was 8%, giving rise to particular concerns about the disproportionate impact of abuse of capability procedures on teachers with protected characteristics.
3.35 The NASUWT continued to support members in challenging the misuse of capability procedures, including the use of ‘support’ programmes, which continued to be used as informal capability procedures, through:
• individual and collective casework; • the escalation of national industrial action to strike action to ensure performance management policies were separate from capability and that performance management policies conformed to the NASUWT checklist; and • use of the NASUWT performance management handbooks and briefings across England and Wales.
Westminster DfE Education Forum
3.36 The NASUWT continued to be represented at meetings of the DfE Education Forum which brought together unions, governors and employers.
3.37 Although the Coalition Government stated that it intended the Forum to be chaired regularly by a minister, this did not happen. The Secretary of State for Education, Nicky Morgan, attended one meeting for six minutes shortly after taking up her post. Following the General Election in May, this did not change. No minister attended the Education Forum since the 2015 General Election and the Government decided to review the way the Forum operated and how agenda items were presented. They created what they suggested would be a more participatory ‘temperature check’ item to allow participants to prioritise issues of concern to be raised at meetings or signalled for future agenda items.
3.38 The NASUWT continued to use the Forum to emphasise its concerns about Government policy. However, the Forum made no tangible progress on any issues, confirming the NASUWT’s view that the only purpose of the Forum was cosmetic window-dressing for the Government to claim that it was engaging with stakeholders.
47 3.39 The items discussed during the year included:
• Childhood Immunisation Programme; • Governance and the Role of Governors; • The Honours System: Education; • Ofqual Update: GCSE/A-level Reform; • Workload Challenge; • Attendance Policy; • Fair Funding in Schools; • Childcare Bill; • Education and Adoption Bill; • Extremism in Schools; and • Regional Schools Commissioners and their Role.
3.40 The discussions did not result in any material changes to any aspect of Government policy in education and at no point addressed the concerns of teachers and school leaders.
Westminster DfE Education Forum Bureaucracy Subgroup
3.41 The NASUWT continued in membership of the Education Forum Bureaucracy Subgroup, whose remit was to advise the DfE on reducing unnecessary bureaucracy.
3.42 The Union continued to focus upon the concerns of teachers about the overly simplistic approach to bureaucracy reduction adopted by the Coalition Government, which had done nothing to alleviate the burdens on classroom teachers.
3.43 The NASUWT had made clear its view that since its inception, the Group had made no material or positive impact on the work of classroom teachers.
3.44 This Group was abolished after the May General Election by the Conservative Government.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Teachers’ Negotiating Committee (TNC)
3.45 In December, a meeting of the TNC took place in which TNC circulars were ratified on:
• TNC 2015/1 Protocol for Home School Learning; • TNC 2015/2 Teachers’ Maternity Leave Scheme; • TNC 2015/3 Teachers’ Paternity Leave Scheme; • TNC 2015/4 Teachers’ Adoption Leave Scheme; and • TNC 2015/5 Teachers’ Shared Parental Leave Scheme.
Joint Working Party (JWP)
3.46 The JWP of the TNC, on which the NASUWT was represented, met throughout the year and discussions took place on Home/School Learning, Social Media, Shared Parental Leave, Redundancy, the failure to implement the Teacher Health and Wellbeing document, the Disciplinary Procedure, Substitute Teachers, Fixed-term Workers, the TNC Constitution and Health and Safety Structures.
Area-based Planning and Reorganisation
3.47 School Rationalisation in Northern Ireland continued apace. The Education and Library Boards (ELBs) working with the Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) continued to consult on and rationalise the school estate.
48 3.48 The NASUWT had concerns about the accountability for a new type of school which emerged: the non-selective grammar school. These schools were created when a non- selective Catholic Maintained School merged with a Voluntary Grammar School.
3.49 The NASUWT met regularly throughout the year with representatives from the Education Authority, Voluntary Grammars and the CCMS to discuss the ongoing changes. Most mergers were handled well. A minority, however, were mishandled.
3.50 None of the mergers crossed the sectarian divide. However, a provision for a new type of school was introduced. These are ‘jointly managed schools’ which will allow representatives of the Protestant and Catholic churches to work together on the management of the school.
Further Education – The Salisbury Report
3.51 The NASUWT continued to take part in the Salisbury Taskforce, set up to undertake an independent review of the industrial relations framework in FE.
3.52 The decision during the year by the ATL to leave the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) as a result of losing a dispute on FE membership led to all the ICTU affiliates deciding to exclude ATL from the Taskforce.
3.53 The NASUWT continued to work with ICTU affiliates and negotiate with employers on the review of industrial relations in FE.
3.54 At the close of the year, a proposed constitution was being drafted by the Salisbury Taskforce with a view to developing more functional industrial relations that best deliver for members of the NASUWT.
3.55 The NASUWT condemned the abuse of the precautionary suspension of teachers by boards of governors in the light of the numbers placed on suspension increasing.
3.56 The Union represented members facing the suspensions and called for effective safeguards to be put in place to protect teachers from abuse of the procedures which were increasingly being used as a punitive sanction in themselves.
SCOTLAND
3.57 The NASUWT continued its defence of teachers’ terms and conditions during the year, seeking to resist steps to dismantle the landmark agreement, A Teaching Profession for the 21st Century (the McCrone Agreement), which year on year has been subject to attack from employers and the Scottish Government.
3.58 The NASUWT was the only teachers’ union to take industrial action to oppose the 2013-15 SNCT Agreement, which had strings attached which weakened teachers’ terms and conditions of service.
3.59 The NASUWT continued to campaign for teachers’ terms and conditions to be enshrined in statutory terms and conditions, so that national collective agreements could not be dismantled year on year and subject to variation at local level.
Teacher Numbers
3.60 The Scottish Government’s Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland was published in November. The number of teachers expressed as FTE was 50,576 – a rise of eight, based on 2014 data.
49 3.61 At the start of the year, all 32 local authorities agreed to maintain teacher numbers for the year. Although the total FTE remained similar, this was not the picture across local authorities (LAs):
• 22 LAs maintained or increased teacher numbers with the largest increase being 1.4%; and • ten LAs saw a decrease in teacher numbers with the largest drop being 3.4%.
3.62 The Scottish Government had the provision to penalise authorities which failed to maintain teacher numbers by reclaiming their allocation of the £51 million additional funding given to incentivise the agreement. No action has yet been taken in the case of the local authorities which saw a decrease in numbers.
3.63 Some authorities struggled to recruit and retain teachers, particularly in rural areas or areas with a higher cost of living. Others admitted to deliberately choosing not to maintain teacher numbers, as the penalty would be less cost to the authority than meeting the target.
3.64 The pupil/teacher ratio remained the same as 2014.
3.65 In August, the Scottish Conservatives published vacancy rates for headteachers, including the numbers of BME headteachers and senior leaders. The NASUWT had highlighted earlier in the year the scandalous lack of BME teachers at senior levels and repeated its call for the Government to tackle this.
Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT)
3.66 The SNCT met throughout the year.
3.67 The NASUWT retained its two seats on the Teachers’ Panel and a full seat on the Teachers’ Side.
3.68 The main focus for the work of the SNCT continued to be the teachers’ pay offer, which is covered in detail in the pay section of this Annual Report.
3.69 In June, the SNCT took the decision to amalgamate the Conditions of Service Working Group and the Local Negotiating Committee for Teachers (LNCT) Review Group into one named the SNCT Support Group. The NASUWT obtained a seat on this Group.
3.70 The SNCT Support Group met twice in the year, with the first full meeting in November.
3.71 There were a number of changes to the SNCT Handbook during the year:
• SNCT circular 15/52 Family Leave. This was revised in light of the introduction of Shared Parental Leave; • SNCT circular 15/53 Allowances for Teachers in Remote Schools updated the revised rate of Allowance for Teachers in Remote Schools; • SNCT circular 15/54 Pay and Conditions of Service Agreement 2015-17 incorporated the detrimental changes to terms and conditions as a result of the agreement with other unions; • SNCT Joint Circular 15-55 National Payroll Specification (Draft) advised that the SNCT had agreed a final National specification for the calculation of teachers’ pay and corresponding allowances. The implementation was dependent on discussions with other stakeholders including the SPPA; • SNCT Joint Circular 15-56 Supply Teachers Pay advised councils that they could choose to vary the pay of supply teachers if the current pay arrangements are inadequate; and
50 • SNCT Joint Circular 15-57 clarified changes to the Family Leave provisions made to the SNCT Handbook.
3.72 The NASUWT raised concerns about the figures obtained by opposition parties which showed that there were hundreds of unfilled teaching posts in schools across Scotland.
3.73 The Union continued to press the Scottish Government to take these concerns seriously and address the growing concerns over pay and conditions of service.
WALES
Sixth-form Colleges and Further Education (FE)
3.74 Work continued on the new contract scheduled for implementation for all FE workers in September 2016. Agreements were established in relation to fixed-term contracts and domestic abuse. Progress was made on time off in lieu (toil) for managers and a new governance code.
3.75 Amendments were made to the new contract to recognise the requirement placed on FE teachers to register with the EWC from 1 April, and FE support staff from 1 April 2016.
3.76 The NASUWT monitored the phased implementation of the new contract throughout the year. Problems were reported at Yale College but these have been dealt with swiftly and effectively by the NASUWT.
Devolution of Pay and Conditions of Service
3.77 The position of the Welsh Government on the devolution of teachers’ pay and conditions shifted as the year progressed.
3.78 In March, the Westminster Coalition Government produced a policy paper, Powers for a purpose: Towards a lasting devolution settlement for Wales (the St David’s Day Agreement) following consideration of the second Silk Commission Report on Devolution in Wales. The second report recommended that teachers’ pay and conditions should be devolved to Wales.
3.79 Although the St David’s Day Agreement indicated that the majority of the Silk Commission’s recommendations had been accepted on the basis of consensus between the political parties at the Senedd and Westminster, the notable exception was on the devolution of teachers’ pay and conditions, where no consensus was reached. In contrast, a consensus was reached that teachers’ pensions should remain as a reserved power with the Westminster Government.
3.80 In establishing a definitive position on the devolution of teachers’ pay and conditions to Wales, at the meeting of the NASUWT National Executive in March, the Union maintained its opposition, in principle, to devolution but recognised the need to be prepared should it become a reality and agreed the following approach:
• the Review Body structure, covering England and Wales, should remain in place; • following receipt of evidence, the Review Body would make recommendations to both the Secretary of State for Education in Westminster, and the Minister for Education and Skills in the Senedd; • the Minister in Wales would consider the recommendations in respect of teachers and school leaders in Wales; • a period of statutory consultation and negotiation would follow, during which unions make oral and written submissions to the Minister for Education and Skills; and • the Minister would make the final decision on the outcomes of the consultation and negotiation.
51 3.81 This position mirrored the position for the NHS.
3.82 The NASUWT conveyed this position informally to the Minister, prior to the General Election, and formally to the DfES in July.
3.83 By the end of the year, it was clear that the Welsh Government was moving towards seeking devolution of teachers’ pay and conditions.
Initial Teacher Education and Training (ITET)
3.84 With the teacher recruitment climate not changing significantly during the past two years, the overall ITET intake numbers were kept at a steady state. This followed the substantial reductions made in previous years resulting in intake numbers dropping by almost one third.
3.85 The decision to hold the total intake numbers for 2015-16 at a steady rate was based on the preliminary findings of a review, published in March, of the quality and consistency of ITET, Teaching Tomorrow’s Teachers (the Furlong Report).
3.86 The total intake numbers for 2015-16 comprised 300 primary undergraduates and 450 primary postgraduates, and 95 secondary undergraduates and 785 secondary postgraduates, totalling 1,630 trainees.
3.87 Incentives of up to £20,000 were offered to new eligible students starting postgraduate ITET courses in the 2015-16 academic year in the subjects of mathematics, physics, chemistry and Welsh, with the highest awards going to those with first-class honours degrees and progressively lower amounts going to those with a 2.1 or 2.2.
3.88 Incentives of up to £15,000 were offered on a similar basis, but not below the level of a 2.1 degree, to students studying modern foreign languages and ICT. Outside of these priority subjects, access to an incentive grant of £3,000 was only available to students with first- class honours degrees. However, a further £3,000 supplement was offered to these students if they were undertaking primary training and their first-class honours degree was in English, Welsh, mathematics, physics or chemistry.
3.89 Whereas newly qualified teachers had been enrolled previously in the Masters in Educational Practice (MEP) in their induction year, without warning, the programme was not made available to newly qualified teachers taking up their first teaching appointments in September.
3.90 The Union remained concerned about the Additional Teacher Graduate Programme, delivered through Teach First, as there was growing evidence that schools were using trainees instead of qualified teachers, in some cases to teach in schools where redundancies had occurred.
Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
3.91 In March, the Minister announced a New Deal for teachers and support staff that would provide a structured entitlement to access world-class professional learning opportunities to develop their practice.
3.92 Since the announcement, the NASUWT engaged with DfES officials in an attempt to ensure that, in the Minister’s words, ‘the New Deal is shaped, implemented, quality assured and evaluated by practitioners for practitioners’.
3.93 Progress, however, was slow as the focus appeared to shift from providing an entitlement to professional learning opportunities, towards the introduction of a staged approach to
52 access to professional development, because of the lack of clarity over the delivery model for the New Deal.
3.94 Discussion at the initial meetings sought to clarify how the entitlement to CPD would be provided, what would be covered and the delivery model. Concerns were also expressed about the lack of funding for the New Deal.
3.95 As the meetings progressed, it became increasingly apparent that the New Deal was being used to introduce new Professional Standards for teachers linked to stages in their careers, and that access to world-class professional learning opportunities to develop their practice was being viewed as a requirement, rather than a contractual entitlement.
3.96 The NASUWT challenged this move robustly, arguing that the Performance Management process should be the vehicle used to establish the development and training needs of individual teachers and headteachers and that the career stage approach was as misguided and unwelcome as the move to revise the Practising Teacher Standards.
3.97 Despite these setbacks, the NASUWT continued to engage with the development of the New Deal, but remained committed to ensuring that teachers’ workload would not be increased, that there would be no expectation that teachers would use their own time to access the professional learning they feel will assist them in developing their practice and that equality of opportunity would underpin the process.
3.98 As part of the New Deal, the Welsh Government asked the EWC to develop an online portfolio, the Professional Learning Passport (PCP), to help practitioners record and reflect on their professional development.
3.99 The NASUWT welcomed the initiative after the Welsh Government indicated that the PLP would:
• be secure and confidential; • be available to all practitioners registered with the EWC on an optional basis; • belong to individual registrants; • be linked to individual EWC online accounts; and • not add to practitioners’ workload.
3.100 The Union recognised that the PLP would provide a more secure and confidential online system for keeping the ‘practice, review and development record’, which appraisees were required to submit at the review meeting at the end of the Performance Management process, than the ‘blue sky’ systems currently being used in schools, and that it had the potential to reduce teacher workload.
Local Social Partnership (LSP)
3.101 The NASUWT continued to raise the importance of maintaining LSP structures within local authorities to assist in dispute resolution. However, the development of the National Model for Regional Working became increasingly irreconcilable with the effectiveness of the LSP model.
Support Staff Issues
3.102 Very little progress was made during the year between the Welsh Government and the support staff trade unions on a national pay structure for school support staff, other than in the FE sector, where support staff are now covered by the new FE contract.
53 3.103 However, with support staff in both the FE and school sectors being required to register with the EWC from 1 April 2016 and being subject to a common code of conduct for all education practitioners, and with the development of the New Deal and the New Curriculum recognising the contribution of school support staff, the NASUWT will continue to use every opportunity to press for the establishment of a common framework for pay and conditions of service of support staff in schools.
School Term Dates
3.104 Following receipt of information from the 22 local authorities on their proposed term dates for 2016-17, and a twelve-week consultation as required by the Education Act 2002, the Education Minister used the power of direction provided under the Act to harmonise and set the term dates for 2016-17.
3.105 The Union responded to the consultation and was pleased to note that the principle of maintaining a three-term year with half-term breaks of a least a week, a break of at least two weeks at the end of the Autumn and Spring terms, and a break of at least six weeks at the end of the Summer term, would be maintained.
3.106 In June, local authorities were directed to follow the dates published on the Welsh Government website.
Governance of Schools
3.107 The DfES indicated that the role and effectiveness of Governors in Wales in terms of the provision of services was being scrutinised carefully by the Welsh Government and an interim report would be published in due course.
3.108 The report is likely to have major implications for the future of Governors in Wales in terms of its governance, structure and the grant funding arrangements.
Welsh Government Staff Commission
3.109 At the beginning of the year, the Welsh Government announced plans to establish in April a public services staff Commission to advise ministers on workforce matters.
3.110 The NASUWT sought and received assurances that the Commission would respect the rights and responsibilities of staff and employers and the role of trade unions and called for members of the Commission to include those with the knowledge of public services and a commitment to equalities.
STATES OF GUERNSEY
3.111 During the year, the NASUWT remained in dispute with the Education Department over enforced changes to school hours. This was despite the Industrial Disputes Officer having determined that no dispute existed, ignoring clear evidence to the contrary.
3.112 In October, the States published a consultation document entitled ‘Your Schools Your Choice’. This document heralded a wide-ranging review of the structure of the education service in Guernsey, including the future of selection and public funding of the private colleges. The NASUWT submitted a detailed response, and at the close of the year the outcome of the consultation was awaited.
3.113 Discussions continued with the Department over the Performance Management system which has been in a state of flux since 2012. No firm conclusions were reached during the year and discussions were scheduled to continue into 2016.
54 STATES OF JERSEY
3.114 During the year, the NASUWT continued to work in the education partnership with the Department for Education, Sport and Culture.
3.115 The partnership devised and conducted a wide-ranging survey of teachers in Jersey, which was largely based on the NASUWT’s Annual Big Question Survey. The results of the survey were scheduled to be published in 2016.
3.116 Parallel to the Education Partnership agreement, the NASUWT continued to be at the heart of renegotiating the collective bargaining procedures and measures to harmonise working practices across all States Departments.
ISLE OF MAN
3.117 In June, the Department for Education and Children (DEC) announced a desire to amend the sick-pay system to tackle alleged abuse.
3.118 Only the NASUWT objected to this, and demanded to see the evidence of the alleged abuse. However, none was provided. The DEC did appear to then abandon plans for reform.
3.119 In October, issues of concern emerged regarding the appraisal system operating in the Isle of Man. Again, only the NASUWT raised these issues and as a consequence secured a review of the appraisal system.
FUNDING ACROSS THE UK
ENGLAND
4.1 The Union continued in membership of the School and Academy Funding (SAF) group, advising the Secretary of State on school funding.
4.2 The main items on the SAF agenda throughout the year included:
• local funding formulae for 2015-16; • 2015-16 Financial Planning; • universal infant Free School Meals (FSM); • impact of SEN reforms; • high-needs funding processes and research; • long-term revenue funding; • 2016-17 funding; • principles of and potential factors for fairer funding; • proposed directed revisions to the scheme for financing schools; and • School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations 2015.
4.3 Other issues discussed were:
• Schools Financial Value Standards; • effectiveness of Schools Forums; • Priority School Building Programme (PSBP) private finance funding arrangements; • cost of running school research; • minimum funding levels survey; and • admission appeals.
4.4 There were also discussions on potential future changes to the school funding system.
55 4.5 In June, after the General Election, the Chancellor’s budget statement heralded further cuts which would affect education. These included:
• the capping of public service workers’ pay at 1% for the next four years; • the scrapping of the Education Maintenance Grant (EMG), which supports students from the lowest income families; and • a further £12 billion cuts from the welfare budget, affecting the poorest families.
Fairer School Funding
4.6 Throughout the year, discussions continued at the SAF group on the principles and process leading towards the Government’s aim of introducing a fairer system of funding. These discussions paused in the lead-up to the May General Election, but recommenced in July.
4.7 The Government had committed previously to a cash-flat settlement for four to 16 year olds in state-funded schools. Following the May General Election, the Government committed to increasing funding as pupil numbers rise, but the cash amount per pupil would not change, regardless of any changes to inflation.
4.8 In July, the DfE issued the Schools Block Units of Funding (SBUF) for 2016 to 2017, together with a Statement from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Childcare and Education, Sam Gyimah, and the Education Funding Agency’s (EFA’s) Schools funding 2016 to 2017: operational guide. 1
4.9 The Government reiterated its commitment to making schools funding fairer and maintaining the amount of money that follows children into schools. It confirmed that the extra £390 million fairer funding uplift is base-lined in the budgets for 2016-17 and beyond.
4.10 The data was released earlier than usual so that local authorities could start the process of consulting with schools on how the funding should be distributed in their area. The formula factors and the processes for determining the distribution to schools remained unchanged.
4.11 The NASUWT issued the information to negotiating secretaries to enable them to participate in local consultation on any changes through School Forums.
4.12 The Government’s statement set out that the Spending Review in November would set out their plans for the delivery and funding of public services and further detail on key delivery priorities for schools and local authorities.
4.13 NASUWT Negotiating Secretaries were requested to monitor this closely.
4.14 In August, the NASUWT called upon the Government to apply a common funding system for schools and colleges, following a report, Funding Impact Survey 2015, by the SFCA, which highlighted funding issues for sixth-form colleges.
4.15 In October, in response to the continuing discussions at the School Academy Group (SAG), the NASUWT published its principles for fairer funding.
4.16 This stated that the mechanism by which state schools are funded is critical to securing an inclusive and world-class education system, operating in the public interest and contributing to the maintenance of a democratic, just and inclusive society.
1 DfE, Schools funding arrangements 2016 to 2017 www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-funding-arrangements-2016-to-2017
56 4.17 To ensure fairness and equity of entitlement for all pupils, the NASUWT asserted that the funding mechanism for schools must:
• provide equality of opportunity and equitable access for all learners, including through the provision of a broad and balanced curriculum, and contribute to raising educational standards for all pupils and narrow the achievement gap; • ensure that all schools are funded on the same basis, irrespective of their legal or governance status, which should not result in anomalies between schools where their needs, circumstances and the expectations upon them are the same; • reflect the additional costs related to pupil deprivation, socio-economic circumstances, school location and setting; • ensure the provision of, and access to, high-quality education and related support services for children and young people, including vulnerable children; • provide equality of entitlement for all learners to be taught by qualified teachers and for the recruitment, retention and development of a world-class workforce in every school as critical components in delivering better outcomes for all children, and that these entitlements must not be based on parents’ ability to pay; • be clear and transparent so that school budgets are based upon clearly identified and agreed sets of expectations about what work schools should do and the performance expectations that will apply to them; • enable fair, open and easy comparisons to be made with regard to the income and expenditure of different institutions or sponsors; • be fit for purpose, taking account of local circumstances and needs and the expectations on schools and local authorities, promoting public and professional confidence in the system; • be sufficient in ensuring that the global amount available for the funding of schools takes full account of education priorities and needs and promotes fairness, equity, inclusion and social cohesion; • ensure that changes to the funding for schools do not result in detriment to colleges, which are also essential in providing education for school-aged pupils; • be responsive to changing needs and circumstances; • be predicated on consultation and democratic involvement at national, local and institutional levels, including full recognition of school workforce trade unions; • promote stability for schools and enable schools to plan and organise their priorities in the longer term, and help to minimise turbulence; • support the best use of resources, through arrangements for strategic planning of local provision, institutional collaboration, economies of scale and the pooling of resources to meet locally identified educational needs; and • ensure that schools in receipt of state funding should not be able to make a profit and must demonstrate that they provide good value for money.
4.18 In October, the NASUWT had a bilateral meeting with the DfE to discuss the principles behind fairer funding. The meeting covered:
• local discretion and local accountability; • the structure of a potential national funding formula; and • transition to fairer funding.
4.19 The NASUWT took the opportunity to present its principles on school funding, making it clear that while it was for Government to determine the funding methodology, the principles would test the fairness of the system. The NASUWT sought to press the DfE to use the Union’s principles as the test of fairness.
57 4.20 The NASUWT made it clear to the DfE that the current arrangements for local determination and accountability, particularly in regard to the make-up and independence of Schools Forums, were not fit for purpose.
Academy Funding
4.21 In July, the DfE published the Income and Expenditure in Academies in England for 2013 to 2015. These were classed as experimental statistics. This was the first time that the DfE had published information on academy finances in a way that was similar, although not identical, to that published for maintained schools. Information was provided on MATs with data at individual academy level and also at an aggregated level to include all schools within the trust.
4.22 The data showed that the total income for academies in 2013/14 was £14.8 billion and the total expenditure was £14.7 billion. The median expenditure per pupil in all primary academies was £4,612. In all secondary academies it was £5,896 and in all special academies it was £22,952.
4.23 The median expenditure per pupil in all-through academies was £7,015 in 2013/14. This was the first year that all-through schools had been counted separately.
4.24 The DfE noted that it had quoted medians to avoid mean averages being skewed by academies with unusually large incomes or expenditures.
4.25 The NASUWT undertook detailed analysis of the data which showed that maintained schools were funded on average £506 per pupil per year less than academies in general.
4.26 In all phases, maintained schools were funded less than convertor academies. Sponsor-led academies were funded more generously. In all categories, free schools received the greatest funding.
4.27 For primary schools, the difference in funding was up to £3,580 per pupil on average. In secondary it was £2,795 and in special schools it amounted to an average difference of £23,050.
4.28 The NASUWT raised with the DfE a number of questions relating to the income and expenditure in academies data. These related to why the revenue balances for academies had been omitted compared with maintained schools, why, on average, free schools were funded at a higher rate in each phase and the nature of the non-government grant income and donations, which totalled £181 million and £240 million respectively.
4.29 The Union queried why there was no data on the Education Services Grant (ESG) for both individual academies in MATs and MAT Central services.
4.30 The answer received from the DfE did little to clarify these matters, which left the Union remaining concerned that there was no transparency and consistency in school and academy funding.
Consultations
4.31 In February, the NASUWT responded in great detail to the DfE call for evidence on ‘Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) funding: longer-term changes’, launched in November 2014.
4.32 The consultation invited responses to help the DfE to work out ways in which SEND funding could be distributed more fairly.
58 4.33 The DfE commissioned the ISOS Partnership to undertake research into this area.
4.34 The NASUWT responded by stating that it remained concerned about the implications of the proposals to move to a common funding formula for all three blocks within the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) and the potential for funding turbulence and instability in the system. The Union asserted that the turbulence that might result in implementing the policy in a short timescale could cause damage to the education prospects of thousands of children.
4.35 The Union insisted that great care should be taken before moving forward on any proposals stemming from this consultation and that further detailed discussion was required.
4.36 The NASUWT highlighted that the statutory framework for SEND entitlements were being compromised as a result of an increasingly fragmented and atomised school system, and in a context of significantly reduced local capacity to effectively support SEND pupils.
4.37 The decline in the capacity of local authorities to support and advise schools on SEND- related issues had exacerbated inequality of provision for pupils educated in different settings and put additional pressures on schools to address pupils’ SEND without the support structures that had been in place previously, adding to workload and levels of bureaucracy.
4.38 The NASUWT provided substantial analyses of the data provided by the DfE and from elsewhere.
4.39 In June, the DfE issued a consultation to the stakeholders on the SAF group regarding amendments to the Schemes for Financing Schools and the statutory guidance for local authorities.
4.40 The proposals were designed to strengthen the requirement for maintained schools to maintain a register of interests to set out the relevant business interests of governors and details of any other educational establishments that they govern, to introduce a requirement to publish the register and to clarify the borrowing arrangements for schools.
4.41 The NASUWT responded that although the proposed provisions strengthened the governance arrangements, the Union remained of the view that appropriate external checks by an appropriate body, such as the local authority, must also be undertaken.
4.42 In September, the DfE launched a consultation on the School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations 2015. The consultation document made six proposed changes to the:
• ability of local authorities to carry forward any unspent falling-rolls fund or new schools fund; • ability of local authorities to use place-based funding for two year olds; • definition of amalgamated schools; • budgets of closed and amalgamated schools; • expenditure a local authority can incur from their non-schools education budget; and • authorised expenditure in respect of Children and Young People with High Needs.
4.43 In response, the NASUWT asserted that local authorities should be empowered to take the best decisions on behalf of all schools and pupils in their area and that democratic control and accountability should be at the heart of the provisions.
4.44 The NASUWT also took the view that the provision should not be restricted to the definitions of ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ schools. It should be for the local authority to determine whether or not to use the provisions in the Regulations.
59 4.45 The NASUWT expressed concern that the provisions for eligible two year olds had not been robustly developed. The Union advised caution and stated that local authorities should be empowered to use their judgement to fund all places or to only fund SEN and children in need.
4.46 The NASUWT noted that the provisions for amalgamating schools did not go far enough in ensuring that the budgets of merging schools were protected through transitional periods.
4.47 The Union was concerned about the amendment in respect of children and young people with high needs, which could result in the potential for ‘double funding’ of special academies.
4.48 The ISOS research which focused on ten to twelve local authorities was published in July.
4.49 The main findings were that a simple funding formula based on objective, published data can perform at least as well as, and in some aspects better than, the current methodology for allocating high-needs funding in terms of the correlation with underlying levels of need. More detailed modelling work was needed.
4.50 The NASUWT continued to monitor this work and provide further comment through the School and Academy Funding Group (SAFG).
Pupil Premium
4.51 The Coalition Government continued with the Pupil Premium in England to provide additional funding to schools based on FSM eligibility. Schools received:
• £1,300 per pupil of primary-school age; • £935 per pupil of secondary-school age; • £1,900 per pupil for looked-after children who have been looked after for one day or more or are adopted; and • leave care under a Special Guardianship Order or a Residence Order.
4.52 The total Pupil Premium budget increased from £1.875 billion to £2.545 billion. A further top- up of £23 per pupil, from overall Pupil Premium under-allocations, took place in March.
4.53 The Pupil Premium allocations to schools was announced in March and updated in October. This showed that the Total Number of children eligible for the Pupil Premium was 2,080,730 (29.5%) and that the Total Pupil Premium Allocation was £2,416,285,107.
4.54 In February and March, the NASUWT surveyed teachers about the use of Pupil Premium money, the impact on pupils and the impact on teachers and their workload.
4.55 The Survey highlighted key problems and confirmed the other evidence the NASUWT had accumulated: that many schools were creating systems relating to Pupil Premium that are workload intensive but that may not necessarily target funding at the eligible pupils. Teachers’ views were rarely sought on the use of the funding.
4.56 The main findings of the Survey were:
• 56% stated that they did not know how the additional funding for pupils who attract Pupil Premium funding is spent; • 70% stated that the whole-school Pupil Premium strategies that have been adopted in the school had not been discussed and reviewed with the staff who teach the pupils, or the whole cohort of staff in general;
60 • 88% said that they had not received specific training on teaching and learning strategies that would be appropriate or useful for pupils who attract Pupil Premium funding; • 55% stated that they were given specific targets for pupils who attract Pupil Premium funding without being given input or sight of specific strategic support plans for those pupils; and • 56% said that the school devised the strategies to be used with pupils who attract Pupil Premium funding rather than individual teachers.
4.57 The NASUWT continued to raise these findings with Ministers and Officials.
School Efficiency
4.58 The NASUWT continued to be represented on the DfE Efficiency Group and on the technical sub-groups dealing with Benchmarking and Efficiency Indicators, Governance, School Business Managers, and Procurement.
School Funding, Expenditure and Balances
4.59 In September, the DfE published the planned expenditure on schools, education and children’s services by local authorities in England for 2015-16.
4.60 This showed that the local authority planned spend was £52.1 billion for 2015-16, an increase of £1.2 billion from the 2014-15 planned spend. The planned spend per pupil was £4,408, up from £4,361 in 2014-15.
4.61 In December, the DfE released the statistics on the expenditure by local authorities on schools, education and children and young people’s services for 2014-15.
4.62 The data showed that local authority spend on schools, education and children and young people’s services had fallen by £1.0 billion from 2013-14 to £41.7 billion.
4.63 The information also showed that the total expenditure on all local authority maintained schools was £29.6 billion. Eighty-two per cent of the total schools expenditure was made up of the individual schools budget.
4.64 Schools reported a total gross expenditure of £28.1 billion, of which £0.3 billion (1.0%) was spent by local authority maintained nursery schools, £17.9 billion (63.8%) was spent by primary schools, £7.5 billion (26.7%) was spent by secondary schools, £2.0 billion (7.0%) was spent by special schools and £0.4 billion (1.5%) was spent by Pupil Referral Units (PRUs).
4.65 Of the £28.1 billion total gross expenditure, £13.0 billion (46.4%) was spent on permanent and supply teaching staff (excluding agency supply teachers and supply teacher insurance costs); £4.7 billion (16.6%) on education support staff; £3.2 billion (11.2%) on other employee costs; and £7.2 billion (25.7%) on running expenses.
4.66 The data also showed that at national level the average ‘spend per pupil’ figures for local authority maintained schools open through the 2014-15 financial year increased by £155 (from £5,057 in 2013-14). This was an increase of 3.07%.
4.67 To supplement their revenue, schools also raised £1.7 billion of total income, of which £1.0 billion (62.8%) was generated by primary schools and £0.4 billion (24.1%) was generated by secondary schools.
4.68 The total revenue balances for all schools reduced by £64.8 million from 2013-14 to £2.2 billion. However, as the number of maintained schools had reduced from 19,648 to 17,693, the average balance per school increased by 3.59%, from £117,306 to £119,699.
61 4.69 The proportion of schools with a surplus increased from 93.2% in 2013-14 to 93.4% in 2014-15. The proportion of schools in deficit also fell from 1,027 in March 2014 to 924 in March 2015. The percentage of maintained schools in deficit remained the same, as the total number of maintained schools fell due to academisation or closure. Although the average deficit increased slightly over the last year, the average surplus in those schools with a surplus increased.
4.70 The NASUWT noted that maintained school balances continued to increase, rising on average by £2,491 or 2.12%. From April 2009 to March 2015, school balances increased on average by 56.26% from £76,663 to £119,797, as is shown in the graph below.
Average revenue balance 2009-15 (£ per school) £140,000
£120,000
£100,00
£80,000
£60,000
£40,000
£20,000
£0 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15
4.71 The NASUWT raised these statistics with the DfE at the SAFG and in ongoing discussions regarding the financial pressures on schools, as well as publicising the information more widely to members.
4.72 The NASUWT also used this information in its submission to the Review Body’s 26th Report on the issue of the affordability of the pay award.
Post-16
4.73 The Union met during the year with the EFA on post-16 and post-18 funding arrangements and organisation. The NASUWT raised concerns that these meetings have reduced considerably in number during the year.
Capital Funding
4.74 In February, the Government announced £2 billion in rebuilding and major refurbishment projects to address the needs of school buildings in the very worst condition. It confirmed that 277 schools would have the condition need in one or more of their buildings addressed under the second phase of the Priority School Building Programme.
4.75 The Government further announced over £4 billion worth of allocations to schools, local authorities, academy trusts and voluntary-aided partnerships to fund the improvement and maintenance of our schools. The allocations were based on a property data survey on the condition of school buildings.
4.76 The NASUWT raised concerns through the SAFG regarding the lack of consultation on the property data survey and that it did not properly account for the presence of asbestos in schools requiring refurbishment. The presence of asbestos would significantly increase costs of refurbishment and the absence of this from the data would slant the outcomes.
62 4.77 The NASUWT further raised with the DfE the lack of a stakeholder group to discuss in broad terms the issues surrounding capital funding. The NASUWT continued to lobby for the creation of a properly representative group.
4.78 On 12 February, the Government announced details of how £1.6 billion will be invested to create new school places across England. A total of £2.05 billion has already been allocated for 2015 to 2017. The £1.6 billion included £1.3 billion to be provided in 2017 to 2018 to help ensure every local authority has the school places it needs ready for September 2018 and an additional £300 million to be allocated in 2015 to 2017 to help provide school places in areas experiencing significant and unexpected increases in their pupil numbers.
4.79 These announcements were in relation to calls from across education, including from the NASUWT, that there was a crisis in school places. The NASUWT raised concerns that the allocations were still inadequate and the ability of local authorities to properly plan to meet the demand had been seriously jeopardised by the Free Schools programme.
4.80 In the Spending Review in November, the Treasury confirmed the capital funding allocation to the DfE as £4.6 billion for 2015-16 (baseline) and £5.2 billion for 2016-17 (plans) and as £4.6 billion for 2017-18, £4.4 billion for 2018-19, £4.4 billion for 2019-20 and £4.6 billion for 2020-21. The NASUWT noted that these were generally re-announcements of previous allocations.
NORTHERN IRELAND
4.81 The Northern Ireland Executive produced a one-year budget for 2016-17 with a proposed cut of approximately £72 million pounds in the resource budget which equates to a 3.8% reduction.
4.82 This has produced major challenges for schools and the education workforce. This was exacerbated by a delay in the publication of the final education budget which still had not been agreed at the end of February.
4.83 By the end of February, schools still had not received their individual budgets for 2016-17.
4.84 The DENI received an allocation of £70.7 million from the Public Sector Transformation Fund (PSTF) to enable schools and arm’s-length bodies within the education sector, who were managing a challenging financial position, to reduce their cost base. The plan was that this would be done through a voluntary exit scheme and through the ‘Investing in the Teaching Workforce’ scheme which would allow experienced teachers to avail themselves of early access to unreduced pension benefits, while at the same time providing employment opportunities for teachers who had qualified in the last three years.
4.85 The Union continued to campaign for a guaranteed placement for all beginning teachers for at least the first year of teaching and pressed the Minister on this issue following the publication of official figures which showed that only 38% of those who had qualified in the previous year had secured permanent or significant temporary work. This was a significant deterioration from the 2010 figures when 69% had found either permanent or significant periods of temporary work.
4.86 The NASUWT highlighted that the scale of the budget reductions required in 2015-16 meant that they could not be delivered through efficiency savings alone, and that although a Savings Delivery Plan had been developed to address the gap in funding, the NASUWT remained extremely concerned about the likely turbulence, which was compounded by the structural reforms in Northern Ireland.
63 4.87 The NASUWT organised a series of member briefings on the budget and was part of the ICTU delegation to Westminster which highlighted the detrimental impact on all of Northern Ireland’s public services.
4.88 The NASUWT continued to press for a fair funding settlement and an end to the economic austerity policies being imposed on the Northern Ireland Assembly by the Westminster Government.
4.89 In May, the NASUWT commented on reports that a document had been circulating among the Northern Ireland Executive which could lead to further deep cuts to education if welfare reform was not agreed. This followed concerns about job loss that had been circulating in March.
4.90 The Union asserted that teachers were already deeply worried about their jobs and the future of the service and that leaked documents and rumours simply added to this pressure and made an already challenging job even more difficult. The Union pointed out that the continuing financial squeeze being outlined would compromise the high educational standards in Northern Ireland.
4.91 In response to the announcement of further deep cuts to the Education Budget, the NASUWT launched a petition in which hundreds of members voiced their anger over the cuts.
4.92 The Union warned that the budget cuts would:
• make core services undeliverable; • result in 1,000 teacher jobs and 1,500 support-staff jobs being cut, together with jobs in HE and FE; • cause turbulence and uncertainty; • curtail essential school maintenance; and • lead to programmes run by external agencies on safeguarding, behaviour, IT and community relations ending.
4.93 In April, at the NASUWT Northern Ireland Annual Conference, a motion was passed supporting the Union’s continuing opposition to the cuts through escalating, as appropriate, the industrial action.
4.94 The NASUWT continued its public awareness-raising campaign on the impact of the cuts on children and young people and continued to organise around the Union’s action instructions.
SCOTLAND
4.95 In December, the draft budget for 2015-16 was presented by Finance Secretary John Swinney MSP to the Scottish Parliament. This was later than usual due to the wish to wait until the impact of the Westminster Government’s Spending Review was known. The draft budget included:
• continued investment in 600 hours of annual free early learning and childcare for three and four year olds and eligible two year olds, as well as FSM for P1-P3 pupils; • £33 million to be invested to accelerate activity to raise attainment and improve standards for all; • an £88 million funding package to maintain teacher numbers and ensure teaching induction places are secured for all probationers requiring one; • sustained investment in school buildings through local authorities and Scotland’s Schools for the Future programme;
64 • expansion of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) and Modern Apprenticeship programmes; and • protecting investment in Scotland’s colleges and continuing to invest over £1 billion in higher education, while ensuring Scottish-domiciled students continue to benefit from free tuition.
4.96 The NASUWT submitted oral and written evidence to the Scottish Government in November on how the draft budget had affected education in Scotland, in particular, spending in primary and secondary schools. Of grave concern to the Union was the comment within the draft budget that the Scottish Government expected every public body to deliver efficiency savings of at least 3% per annum during the course of the ‘Current Spending Review’.
4.97 The NASUWT made clear in written and oral evidence to the Education and Culture Committee that: • local authorities had been making cuts year on year; • there were no further efficiencies to be made; • any future reduction in spending would be a cut; and • branding a cut as an ‘efficiency saving’ merely supported the Westminster Coalition Government’s austerity measures agenda.
4.98 The negative impact of poverty on attainment was strongly stressed, as was the effect of the reduction in resources and support for additional support needs (ASN) that had resulted from local authority cuts. The NASUWT recommended that EIAs should be used routinely by both the Scottish Government and local authorities to assess the full impact of any budgetary proposals on pupils, families and the school workforce.
4.99 In February, the Local Government Division of the Scottish Government issued the Local Government Finance Circular to the Chief Executives and Directors of Finance of Scottish Local Authorities Chief Executive, Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA). The Circular contained the Local Government Finance (Scotland) Order 2015 - Settlement for 2015-16, the Local Government Capital Allocations 2014-16 and the Non Domestic Rates for 2015-16.
4.100 The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Constitution and Economy wrote to all Council Leaders in February, setting out the terms of a revised offer and commitment with regard to teacher numbers. Specifically, individual local authorities were invited to write to the Deputy First Minister by no later than 20 February to formally agree for 2015-16 to protect the number of teaching posts within their authority in order to secure:
• the maintenance, as a minimum, of the total number of teachers employed by individual local authorities at 2014-15 levels and also the maintenance, as a maximum, of Pupil Teacher Ratio for schools within their authority at the 2014-15 levels, for each individual local authority both as reported in the Pupil and Teacher Census published in December 2014; and • places for all probationers who required one under the teacher induction scheme.
4.101 In return, provided local authorities signed up to the terms of the offer, the £41 million already included in the settlement to support teacher numbers would continue to be available from the start of the new financial year as planned.
4.102 The General Resource Grant fell from £7,173.59 million to £7,103.63 million, a reduction of £69.96 million or just under 1%. The Non-Domestic Rate Income increased from £2,649.50 million to £2,799.50 million, an increase of £150 million or 5.66%. Specific Revenue Grants remained unchanged at £90,932 million. This resulted in the overall settlement increasing by £80.04 million (0.81%) from £9,914.02 million to £9,994.06 million.
65 4.103 Overall, 19 local authorities had an increase in funding for 2015-16, while 13 had reduced funding.
Scottish Attainment Challenge
4.104 In February, the First Minister announced the Attainment Scotland Fund. This funding of £100 million over four years was to be used to drive forward improvements on educational outcomes in Scotland’s most disadvantaged communities. The first tranche of £20 million was allocated to seven local authorities to pilot work to focus on improving literacy, numeracy, health and wellbeing in primary schools in their areas.
Capital Funding
4.105 In February, the Scottish Government’s Education Secretary, Angela Constance, announced more than £20 million of Scottish Government funding for new primary school building projects as part of the first component of phase four of Scotland’s £1.8 billion Schools for the Future programme.
4.106 The Scottish Government had previously announced that the programme would see the construction of at least 91 new or refurbished schools and is expected to take this figure to in excess of 100 schools by March 2020. These schools would be built in every part of Scotland in partnership with local authorities. A total of £1.13 billion would be provided by government and £665 million by local authorities. The programme would be delivered through a funding mix of capital grant and also through the Non-Profit Distributing model.
4.107 In September, the Scottish Government issued guidance to help local authorities improve their school estate by refurbishing existing buildings. It was published by Architecture and Design Scotland and highlighted the benefits of school refurbishments and how local authorities could achieve high-quality results and innovative designs in the most cost- effective way.
WALES
4.108 The NASUWT continued to campaign on school funding throughout the year and used the Union Partnership meetings and the Workforce Council Education Group meetings to question whether the pledge from the Welsh Government to increase school budgets by 1% above the rate of change of the overall Wales block grant was as transparent and secure as it has been in previous years, given mounting concern that money was being diverted towards grants and initiatives, rather than going directly into school budgets.
4.109 The Union’s concerns were heightened with the publication of the Local authority budgeted expenditure on schools: 2015-16 in June. This showed that gross schools expenditure was budgeted to be £2,496 million, which was, on a comparable basis, a decrease of 1.0% over the previous year. Gross schools expenditure per pupil was budgeted to be £5,526, a year on-year decrease of 1.1%.
4.110 The funding delegated to schools was budgeted to be £2,090 million. The amount of funding delegated by local authorities directly to schools ranged between 78% and 87% of overall gross schools budgeted expenditure. On average, 84% of the total gross schools budgeted expenditure was delegated directly to schools, an increase of 0.9 of a percentage point compared to the previous year.
4.111 The Welsh Government changed the way in which specific grants were funded by condensing a total of 11 grants into an Education Improvement Grant (EIG).
66 4.112 The new EIG covers the grant for the 14-19 Learning Pathways; the Foundation Phase Revenue Grant; the School Effectiveness Grant; the Welsh in Education Grant; the Minority Ethnic Achievement Grant; the Grant for the Education of Gypsy Children and Traveller Children; the funding for Induction; the funding for Lead and Emerging Practitioner Schools (Tranche 1, 2 and Special Schools); the funding for the Higher Level Teaching Assistants; the funding for Reading and Numeracy Test Support; and the funding for schools in Bands 4 and 5.
4.113 The Welsh Government continued to support disadvantaged pupils through the Pupil Deprivation Grant (PDG) with an extra £44 million being provided. Schools received £1,050 for each child eligible for FSM aged 5 to 15, regional consortia received £1,050 for each looked-after child in their area, and maintained and non-maintained Foundation Phase settings received £300 for each eligible child aged 3 to 4. A further £7.2 million had been allocated to the PDG for 2016-17 with the per pupil allocation for 5 to 15 year olds rising to £1,050.
4.114 The Welsh Government allocated a further £15 million for 2016-17 to extend the School Challenge Cymru (SCC) programme into a third year. The Union remained unconvinced by the spin put on the success of the programme, as just 26 out of the 40 secondary schools involved realised improvements in their GCSE results and NASUWT members were involved in industrial action in two of the SCC schools because of adverse management practices.
School Balances
4.115 The overall level of reserves held by schools in Wales was £64 million at 31 March, the equivalent of £141 per pupil. This was an increase of 6.6% compared with the previous year. Reserves in primary schools accounted for £48 million or 76% of the total.
4.116 The level of reserves as a percentage of delegated schools expenditure was 2.9%, an increase of 0.1 percentage points over the previous year.
4.117 At 31 March, 138 primary, 57 secondary, 7 special, 3 nursery and 1 middle school in Wales had negative reserves totalling £14 million. The remaining 1,437 schools had positive reserves, 188 of which had reserves in excess of 10% of their total delegated expenditure.
4.118 The NASUWT used the £4 million increase in the level of school reserves to highlight the unfairness of the school funding system, given that the reserves had been amassed against an increase in the delegated per pupil school expenditure of £54 in 2014-15, a 1.1 percentage increase on the previous year, and the loss of around 639 teaching practitioner posts through redundancy, comprising 282 teachers and 357 support staff, in schools in 2014-15.
4.119 The Union used the school census data to demonstrate that since 2010, 998 teaching posts have been lost, despite pupil numbers dropping by just 1,473, and to warn the Welsh Government that the school sector could not take a further round of redundancies in 2016.
4.120 Action taken by members to challenge compulsory redundancy is recorded elsewhere in the Annual Report.
Capital Funding
4.121 As in previous years, despite the cuts on capital expenditure imposed by the Westminster Coalition Government, the Welsh Government maintained its investment in the 21st Century School programme.
67 4.122 In October, the Welsh Government confirmed its intention to deliver £500 million investment in the next phase of the programme using a Non-Profit Distributing (NPD) model due to start in 2019.
4.123 An additional £21 million for capital investment in schools and colleges for 2016-17 was announced in December.
FACILITY TIME
ENGLAND
5.1 The NASUWT continued to monitor the situation regarding de-delegation for the funding of facility time for trade union representatives to undertake trade union duties and mounted campaigns to defend facility time.
5.2 In February, the DfE released a data spreadsheet, S251, on the information submitted to them by local authorities on budget costs, including facility time funding. The NASUWT maintained a national database through regular communication with NASUWT Regional Centres and NASUWT lay activists.
5.3 The NASUWT continued to work in the TUC Group on facility time, gathering data on facility time. While the vast majority of local authorities continued to de-delegate, the NASUWT identified 20 local authorities who did not allow academies to pay in to local authority facility time pots. The NASUWT commenced negotiations with those employers to provide access for academies to buy in.
5.4 The ‘de-delegation toolkit’, for use with employers in supporting the case for de-delegation and reviewing trade union facility time agreements, was updated and made available on the Union’s website.
5.5 The NASUWT faced, and continued to face, a mounting challenge of strident attacks by Government on trade unions including facility time. The Trade Union Bill was introduced in the House of Commons in July and the NASUWT worked tirelessly alone and within the TUC to challenge the Bill provisions, including those on facility time.
5.6 In September, the NASUWT provided consultation responses to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BiS), including a detailed response on facility time.
5.7 In October, the NASUWT submitted written and oral evidence to the Public Bill Committee during the Committee Stage of the Trade Union Bill.
5.8 The NASUWT established negotiating frameworks with an increasing number of MATs during the year, which not only signed up to trade union recognition agreements (TURAs) with the NASUWT but also agreed trade union facilities time agreements (TUFAs). The current position was posted on the NASUWT academies website. The majority of those MATs who agreed TUFAs signed up to pay in to local authority facility time pots. Two MATs provided their own trade union facility time, enhancing facility time provision for the NASUWT in those areas.
5.9 The NASUWT used the TUC model agreement for academies, issued by the TUC in July, in negotiating and reviewing TUFAs with MATs.
5.10 In October, the NASUWT liaised with the LGA, supporting the reissuing of a letter from the LGA to all local authorities in support of trade union facility time and the administration of facility pots by local authorities. The advice confirmed that local authority facility time pots should be accessible by all employers.
68 5.11 The NASUWT lobbied the National Governors Association (NGA) to repeat the message sent to governing bodies previously to support facility time arrangements with local authorities.
5.12 The NASUWT developed a model TUFA and model TUFA checklist, which were available on the NASUWT website. The model and checklist are to support NASUWT local officers in negotiations on TUFAs.
5.13 The NASUWT worked with the Schools Co-operative Society (SCS) in providing all schools with a positive letter on facility time arrangements. The SCS circulated a letter to all SCS school principals and headteachers, advising them to ensure they continued paying in to local authority pooled arrangements for facility time. The SCS put the advice on its website.
WALES
5.14 The NASUWT continued working to support its lay activists in negotiating the best facility time agreements in support of members’ best interests.
NORTHERN IRELAND
5.15 Employing authorities in Northern Ireland continued to recognise that accredited NASUWT trade union representatives should be given adequate facility time with pay to enable them effectively to participate in trade union duties.
5.16 Accredited trade union representatives in Northern Ireland continued to be released under the existing facility time agreement for all trade union duties including:
• all matters arising out of the use of agreed grievance, disputes and disciplinary procedures; • attendance as trade union delegates at union conferences; • representation of NASUWT members in all matters relating to pay and conditions of service; • the training of teacher trade union representatives and attendance at trade union training courses; and • representation at all meetings with the DENI and the Education Authority and at all meetings convened as part of the recognised negotiating machinery.
5.17 The NASUWT in Northern Ireland increased during the year the number of NASUWT local officers with formal facility time in 2015.
SCOTLAND
5.18 The NASUWT continued to promote the NASUWT model TUFA.
5.19 In addition, the NASUWT provided separate guidance for NASUWT elected officers, local authorities and councillors as part of the Scotland Fair Facilities campaign.
5.20 The Union continued to campaign for a fair share of facility time from local authorities.
JERSEY
5.21 In recognition of the contribution made by the NASUWT in the ongoing workforce modernisation programme, facility time for the Jersey Negotiating Secretary was increased.
69 GUERNSEY
5.22 Facility time in Guernsey is nominal. However, this is flexible and additional time is available on an ad-hoc basis. The situation has remained similar for a number of years and is not expected to change.
ISLE OF MAN
5.23 Facility time on the Isle of Man is nominal. However, this is flexible and additional time is available on an ad-hoc basis. The situation has remained similar for a number of years and is not expected to change.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
6.1 The NASUWT undertook a comprehensive programme of work on health, safety and welfare issues affecting teachers and school leaders in the workplace.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
6.2 Following the previous year’s triennial review, the NASUWT continued to press the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and raise concerns about its operations. In particular, the NASUWT continued to oppose the further commercialisation of the HSE.
6.3 In November, a meeting between the HSE, the NASUWT and other unions took place. This was intended to be a regular meeting between the NASUWT and other unions and the HSE to discuss current issues.
Trade Union Bill
6.4 The NASUWT, working with the TUC, campaigned to have the Health and Safety at Work Act exempted from the Trade Union Bill, as the Bill included a direct attack on the ability of Health and Safety Representatives to carry out their roles effectively, primarily by conflating time off allowed under the Act with facility time.
Organising for Health and Safety
6.5 In June, the Union hosted another successful annual national seminar day for NASUWT Health and Safety Representatives.
6.6 The Union continued to promote and publicise Workers’ Memorial Day through press statements, posters, adverts, website statements and selling ribbons at the Union’s Annual Conference. The NASUWT highlighted the poignancy of Workers’ Memorial Day being held on the first anniversary of the death of Ann Maguire, an NASUWT member who had been murdered at work.
6.7 The NASUWT reviewed and updated its advice and guidance on health, safety and welfare issues, including the revision of the Health and Safety Representatives Handbook.
Health and Safety Networks
6.8 The NASUWT continued its sponsorship agreement in support of the UK National Hazards magazine, providing discounted prices for NASUWT members and Local Associations.
6.9 The NASUWT also continued its regular attendance at the UK National Hazards Committee meetings and collaborative working with the Hazards Campaign.
70 6.10 The Union continued working with and supporting the TUC Union Health and Safety Specialists meetings, which dealt with:
• the JUAC and asbestos; • the Review of Approved Codes of Practice (ACOP); • Deregulation Bill; • Local Government National Code; • EU occupational safety and health policy framework; • 2015 Workers’ Memorial Day; • the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP); • Asbestos Awareness Campaign; • Fee for Intervention (FFI); • Health and Work Service (fit for work); • Social Action Responsibility and Heroism Bill (SARAH); • the Review of the Balance of Competences; and • standardisation.
6.11 Information for members was updated regularly throughout the year, informing members and Representatives about TUC Health and Safety-related campaigns and individual health and safety matters.
Asbestos
6.12 The NASUWT continued to campaign throughout the year for the complete removal of asbestos from schools across the UK.
6.13 The NASUWT continued to work within the JUAC and the Asbestos in Schools (AiS) group.
6.14 The DfE continued specifically to exclude asbestos from its survey of the school estate, a position strongly opposed by the NASUWT. Evidence from targeted HSE inspections of non- main linked schools showed a significant number failing to comply with basic asbestos regulations.
6.15 In February, the long-awaited DfE review into asbestos policy was released. Although this did contain some useful elements, overall it continued to put forward the policy of management over removal and thus failed to address the underlying problems inherent where asbestos is present.
6.16 In Wales the NASUWT, through JUAC/AiS, continued to pursue a complaint against the HSE over its handling of the situation at Cwmcarn School in Caerphilly. The HSE Report stated that the school did not need to be closed during asbestos-removal works. This was directly contrary to the findings of Caerphilly County Borough Council and two independent asbestos consultants.
6.17 Formal complaints made to the Chief Scientific Officer and Minister responsible for the HSE had proved fruitless and the matter was referred to the Parliamentary Ombudsman for adjudication. At the end of the year, the outcome to this was awaited.
6.18 In Jersey, the NASUWT met with Ministers and Senior Civil Servants from the States of Jersey to discuss asbestos in Jersey Schools. Assurances were received regarding the removal of asbestos and greater openness regarding asbestos in situ was promised.
Health, Wellbeing and Work-related Stress
6.19 In April, the NASUWT resolutions adopted by Annual Conference, on ‘High Stakes Accountability and Work-Related Stress’, ‘Workload and Limiting Working Hours’, and
71 ‘Reasonable Adjustments for Teachers with Mental Health Issues’, highlighted the dangers of the Government’s approach to health and safety and the impact on teachers and children and young people, and formed a key part of the Union’s campaign in defence of health and safety rights.
6.20 The NASUWT continued to promote the Union’s UK-wide online diagnostic wellbeing tool, using the information from this and the NASUWT’s Annual Big Question Survey to highlight the key concerns of teachers in relation to the Coalition Government’s Health and Safety Strategy and its impact on teachers and children and young people. This included using the data collected in discussions with Ministers, the TUC and key policy-makers on all of the issues concerned.
6.21 The Union took every opportunity to publicise the adverse impact of the Government reforms on the health, safety and wellbeing of teachers, and work began on producing a wellbeing policy to provide advice and support for teachers and school leaders.
6.22 The Health and Safety Seminar Day in June focused on wellbeing and a ‘mental health first aid’ course was instigated. Mental health and wellbeing also became part of the Union Learning Representative (ULR) stage one course.
6.23 At the TUC Disabled Workers Conference, the NASUWT proposed a motion on ‘Mental Health and Reasonable Adjustments’, which was carried. This called upon the TUC to work with affiliates to research the extent of discrimination against those with mental health conditions, prioritise campaigning and bargaining policies that defend disabled workers’ rights and campaign to raise awareness and remove the stigma associated with mental health conditions.
6.24 By the end of the year, work had begun to develop wellbeing guidance for activists, and piloting as part of this workshop for caseworkers’ wellbeing, in partnership with the Education Support Partnership.
6.25 The NASUWT’s Annual Big Question Survey found that increasing numbers of teachers experienced workplace stress, rising from 77% in 2012 to 81% in 2014. The Union continued to raise the issue of stress, particularly in relation to workload, in all of its meetings with Ministers and officials and in response to consultations.
6.26 During the year, hundreds of members completed the NASUWT online Wellbeing at Work self-diagnostic survey. Evidence from the survey demonstrated that 76% of respondents had, in the six months prior to their response, suffered from work-related stress, and 72% of respondents had considered leaving the profession as a result of work-related stress.
6.27 Union caseworkers continue to use to good effect the additional facility on the online survey for supporting collective casework, as an effective means of providing evidence of workplace stress to employers in schools where there are collective casework issues.
6.28 The NASUWT developed further materials and support on this issue, including on mental health and wellbeing in training courses and training for caseworkers on recognising mental health issues.
6.29 A Government ‘fit for work’ Scheme was rolled out across the UK during the year, intended to promote the early return to work for employees who were on sickness absence.
6.30 The Union provided comprehensive advice and guidance on the Scheme, highlighting the potential for abuse of the provisions, given that it was being introduced at a time when sickness absence policies were increasingly punitive.
72 6.31 The Big Question Survey highlighted for the first time the impact of the job upon the mental and physical health of teachers, with a tool being developed to allow for this to be measured over time. The results were disseminated, including in discussions with Ministers, to call for appropriate adjustments to be made for teachers with mental health issues.
6.32 The NASUWT highlighted the findings of its Big Question Survey on National Stress Awareness Day, calling on the Government to address these issues urgently.
6.33 The Union began work on signposting guidance to support the wellbeing of lay activists.
6.34 The Union’s annual Abuse of Technology Survey highlighted key concerns over the use of e-mail and social media that were direct contributors to stress.
6.35 The NASUWT published the first Inspect the Inspector Report, highlighting the findings to Ofsted, Estyn, Education Scotland and the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) as appropriate, as well as sharing the findings with Ministers and other policy-makers.
6.36 Inspections advice and guidance was published by the NASUWT for all UK administrations, and the Union continued to press for publication across the UK of inspection advice and guidance comparable to the Clarification for Schools document produced by Ofsted.
6.37 The NASUWT agreed a joint protocol with ASCL and IRIS Connect, in June, on the use of the IRIS e-performance systems in schools. This was developed to help ensure that these systems were used in a constructive and developmental way and did not add to teachers’ stress and workload.
6.38 The NASUWT published its model Wellbeing Policy in March, as part of a suite of model policies to support teachers and school leaders.
6.39 The issues of welfare, wellbeing and work-related stress were highlighted at the Union’s annual Health, Safety and Welfare Seminar Day in July.
Workload and Limiting Working Hours
6.40 The NASUWT continued to promote and provide support for the Union’s action short of strike action as the only method of ensuring downward pressure upon working hours. This is reported elsewhere in this Annual Report in detail.
Fit-for-purpose School Buildings
6.41 The NASUWT’s annual Big Question Survey demonstrated the ongoing concerns of teachers across the UK about the fitness for purpose of school buildings for teaching.
6.42 In response to the Annual Conference Resolution, the Union continued to press for routine HSE inspection of school buildings through consultation responses, in meetings with the HSE and through the TUC Health and Safety Specialists group.
Incidents, Accidents and Assaults
6.43 The Union’s model policy and procedure for the reporting, recording and investigation of adverse events in schools throughout the UK, together with the accompanying commentary guidance documents, continued to be a popular and supportive resource.
6.44 In July, the Union issued new advice to members and schools across the UK on mould in schools. Casework had highlighted a number of concerns arising about the visible growth
73 of fungi in school buildings. The Union provided comprehensive advice on how this should be tackled.
JERSEY
6.45 The NASUWT was the only trade union invited to sit on the States of Jersey Health and Safety Committee, which was reviewing and standardising all aspects of health and safety across States Departments.
GUERNSEY
6.46 Following the publication of a report critical of the Guernsey Education Department’s handling of health and safety, the NASUWT offered to work with the Department to improve this. At the close of the year, the Department had yet to respond.
NATIONAL TRADE DISPUTES
ENGLAND AND WALES
7.1 Members were supported by dedicated sections of the Union’s website, which were populated with a range of action-related materials and a bank of regularly updated frequently asked questions and answers for each nation/administration.
7.2 Over the course of the year, the NASUWT updated a number of key documents related to the trade dispute.
7.3 In May, the NASUWT released Phase 4 of the national action short of strike action instructions. The NASUWT national action short of strike action instructions replaced previous joint NASUWT/NUT action instructions, as the NUT was no longer committed to the joint declaration, and included a new action instruction on marking and assessment.
7.4 In July, the Union updated the NASUWT’s model school pay policies and the model pay policy checklists for England and Wales, removing previous joint NASUWT/NUT materials. The Performance Management/Appraisal Checklist and the Classroom Observation protocol for England was also updated.
7.5 In order to continue with the central aim of the campaign of building a wider coalition of support and to explain the purpose of the action, particularly the aim for it to be pupil, parent and public-friendly, the Union continued to brief parent groups and lobby politicians and employers, and produced new materials to support this activity. Booklets were produced on pay and workload and circulated widely, including at Party Conferences.
7.6 The action continued to be embedded with an ever-growing number of examples of members using the action to defend their terms and conditions, tackle excessive workload and empower them professionally. More NASUWT Workplace Representatives and contacts were recruited, as the action encouraged more and more members to take an active role in the Union.
7.7 The General Secretary wrote to the Secretary of State for Education, Nicky Morgan, in February to seek, once more, constructive bilateral discussions on matters to resolve the NASUWT trade dispute.
7.8 The letter outlined previous correspondence on the Workload Challenge that did not receive a response and that none of the ideas put forward in that correspondence were adopted or reflected in the Government’s ‘Response to the Workload Challenge’ in February.
74 7.9 The letter also expressed regret that there had not been further Programme of Talks meetings that had been carried out in the previous year.
7.10 In addition, the letter asked the Secretary of State to respond to outstanding issues raised in a meeting in January, including a response to a letter that had been sent to the previous Secretary of State, Michael Gove.
7.11 The letter concluded by reminding the Secretary of State of the issues that teachers are facing and the direct impact that the Government’s policies were having upon them.
7.12 A reply from the Secretary of State in March did not conclude matters in a satisfactory manner and instead sought to blame the NASUWT for the continuance of the trade dispute.
7.13 The General Secretary replied in March to the Secretary of State setting the record straight on the commitment of the NASUWT to engage constructively and confirming that failure to make progress had been due to her actions and the actions of her predecessor. As the letter was received on the eve of purdah, no reply was received.
7.14 Following the election of the Conservative Government, the General Secretary wrote to the Secretary of State in May, congratulating her on her re-election and outlining the key concerns around the trade dispute, highlighting the fact that the Government had not done anything serious to attempt to resolve it.
7.15 The letter re-emphasised each aspect of the trade dispute, pointing out the further fact that the situation had deteriorated on all matters concerning pay, pensions, workload and job loss since the original ballot for industrial action in 2011.
7.16 The letter highlighted the impact that these matters were having on teacher morale and the fact that they were key contributors to recruitment and retention issues.
7.17 The letter sought an early meeting with the Secretary of State to engage fully with these matters.
7.18 The NASUWT had a meeting with the Secretary of State in June, in which she agreed that her officials would meet with the NASUWT to review the Union’s dispute issues.
7.19 Following a meeting with officials in November, a series of meetings were agreed to begin this process of discussion to commence in January 2016.
7.20 The General Secretary wrote to the Minister for Education in Northern Ireland, John O’Dowd, in January, listing exchanges of correspondence, but expressing regret and concern, on behalf of members, at the Minister’s unwillingness to meet the NASUWT and objecting to the Minister’s misleading claims about the Union’s industrial action.
7.21 The letter asked for a meeting at the earliest opportunity in order to seek a resolution to the dispute.
7.22 The Minister responded in February, acknowledging that the NASUWT was in dispute but stating that the route to resolution was not through bilateral meetings but through all meetings of all teaching unions.
7.23 However, a meeting did take place in July at which undertakings were given for bilateral conversations with Officials. This marked a step change in the seriousness in which the Minister and the Department viewed the dispute.
75 7.24 Engagement continued on trade dispute matters in Scotland, including regular meetings with the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, Angela Constance.
7.25 Meetings with DfES Officials in Wales continued throughout the year to track the progress on the dispute. Meetings were also held with the Minister to seek to press upon him the importance of resolving the dispute. The issue of workload was a key focus of the discussions.
7.26 At the NASUWT Annual Conference in April, a resolution was passed which congratulated members who had been standing up for standards, in the face of relentless attacks upon their pay, pensions and conditions of service across the UK.
7.27 Conference endorsed the continuing action by the National Executive in seeking to secure a resolution of the trade disputes across the UK, including using escalation of industrial action where appropriate at local, regional and national level. This included where members were denied the annual cost of living award and in relation to marking and assessment policies that would give rise to excessive workload. Examples of the action taken by members is recorded elsewhere in this Annual Report.
Programme of Talks – Implementation and Dispute Talks
7.28 The DfE Programme of Talks, which had been brought about by the NASUWT national action, continued in 2015.
7.29 The Implementation Talks focused on seven key strands of policy: workload; accountability; pay and pensions; SEND; teacher supply; curriculum, qualifications and assessment; and CPD.
7.30 The Union continued to assert that the talks on the implementation of policy could not address the issues at the heart of its trade dispute with the Secretary of State which required a change of policy direction.
7.31 The NASUWT worked within implementation talks to achieve as much benefit as possible for members.
7.32 The Union’s participation in the talks was instrumental in securing the publication of DfE advice for maintained schools, local authorities, academies and free schools on the use of evidence in performance management and pay progression decisions, equalities and pay appeals, together with detailing good HR practice in schools and local authorities.
7.33 The NASUWT secured a review of Teachers Working Longer, which aimed to secure changes to working practices in schools to reduce teacher workload and stress, together with improving flexible working provision for teachers, thereby enabling teachers of all ages to remain in the profession. The NASUWT continued to ensure that there was a particular emphasis on equality for teachers with protected characteristics in the DfE Review and all strands of work.
7.34 The NASUWT secured the publication by Ofsted of Ofsted inspections: clarification for schools, which dispelled myths that were resulting in unnecessary workload in schools.
7.35 The Union made practical proposals to the DfE on the way in which workload-related concerns arising from reforms to the SEN system and qualifications, curriculum and assessment frameworks could be addressed and contributed to a SEND ‘Myths and Facts’ guidance note.
76 WALES
7.36 Despite the promise of resolution of the trade dispute with the Welsh Government following the progress made over the issue of appraisal and lesson observations, and in other areas of the dispute, as predicted, the raft of changes being introduced continued to exacerbate members’ concerns over workload. Job loss also remained a significant barrier to resolution as redundancies spread across the country.
7.37 The NASUWT, however, continued to meet with the Minister, DfES officials and WLGA throughout the year. The NASUWT pressed the Minister and officials on all aspects of the dispute.
NORTHERN IRELAND
7.38 The NASUWT continued to pursue its trade dispute with the Minister for Education John O’Dowd.
7.39 The NASUWT met with the Minister and Department Officials during the year to discuss matters relating to our trade dispute and other issues of concern to our members. The Minister finally appeared to be taking the issues of concern seriously.
7.40 Members continued with action short of strike action and only the NASUWT’s action protected teachers from even greater burdens and adverse changes to pay, pensions and working conditions. The NASUWT carried out school visits to seek to embed the action.
7.41 As a result of NASUWT members’ determination in pursuing the action, the Minister sat down with the NASUWT and other unions to resolve the issues the Union had raised around assessment. As a result of several important concessions made by the Minister, including a commitment that there would be no external moderation during 2015-16, the NASUWT was in a position to suspend the action instruction on assessment. Members were provided with a detailed briefing on the progress their action had secured, on what assessment in their schools should involve and the Union’s commitment to reinstate and escalate action should their schools not respond appropriately.
7.42 The NASUWT developed an extensive programme of briefings and school visits in order to ensure that members continued to be updated on all the issues relevant to action.
SCOTLAND
7.43 The NASUWT embarked on an extensive programme of work to embed and spread the action short of strike action instructions. As a result, the action short of strike action continued to gather momentum, with additional ballots in schools taking place throughout the year.
7.44 The NASUWT met with the Cabinet Secretary and the Labour Leader during the year to discuss in detail all aspects of the dispute and to outline clearly the Union’s concerns.
7.45 Regular information was distributed to members.
77 EDUCATION
ENGLAND
Early Years
8.1 The NASUWT continued to emphasise the importance of Sure Start Children’s Centres (SSCCs). The Union highlighted the essential role played by SSCCs in securing effective and integrated provision of services for young children, including education, child care, health and social care, as well as services for adult family members.
8.2 The NASUWT stressed that the work of SSCCs was being placed at significant risk by the reduction in support for the sector by the Government. The Union highlighted the cuts in budgets for SSCCs that had resulted from Government policy and noted with concern that over 600 SSCCs had closed since May 2010.
8.3 The NASUWT monitored the impact of the inadequate guidance given to SSCCs by the Government on the co-location of services. The Union continued to point to the increased variability of provision across the SSCCs sector as a result of the removal by the Government of coherent statutory advice and guidance.
8.4 The NASUWT continued to monitor progress in the implementation of an Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) for all disadvantaged three and four year olds introduced in April. In particular, the NASUWT continued to emphasise the lack of any meaningful requirement on providers to use EYPP resources for their intended purposes. The Union continued to advocate an approach in which providers could be held to better account for their use of deprivation-related funding and local authorities would be given the power and resources to act as auditors of settings’ use of resources intended to support vulnerable and disadvantaged children.
8.5 In July, Ofsted produced a report on Early Years. The NASUWT commented that the report contained some sensible observations on the early years sector, which had echoed many longstanding concerns of the NASUWT. The Union pointed out that Ofsted was right to identify that a highly qualified workforce is critical to securing the best possible provision in the early years sector and that the provision was most likely to be found in maintained settings such as schools and Children’s Centres.
8.6 In July, the DfE launched a review into the cost of providing childcare. This followed a commitment given by the Conservative Party prior to the General Election to give working parents of three and four year olds 30 hours of free childcare a week. In its response, the NASUWT made clear that while it supported efforts to expand access to high-quality childcare, it was clear that insufficient thought had been given by the DfE to the way in which such commitments could be funded. In addition, the Union highlighted concerns that excluding some children from extended early years provision, particularly those from disadvantaged households, could exacerbate rather than contribute to work to address the barriers to achievement and progress such children experience.
Baseline Assessments
8.7 The DfE announced the introduction of baseline assessments for pupils in reception classes. The Union noted that, given that the assessment data produced by these assessments was intended to form the basis of progress measures for primary schools and notwithstanding the fact that such assessments were introduced on an optional basis, many schools had started to use them.
78 8.8 Since the assessments were produced by commercial providers, the Union drew attention to the fact that the design of these assessments had not taken account of their potential to increase teacher workload.
Key Stages 1 and 2
8.9 The NASUWT maintained its monitoring of the implications of changes to statutory assessment arrangements for extended writing at the end of Key Stage 2, particularly the use of externally moderated teacher assessment. While the arrangements did not appear to have added to overall teacher workload, the Union continued to seek feedback from teachers and school leaders in the primary sector to ensure that official guidance on the conduct of these assessments was being followed.
8.10 The NASUWT maintained its opposition to the Year 1 phonics check. The Union emphasised that the imposition of restrictions by the DfE on the scope available to teachers to identify effective approaches to the teaching of early reading reflected the Government’s continuing de-professionalisation agenda. The NASUWT continued to campaign alongside other organisations, particularly the UK Literacy Association (UKLA), to draw attention to evidence about the most effective approaches to the teaching of reading.
8.11 The NASUWT continued to highlight the implications for the primary sector of revised curriculum and assessment arrangements. The Union stressed that teachers and school leaders had been required to familiarise themselves with substantial changes to the content and design of the National Curriculum and had to produce revised schemes of work, planning documents and assessment systems to take account of these changes.
8.12 The NASUWT drew attention to the pressures schools had encountered in reviewing learning resources and materials for their compatibility with the revised National Curriculum and was clear that these pressures had resulted from ineffective implementation planning by the Government.
8.13 The NASUWT highlighted concerns that schools remained uncertain about the pace of transition they were expected to demonstrate towards full implementation of the new curriculum. As a result, feedback from teachers suggested that some schools had adopted particularly constrained transition timescales in an attempt to anticipate the perceived requirements of Ofsted inspectors.
8.14 The removal of level descriptions from the National Curriculum (commonly described as assessment without levels) had profound workload implications for teachers in the primary sector. It was clear that many schools adopted approaches to adapt their internal assessment arrangements that were unacceptably burdensome and unmanageable. These arrangements included the imposition of assessment systems that involved unnecessary requirements in respect of the collation of pupils’ work, moderation of assessments and recording of pupils’ progress and achievement.
8.15 Specifically, the Union expressed concern that some schools had sought to transition to internal assessment systems that addressed the end of National Curriculum levels at a pace that did not allow these systems to be developed and implemented effectively. This approach had not only created significant workload pressures of staff in schools but also risked embedding ineffective practices that would fail to allow assessment information to be used effectively to support the progress and achievement of pupils.
11-19 Education and Training
8.16 The NASUWT continued to emphasise the important role played by apprenticeships and other work-based forms of education and training in the provision of broadly based and
79 flexible learning offers in the 16-plus sector. However, the Union maintained its view that the provision of effective apprenticeships and traineeships had been undermined by the approach adopted by the DfE and BIS in this area.
8.17 In January, the Public Accounts Committee published a report on 16 to 18 year old participation in education and training. The report highlighted key issues in accessing education and training that had been foretold by the NASUWT as a consequence of the Coalition Government’s policies.
8.18 The Union continued to emphasise the poor quality of some apprenticeships and the lack of focus in national policy on ensuring that all apprenticeships were able to benefit from a high-quality learning experience centred on the development of relevant skills, knowledge and understanding.
8.19 The Union remained clear that the information and advice and guidance available to schools in relation to apprenticeship opportunities was inadequate and that insufficient stress was placed in the sector on avoiding the perception that such options were learning programmes of last resort.
8.20 The NASUWT continued to express concern about the proposed linking of funding allocations for traineeship providers to crude learner destination-related performance indicators. The Union stressed that such indicators were often influenced by factors beyond the direct control of providers and were therefore an inappropriate basis upon which to determine funding allocations.
8.21 The NASUWT continued to emphasise the need for effective minimum standards for apprenticeship and traineeship programmes and made clear its view that steps would need to be implemented to ensure that the barriers faced by disadvantaged and vulnerable young people in accessing their 16-plus entitlements were addressed. The Union also continued to highlight the inadequacy of the bursary programmes that had been introduced as a replacement to the EMA withdrawn by the Coalition Government in 2011.
8.22 In September, the NASUWT commented upon a report by Ofsted on Key Stage 3 provision. The report highlighted the tendency of schools to skew resources to high-stakes tests. The NASUWT noted that some caution should be taken with reports by Ofsted, given their evidence base, but that the concerns should be noted in addition to those of transition, given that the partnership frameworks had been broken down.
Curriculum, Qualifications and Assessment
8.23 The Union continued to monitor the implications of the Government’s qualification reform agenda, particularly the significant changes implemented to the structure and content of GCSEs, AS and A levels, as well as other 16-plus qualifications.
8.24 The NASUWT emphasised the substantial additional burdens faced by secondary schools and colleges in implementing revised qualification specifications. These requirements created extensive workload issues for teachers and school leaders as a result of the need to gain familiarity with the revised requirements, make amendments to existing schemes of work, review and refresh learning resources and explain the implications of reforms to pupils and parents. The Union continued to emphasise that these issues had arisen as a result of the short reform implementation timescale imposed by the DfE.
8.25 The NASUWT expressed concern that a significant proportion of GCSE and A-level qualifications scheduled for first teaching in 2015 were approved with insufficient time for schools to manage their implementation reasonably. The Union highlighted the fact that late
80 approval of specifications created significant additional workload pressures on schools, given the limited time available to them to undertake necessary preparations.
8.26 In respect of support to schools for the implementation of the revised qualifications, while the Union recognised that it was the case that awarding bodies had sought to support their clients’ schools in understanding and preparing for the changes, national and local frameworks to support these schools were less readily available than had been the case during previous periods of qualification reform. The NASUWT was clear that these circumstances had added to the workload demands faced by teachers and school leaders.
8.27 The NASUWT continued to highlight the potential for the curriculum offer at Key Stage 4 to be narrowed as a result of changes to the examination system and to the framework of school accountability, particularly as a result of the ongoing impact of the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) and its incorporation into the proposed Progress 8 performance measure. The Union drew attention to independent research that confirmed a significant narrowing of the curriculum across Key Stages 3 and 4 as a result of the marginalisation of subjects excluded from the EBacc measure. The loss of specialist teaching posts across a range of non-EBacc subjects and sharp declines in the numbers of teachers trained to teach such subjects were issues of particular concern highlighted by the NASUWT.
8.28 The NASUWT maintained its view that the unilateral implementation by the Government of reforms to Key Stage 4 qualifications in England was weakening the coherence of the qualifications frameworks in place across the UK. The Union continued to insist that while the GCSE remained the principal 16-plus qualification in Wales and Northern Ireland, there remained a critical need to ensure that reforms in England did not hinder the transferability of qualifications across all three jurisdictions.
8.29 The NASUWT emphasised that, as the statutory regulator of the qualifications framework, Ofqual had a responsibility to consider evidence of the impact of the DfE’s reforms to GCSEs and A-levels objectively and provide impartial and evidence-based advice to Ministers. However, the NASUWT stressed that Ofqual had not met these expectations and had failed to challenge the DfE’s qualification policy effectively.
8.30 The NASUWT drew particular attention to reforms to GCSEs in modern foreign languages (MFL) and computer science and in relation to practical work in other science subjects. In respect of MFL and science work, the Union stressed that the removal of practical and oral elements of assessment from the overall grades awarded to candidates would undermine the status of these dimensions of learning and were based on a mistrust of the assessment expertise of teachers.
8.31 While the Union recognised the value of computer science as a component of a broad and balanced curriculum and qualifications offer, the Union drew attention to the implications of the removal of GCSE qualifications in information and communications technology (ICT). The NASUWT drew attention to the potential for valuable areas of learning contained within ICT specifications to be underemphasised in computer science specifications and that insufficient training and support had been given to ICT teachers to assist them in teaching new computer science programmes of study where these were introduced to replace the ICT GCSE.
8.32 The NASUWT produced detailed advice and guidance for members on qualification reform and continued to ensure that its action short of strike action instructions provided protection to members where qualification reform had adverse implications for their working conditions and job security.
8.33 The NASUWT survey work continued to identify assessment-related activities, including those associated with target setting, the management of data and pupil tracking, as
81 significant drivers of excessive workload. In particular, the Union highlighted the widespread use of ‘deep-marking’ practices, the overuse of which had been demonstrated to be not only ineffective in terms of the support they provided to pupils’ learning but also in respect of their impact on teacher and school leader workload.
8.34 The DfE established three Review Groups to consider the workload implications of planning, data-use and marking practices. These are dealt with elsewhere in the report. The NASUWT was represented on the Marking Policy Review Group but secured commitments that it would be able to engage with the work of those Groups on which it was not represented directly.
8.35 In support of the additional action instruction on marking introduced by the NASUWT, the Union produced detailed guidance and advice for teachers and school leaders on appropriate marking practices.
8.36 In August, the NASUWT commented upon a Policy Exchange report, which stated that schools should face fines if students fail to achieve at least a C in GCSE English and Mathematics, as being arrant nonsense. Concerns remain, however, that Policy Exchange continues to inform Government policy direction.
8.37 In October, Ofqual replaced the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) and the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). The Union had warned that while the QCF and the NQF had not necessarily met the objectives set for them at the time of their introduction, there was a risk of negative unintended consequences of the complete removal of both frameworks. The Union remained concerned that the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) represented an inadequate replacement for the previous frameworks in relation to its ability to ensure coherence and consistency between all qualifications offered to learners in England.
8.38 The Union continued to set out its specific concern that the QCF had played an important role in development of pan-European qualifications frameworks and that it would be important for further work to be undertaken to ensure that the RQF did not undermine the coherence of qualifications in England with those offered elsewhere in the European Union.
8.39 In November, the NASUWT commented upon proposals from the Government to address underperformance, which included a national teaching service and a consultation for 90% of pupils to be made to do the EBacc. The Union expressed concerns that the proposals represented muddled thinking on behalf of the Government. The NASUWT sought to respond to the consultations as appropriate. The Union met with DfE officials on the National Teaching Service and remained concerned at the incoherent nature of the proposals.
8.40 Across all Key Stages, the NASUWT continued to highlight the adverse consequences for teachers, school leaders and learners of some of the systems used in schools for tracking and reporting on pupil progress. In particular, the Union emphasised that many of these systems failed to provide holistic and constructive assessment information on the progress and achievement of pupils. During the year, the NASUWT continued to take forward work to monitor and research ways in which schools use assessment information and to identify the features of acceptable practice.
School Accountability and Inspection
8.41 In September, Ofsted introduced a revised inspection framework. The NASUWT welcomed the introduction of a common framework for early years, schools and post-16 providers, as well as the discontinuation of the use of private sector regional inspection providers and their replacement with a system managed directly by Ofsted.
82 8.42 However, the Union drew attention to concerns about Ofsted’s continuing practice of implementing significant amendments to the framework on a yearly basis. The Union emphasised its long-standing view that substantial changes to school inspection frameworks should happen less frequently in order to allow for changes to become embedded more effectively.
8.43 The NASUWT drew attention to the specific inclusion in the framework to the inspection of schools’ work to promote ‘fundamental British values’. The NASUWT emphasised that lack of clarity over the way in which this requirement would be interpreted in practice by inspectors had led to significant uncertainty across the education system. The Union continued to press Ofsted to set out more detailed guidance on its intended approach to inspection in this important area.
8.44 The NASUWT engaged directly with Ofsted on the implementation of the new framework and gave presentations on reforms to inspection to NASUWT consultation and regional conferences. The Union produced detailed advice and guidance for teachers and school leaders on the revised inspection framework and produced an inspection checklist to allow teachers and school leaders to monitor compliance by inspectors with the inspection framework and to evaluate their experience of inspection.
8.45 The NASUWT continued to make use of its Inspect the Inspectors tool, which allowed teachers and school leaders to critique the inspections carried out in their schools and colleges. The Union used the information and data gathered through the tool to inform its development of policy and to address concerns with the practice of inspection. A report was produced for Annual Conference in April on the data collected to date.
8.46 The NASUWT continued to promote the Ofsted publication, Ofsted inspection – clarification for schools, secured by the NASUWT through the talks with the DfE that were established as a result of its industrial action strategy. The original publication was revised in March to take account of additional concerns raised by the Union. The document continued to provide a means by which teachers and school leaders could challenge workload-intensive practices implemented in schools solely on the unfounded basis that they represented requirements of the inspection framework. The document continued to assist the NASUWT in addressing inappropriate practices in schools. The Union welcomed the incorporation of the provisions of the clarification document into the school inspection handbook and continued to press for the introduction of similar provisions in relation to the inspection of early years settings and post-16 institutions.
8.47 The NASUWT pressed Ofsted on the use of staff surveys during inspection.
8.48 The Union highlighted the fact that, despite these surveys being important sources of feedback, too many schools and colleges were withholding consent for them to be issued.
8.49 The Union issued advice to members calling for them to press for confirmation from headteachers and principals that in the event of an inspection they would not block the use of the staff survey.
8.50 In January, the NASUWT signalled concerns about the publication of secondary performance league tables on which the basis on which schools were judged was changed once more. The Union emphasised that relationships within league tables was not a primary concern of teachers.
8.51 The NASUWT responded to the DfE’s consultation on the proposed introduction of a statutory definition of ‘coasting’ schools through provisions set out in the Education and Adoption Bill. The Union challenged the appropriateness of the introduction of this measure.
83 8.52 The Union expressed concerns about the arbitrary nature of the definition described in the consultation document on grounds that it would give an inappropriate degree of power to the Secretary of State to determine which schools would be eligible for intervention, as the definition of coasting schools was not included on the face of the Bill. The NASUWT set out evidence that the proposed definition that the DfE intended to introduce would continue to target schools with higher proportions of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and would focus on overall levels of attainment rather than the value added to pupils’ achievements by schools.
Pupil Participation, Student Voice, Child Poverty and Children’s Rights
8.53 The NASUWT continued to emphasise that one of the most significant and damaging implications of child poverty was the impact that it had on pupils’ educational attainment, their wider wellbeing and their future life chances. The NASUWT commented upon proposed changes to welfare in June, by the Prime Minister, emphasising that changes have already been seriously detrimental to children and young people. The impact of these policies were further highlighted by figures that were published in June, in which the Union emphasised how the policies have exacerbated these issues.
8.54 The Union remained active in areas focused on tackling child poverty and material deprivation. Through its engagement with key international campaigns, including the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) and its active involvement in the work of Education International (EI), the NASUWT continued to promote children’s rights in the UK and across the world.
8.55 The NASUWT sponsored the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) 50th Anniversary celebrations where former Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued a stark warning over the level of child poverty in the UK.
8.56 The sponsorship was a critical part of the Union’s work on child poverty and with CPAG.
8.57 The Union continued to emphasise that the Government’s policy agenda was placing the ability of the education system to address the implications of poverty at significant risk. Specifically, the NASUWT made clear that key elements of policy associated with school funding and the freedoms and flexibilities granted to schools, as well as systemic, structural and workforce-related elements of current national policy priorities, had given rise to legitimate grounds for concerns about the ability of the school system to tackle the educational implications of poverty and deprivation. These issues were highlighted, in particular, following the Budget in March, the Summer Budget in June and the Autumn Statement in November.
8.58 The NASUWT continued to monitor the Welfare Reform and Work Bill, as this represented an attack on many of the welfare provisions that were provided for the poorest and most vulnerable children and families in society. The Union will continue to engage on this issue with policy-makers as the Bill makes its passage through Parliament in the New Year.
8.59 The extent of the negative impact of Government policy on the financial wellbeing of children and their families was emphasised by the outcomes of the annual Cost of Education research undertaken by the NASUWT on developments in respect of schools’ charging policies and the costs these policies have imposed on parents and carers. The research confirmed, for example, that an increasing proportion of parents were required to pay for field trips that were compulsory elements of examination courses, while the vast majority of respondents to the survey also reported that they were required to pay for educational activities such as visits to museums, theatres and nature reserves.
84 8.60 In March, the NASUWT conducted a survey of teachers on their experiences of the financial pressures facing children and young people. Almost 4,000 members responded.
8.61 The survey found that 69% of teachers had seen children coming to school hungry in the last year, and four in ten (40%) had become disengaged from learning. Respondents to the survey reported that a majority of teachers had to make specific interventions to support children, including lending money, lending equipment and lending clothing. Almost two thirds of teachers (62%) had lent or given pupils educational equipment.
8.62 Almost a quarter (22%) of respondents stated that they knew of pupils who had lost their homes due to financial pressures, with 32% reporting they had taught pupils who were living in temporary accommodation such as B&Bs and hostels. The majority of teachers surveyed suggested that financial pressures have led to poor concentration, poor behaviour and related problems.
8.63 When asked for the main solutions for dealing with the financial impact on children, respondents cited breakfast clubs, tackling parental unemployment and greater funding for schools as important potential solutions.
8.64 The Union used the outcomes of the survey extensively in its dealings with Government and key policy-makers and gave specific emphasis to the issue of household financial pressures in its campaigning work around the General Election.
8.65 The NASUWT’s research found that a significant proportion of parents were required to purchase textbooks and reference books for their children that might reasonably have been expected to be made available to pupils without charge. The survey confirms that the overwhelming majority of parents were required to purchase basic school equipment for their children, such as writing instruments, erasers, compasses and protractors. Evidence was also clear that the costs associated with particular schools were driving parental choice of school.
8.66 The NASUWT continued to call on the DfE to take effective action to tackle the growing culture of charging in state schools, given the disproportionate impact that such practices had on the ability of materially deprived children and young people to access their education entitlements, and raised concerns repeatedly that access to education was increasingly made on the basis of parental ability to pay. In particular, the Union pressed the Government to introduce an overall cap on the charges schools were permitted to apply and to set out clear expectations on schools to ensure that charges were not levied for educational provision.
8.67 The NASUWT continued to promote the findings of its Cost of Education survey to parliamentarians, Ministers and other relevant stakeholder groups.
8.68 The Union drew attention to the growing levels of child poverty in the UK, highlighting that well over 3 million children were living in households below official poverty thresholds. The NASUWT drew particular attention to projections by the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) that, as a result of Government economic and social policy, over 27.2% of children would be living in absolute poverty by 2020.
8.69 The NASUWT welcomed interventions by the Competition and Markets Authority, in October, that encouraged headteachers, governing bodies and suppliers to let parents buy uniforms at the best possible prices, noting that the report appeared to draw upon the NASUWT’s evidence on these issues.
85 8.70 The NASUWT also highlighted research by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), entitled Is Britain Fairer?, published in October, which demonstrated that the economic prospects of children and young people were being blighted. The NASUWT highlighted the impact of the totality of Coalition Government and Conservative Government policies.
8.71 In November, the NASUWT sponsored the CPAG 50th anniversary lecture, given by Gordon Brown, in which he highlighted the importance of tax credits in alleviating child poverty. This lecture gained a great deal of publicity, including front-page headlines and pictures.
8.72 The NASUWT continued to press for effective and appropriate models of student voice and pupil participation to be adopted in schools and colleges and remained concerned by the adoption of inappropriate practices, particularly the observation of lessons by pupils, to inform judgements about the quality of teachers’ practice. The Union maintained its work nationally, locally and at school level to ensure that the legitimate expectations of teachers and school leaders in relation to approaches to student voice were respected.
Services for Children and Young People
8.73 The NASUWT continued to press for effective strategies to promote the wider wellbeing of children and young people and stressed that the development and implementation of effective multi-agency and multi-disciplinary policy approaches to the delivery of children’s services were central to the achievement of this objective.
8.74 The Union emphasised in its activities in this area that the policy agenda set out by the Government in relation to collaboration between services for children and young people had seriously jeopardised the ability of the services to contribute meaningfully to removing barriers to the promotion of children and young people’s wellbeing.
8.75 The NASUWT drew particular attention to the ongoing implications of the abolition of the requirement on key services for children, including schools, to collaborate with local authorities and other agencies to promote the wellbeing and future life chances of children and young people, particularly the most vulnerable and those from materially deprived households.
8.76 The Union made clear its view that the significant cuts in funding for children’s services implemented since May 2010 had placed the effectiveness of these services at risk. The NASUWT continued to stress that, as a result of the pressures on under-resourced children’s services to narrow the scope of their activities to address budget constraints, the integrated working that had been central to promoting children and young people’s wellbeing previously had been significantly impaired.
8.77 The NASUWT continued to press for a significant change in the Government’s approach to supporting children and young people through greater support for the development and maintenance of multi-disciplinary approaches to service delivery. The NASUWT highlighted the need for the DfE to ensure that local authorities had the resources necessary to enable them to fulfil their responsibilities in relation to services for children and young people.
8.78 The NASUWT maintained an active interest in the area of children and young people’s mental health. In November, the NASUWT submitted evidence to the House of Commons Education Select Committee Enquiry into the mental health and wellbeing of looked-after children.
8.79 In its submission, the Union emphasised that the SEND Code of Practice and the joint DfE and Department of Health guidance had failed to address the barriers to effective multi- agency working to promote the mental and emotional wellbeing of children and young people.
86 8.80 The Union stressed in particular that schools were experiencing difficulties in securing meetings with workers from health services and, in some cases, were being asked to pay for a health service employee to attend an initial assessment meeting for children with mental health difficulties.
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
8.81 The NASUWT continued to highlight its profound concerns about the approach to reform of the SEND framework that continued to be implemented by the Government.
8.82 The Union continued to monitor the implications of the revised SEND Code of Practice. The NASUWT emphasised that feedback from teachers and school leaders had suggested that lack of guidance from national and local sources on implementing the new Code has created significant workload and bureaucratic pressures on schools. These pressures included the ongoing transfer of pupils with statements of SEN to Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans, the need to meet with parents to explain the implications of the changes, reviewing and revising school policies to take account of the new arrangements and organising additional training and development of staff at extremely short notice.
8.83 The Union cited concerns that pupils without an EHC plan but who had been identified previously as having SEN would no longer have any statutory entitlement to support. The NASUWT maintained that this was likely to result in additional pressures on schools in their planning and management of provision for pupils.
8.84 The NASUWT continued to promote the SEND ‘Myths and Facts’ document it had secured through the programme of talks with the DfE during 2014. The Union continued to use the document to challenge inappropriate SEND practices in schools and local authorities.
8.85 The NASUWT produced detailed advice and guidance for teachers, school leaders and special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCOs) on the reforms and how requirements in schools in relation to SEND could be addressed effectively. The Union also issued briefings for members on key elements of the reforms.
Behaviour and Attendance
8.86 The NASUWT continued to take a leading role in highlighting the importance of good behaviour, discipline and attendance in schools, including the issues of ‘Tackling Pupil Indiscipline’, following a resolution at Annual Conference. The Union produced materials highlighting the challenges schools face in relation to behaviour and attendance, and a list of top ten behaviour tips in order to empower teachers.
8.87 These materials were also used to advance the NASUWT’s engagement with parliamentarians, Ministers and other interested bodies working in this field.
8.88 The Union produced a suite of advice and guidance materials to assist members in making effective use of official DfE guidance on the management of behaviour in schools. In its guidance, the Union continued to stress the importance of the maintenance of good discipline in enhancing the learning environment within schools and the respective rights and responsibilities of teachers, school leaders, parents and governors in establishing a positive behaviour climate in schools.
8.89 The NASUWT continued to raise issues about the impact of cuts to local authority support services for behaviour and attendance and the negative implications of government policy for the maintenance of local structures to promote effective behaviour and attendance- focused collaborative arrangements between schools.
87 8.90 The Union continued to take steps to ensure that the entitlement of staff in schools to work in an environment free from violence and destruction, and to access appropriate training and support on behaviour matters, was respected, including, where appropriate, through the use of lawful industrial action.
8.91 The NASUWT’s engagement with teachers and school leaders and its survey work, including the Big Question survey, emphasised that behaviour issues experienced in schools continued, in large part, to be related to factors outside of schools and inadequate support provided to teachers by senior leaders.
Admissions
8.92 The NASUWT continued to highlight the risks to transparent arrangements for admissions of the DfE’s ongoing reforms to relevant statutory frameworks, particularly in respect of the diminution of the role of local authorities and that of the Office of the Schools Adjudicator in overseeing the impact of admissions policies on local frameworks and enforcing statutory requirements.
8.93 The NASUWT continued to monitor the impact of changes to the statutory School Admissions Code introduced in 2014 that gave schools greater discretion over their admissions arrangements.
8.94 The NASUWT maintained its work in highlighting the inequities that inadequate admissions arrangements were having on children from vulnerable and disadvantaged backgrounds, particularly the efforts made by some schools to avoid admitting pupils that they believed would be disadvantageous to their performance in official measures of school accountability.
Professional Standards for Teachers and School Leaders
8.95 The NASUWT continued to monitor the implications of the revised Teachers’ Standards in the context of schools’ appraisal, capability and pay progression arrangements and sustained its challenge to their inappropriate use in this regard, particularly through the provisions of the NASUWT’s action short of strike action instructions.
8.96 In February, the DfE published non-statutory standards for headteachers. The NASUWT continued to monitor the use of the standards in light of its concern that their use in schools could promote and encourage the adoption of unacceptable practices by school leaders, particularly in relation to the management of teachers and other members of the school workforce.
Initial Teacher Training (ITT), Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and the Professional Status of Teaching
8.97 The work of the NASUWT in relation to ITT, CPD and the professional status of teaching continued to be guided by the principle that pupils learn best when teachers are given the time, resources and scope to make the fullest possible use of their professional talents, expertise and knowledge. The Union remained clear that respect for the professionalism of teachers was a hallmark of an education system genuinely committed to raising standards and extending educational opportunities for all pupils.
8.98 The NASUWT continued to assert, through its engagement with the Government and other policy-makers, that the increasing lack of trust and professional autonomy in the system, which would lead to the de-professionalisation of teachers, was having a significant impact on future recruitment and retention to the profession and would ultimately impact negatively
88 upon the learning experiences of children and young people. The Union pressed the need for a contractual entitlement to CPD.
8.99 In January, the NASUWT welcomed the critical role for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) that was underlined in the publication of the Carter Review, highlighting this support to the Coalition Government, in contrast to their own policies. However, the Union did have concerns about the Carter Review’s emphasis on the College of Teaching, concerns that are illustrated below.
8.100 The NASUWT continued to monitor the development of the Teaching School programme and to gather more information about its implications for the working conditions of teachers and school leaders, as well as on the quality of ICT and CPD delivered through teaching school networks. Feedback from teachers and school leaders continued to confirm that the programme had led to significant workload burdens in schools and that the variable involvement of the higher education sector had compromised the quality of provision.
8.101 The NASUWT continued to emphasise the serious misgivings about the implications of reforms to statutory arrangements for the induction of newly qualified teachers (NQTs). The Union continued to stress the negative implications of allowing schools to select their own appropriate bodies and the extent to which many NQTs were not able to benefit from their statutory entitlements.
8.102 The Union continued to highlight the risks to sustaining high-quality educational provision of the continued refusal of the DfE to ensure that all pupils in the state-funded school sector in England were able to access their entitlement to be taught by a qualified teacher.
College of Teaching
8.103 Throughout the year, the NASUWT published information for teachers and school leaders on the proposals for the development of a College of Teaching.
8.104 Whilst not opposed to the principle, the Union exposed the flaws of the model being promoted, including the lack of clarity in its aims and the fact that membership was on the basis of ‘anyone who had an interest in education’.
8.105 The Union also highlighted that the current model appeared in the Conservative Party Manifesto and therefore was unlikely to be independent of government.
8.106 By the close of the year, it was evident that there was no appetite across the profession for the proposals.
8.107 The NASUWT continued to raise its concerns about the development of the College of Teaching. The Union made clear that while it had never objected in principle to the creation of a College, it had legitimate grounds for concern in relation to the proposals put forward by the Claim Your College Coalition.
8.108 In particular, the Union pointed to a lack of clarity about the proposed role for the model put forward by the Claim Your College Coalition, the inadequate representation of practising teachers in the governance structures of the College and the implications for its independence of direct Government funding.
8.109 A survey conducted for the Union by the independent polling organisation, ComRes, found that only one in 10 (10%) of teachers agreed that the College would improve the status of teaching. The survey also found that 79% of teachers confirmed that they knew nothing about the proposal to establish a College, while 62% reported that they were either
89 indifferent or unfavourable towards the proposal to establish a College on the basis established by the Claim Your College Coalition.
8.110 The NASUWT continued to monitor developments in relation to the establishment of the College carefully and to provide information to members on this issue.
8.111 In October, the NASUWT submitted evidence to the DfE’s Teachers’ Professional Development Expert Group on its Ministerial remit to develop a standard for teachers’ professional development.
8.112 In its evidence, the Union emphasised that key elements of the current Government workforce policy were antithetical to a credible national strategy for maintaining and enhancing teachers’ professionalism, including those dimensions related to the professional development of teachers. The NASUWT stressed that Ministers should work with the NASUWT and other relevant stakeholders to reassess the Government’s understanding of the nature and importance of teacher professionalism and thereby provide the best possible basis upon which to establish revised approaches to professional development. The NASUWT continued to assert that all children and young people are entitled to be taught by qualified teachers.
8.113 The Union’s evidence set out its view that a genuinely effective standard for teacher professional development would seek to reflect key features of effective practice and help to secure system-wide consensus about these features. The NASUWT’s evidence stressed that the Expert Group should recognise that changes implemented by the DfE to arrangements for the performance management of teachers and the replacement of the previous suite of professional standards by the 2012 Teachers’ Standards had been profoundly unhelpful. Specifically, the Union emphasised that these reforms had undermined the opportunities available to teachers and school leaders to benefit from high- quality professional training and development opportunities by removing provisions requiring assessment of teachers’ training and development needs.
8.114 In November, the NASUWT submitted evidence to the National Audit Office (NAO) investigation into the effectiveness of ITT. In its submission, the Union emphasised that the conceptualisation of teaching as a craft in DfE ITT policy downplayed to an unacceptable extent the theoretical dimensions of teacher formation and strongly implied that the critical elements of effective ITT programmes were limited to securing trainees’ subject knowledge and developing their pedagogic skills and knowledge solely through experience acquired alongside established practitioners. The NASUWT emphasised that this view failed to reflect the nature of teaching as a complex professional activity.
Teacher Supply
8.115 In October, the NASUWT commented upon the publication of the results of research carried out by the Labour Party on the extent and nature of the teacher supply crisis. The Union commented that this was as a direct result of the Government’s education policies.
8.116 In December, the NASUWT submitted evidence to the House of Commons Education Select Committee Inquiry into teacher supply. The Union evidence made clear that the implications of Government policy in relation to teachers’ pay and conditions, the structure of the ITT sector and the denigration of the teaching profession were having significant implications for teacher supply. The Union highlighted emerging evidence of ITT recruitment challenges across the education sector and the increased rates of wastage from the teaching profession. The NASUWT set out a clear alternative strategy to address these concerns and to ensure that teaching could resecure its position as an attractive career option for graduates.
90 The Governance and Local Oversight of Schools
8.117 The NASUWT continued to press for the revitalisation of democratically accountable arrangements for the strategic management and oversight of the education system at local level. The Union advocated exploring the potential benefits of establishing locally elected champions for public education, with a remit to set the local strategic priorities for the provision of services to children and young people and to ensure effective collaboration and co-operation between schools and other agencies within the children’s services sector. The NASUWT further proposed that local champions of education could play a key role in reviewing the quality of provision in all schools in their area and help to secure support for schools to improve.
8.118 In January, the NASUWT commented upon a Select Committee report on academies and free schools which found that structural changes alone do not raise standards. The Union stated that this should come as no surprise to Parliamentarians as this is something that the NASUWT had been saying since the Academies Act in 2010.
8.119 In July, the NASUWT highlighted the report published by the Sutton Trust on academy chains, Chain Effects. This also emphasised that structural change alone would achieve this.
8.120 In September, the NASUWT submitted evidence to the House of Commons Education Select Committee Enquiry into the role of Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs).
8.121 In its submission, the Union noted that the introduction of RSCs and regional Head Teacher Boards (HTBs) was an attempt by the Government to respond to growing concerns about its ability to manage and directly oversee the rapidly expanding academies and free schools sectors by establishing regional intermediate-tier entities.
8.122 The Union asserted that the arrangements for RSCs and HTBs not only fell short of those required to implement effective intermediate-tier arrangements but were also unlikely to meet the limited objectives for RSCs and HTBs established by the DfE. The NASUWT made clear its view that the lack of detail about the roles and responsibilities of RSCs and the way in which they were expected to undertake their responsibilities in practice was likely to generate significant and unjustifiable variations in practice between different RSC regions.
8.123 The Union emphasised that the expansion of the role of RSCs proposed in the Education and Adoption Bill to those maintained schools identified as ‘coasting’ would exacerbate concerns about the capacity and objectivity of RSCs and could lead to opaque and inconsistent decision-making about the potential transfer of maintained schools to the academies sector.
8.124 In its submission, the NASUWT recommended an alternative policy approach reflecting that set out in its report to Conference 2013, Maintaining World-Class Schools.
8.125 In September, the NASUWT welcomed a report published by the Fabian Society, Stakeholder Schools, which set out proposals for a National Constitution for Schools, as being closely aligned to the NASUWT’s proposals for a series of national entitlements for all schools, and as a way for these to be codified. The report was sponsored by the NASUWT.
8.126 The report also called for the inspection of academy chains and for proper consultation upon academy conversion. This was also welcomed by the Union.
8.127 The Fabian Society was invited to speak on the report at the Labour Fringe on stakeholder engagement in September.
91 8.128 In November, the NASUWT commented on reports of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector’s (HMCI’s) views on school governance. The Union welcomed the acknowledgement of the Chief Inspector of the issues of school governance, as the NASUWT has been raising these issues before. The NASUWT did, however, voice concerns over proposals that chairs of governors could be paid. The NASUWT will continue to liaise with Ofsted over this issue.
International Comparative Studies of Education Systems
8.129 The NASUWT continued to advocate an appropriate policy response to the outcomes of international comparative studies of educational performance, particularly those by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) as part of its Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study.
8.130 While recognising that the study was an important and rich source of data that could help education systems to reflect on their strengths and areas for further development, the Union stressed that there were many other studies and sources of information that highlighted different but equally important aspects of the quality of educational provision across the UK. The Union criticised the use of PISA to demean the hard work, commitment and capability of teachers in England.
8.131 In January, the NASUWT commented on the publication of the OECD’s Education Policy Outlook. The Union pointed out that the clear message from this report was that the most effective education systems are designed around students and learning, build teacher capacity and engage all learners, in sharp contrast to the programmes of reform from the Coalition Government. The NASUWT called on the Coalition Government to use evidence to inform their policy making.
8.132 The NASUWT continued to point to the findings of the most recent OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) that confirmed the increased working hours faced by teachers and school leaders since May 2010 and the extent to which teachers were required to dedicate time to activities that did not make effective use of their skills and expertise as qualified teachers.
NORTHERN IRELAND
Shared and Integrated Education
8.133 The NASUWT gave written and oral evidence to the Northern Ireland Assembly enquiry into Shared and Integrated Education as well as submitting evidence on the Shared Education Bill which was introduced to the Assembly.
8.134 The Shared Education Bill was part of a strategy to enable more children and young people from different community backgrounds to be educated together
8.135 Thirty-one shared education partnerships involving 66 schools were approved during the period as part of the Delivering Social Change Shared Education Signature Project, which is being funded by a £25 million investment from the Executive and US Charity, Atlantic Philanthropies.
Inspection
8.136 The NASUWT met with the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) on a quarterly basis since the report of the Northern Ireland Assembly Education Committee on the ETI. The ETI made some changes after the Assembly Committee report, but did not take on board all of the recommendations.
92 8.137 The NASUWT encouraged members to use the Inspect the Inspectors online tool to report on ETI inspections which had taken place in their school to enable the Union to gain an overview of the impact of the new ETI regime.
8.138 The key findings of the NASUWT’s report included:
• a third of teachers reporting that they had not been given clear feedback on the inspection; • inspectors favouring a particular style of teaching; • a fifth of teachers being asked for lesson plans; • over half of teachers reporting that judgements about additional responsibilities were not based on clear or robust evidence.
8.139 The Union continued to oppose the partial approach to inspection which placed NASUWT members under pressure, and raised this with the ETI and the permanent secretary.
8.140 The NASUWT continued to focus on issues relating to child poverty in Northern Ireland throughout the year, calling on both the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Westminster Government to address this issue appropriately.
8.141 In November, the NASUWT noted the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland report, Key Inequalities in Education, which demonstrated that inequality had increased in the last eight years. The Union stated that this should be a ‘wake-up call’ for the Northern Ireland Assembly.
8.142 The Northern Ireland Assembly Education Committee issued a further report recommending that a number of additional factors should be taken into account when considering the sustainability of schools.
8.143 The NASUWT said that, at a time when the schools sector was facing funding challenges and the school reorganisation process was still ongoing, the issue of area planning could have significant implications for teachers. The Union stated that it would keep developments under close scrutiny.
8.144 Gavin Boyd was appointed to oversee the transition to the Education Authority. On his appointment, the NASUWT renewed its call for progress to be made on modernising the administration of the education system so that public money was utilised in a cost-effective manner.
8.145 The NASUWT called for investigation into the reasons for the rise in the number of pupils being taught in mixed-age classes. The Union highlighted that this might be a result of lack of teaching staff, cuts to school budgets or a lack of facilities in schools.
8.146 The NASUWT submitted evidence to the Heenan Anderson Commission which was set up in 2014 to examine the causes of economic marginalisation and deprivation.
8.147 The Report was published during the year and whilst some of the recommendations were broadly welcomed by the NASUWT the union called for there to be detailed consultation on their implementation.
SCOTLAND
Curriculum for Excellence (CfE)
8.148 Implementation of the new curriculum and national qualifications continued throughout the year.
93 8.149 The NASUWT continued to represent the interests of teachers on the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) bodies. The NASUWT was represented by Mike Corbett NEM on the CfE Management Board, the Tackling Bureaucracy Working Group and the Reflections on the New Qualifications Working Group.
8.150 The Management Board met several times over the year. The main topics of concern were:
• CfE Senior Phase; • Senior Phase Benchmarking Tool; • National 4 and National 5 resource issues; • Broad General Education (BGE); • assessment and reporting; and • teacher workload.
8.151 In March, the NASUWT participated in a CfE Management Board meeting attended by S4 S6 high-school pupils who raised concerns that they were facing too many internal assessments and too much pressure. The NASUWT took the opportunity to raise this directly with the Minister who acknowledged that this was not the intended approach. The NASUWT also raised concerns about the inequality caused by individual schools to decide upon the number and range of qualifications offered to pupils.
8.152 In June, the Management Board began with a meeting with the OECD which provided the opportunity to present the position of teachers in Scotland to OECD officials. The Union also took the opportunity at the meeting to raise with the Scottish Government the progress on the commitment which had been given to have a debate on the Reflections Report and a number of issues about qualifications.
8.153 At a meeting in September, the Management Board discussed at length the draft National Improvement Framework. The NASUWT raised concerns about the impact of national standardised assessments on teachers’ workload and professionalism.
8.154 The Reflections on the New Qualifications Working Group was reconvened by the Scottish Government in August in response to the NASUWT’s consistent argument for action to reduce teacher workload arising from the new qualifications. The Union stressed that, whilst a review of the examinations was important, by far the biggest concern for teachers was the internal assessment system and an urgent review was needed.
8.155 The CfE Tackling Bureaucracy Working Group was reconvened to assess progress on the Follow-up Report on Tackling Bureaucracy. The NASUWT made several points to the Minister which he agreed to share with the Cabinet. It was also recommended that the Group should continue.
8.156 The NASUWT gave oral and written evidence to the Education and Culture Committee on the CfE and the new Highers. The NASUWT’s evidence was based on a survey of teachers and school leaders.
8.157 The Union raised the concerns about workload which had increased as a result of lack of resources, professional development and support.
8.158 The NASUWT highlighted that teachers and school leaders reported they had been subjected to unwieldy planning and assessment arrangements, unnecessarily complex accountability requirements and poor local and national approaches to planning and implementation.
8.159 With reference to the Highers, the NASUWT called for a range of measures to be implemented, including:
94 • schools to be allowed to delay the implementation of the Advanced Higher for a year; • provision of time during the school day to support teachers in delivery of the reforms; • greater consistency and clarity in the guidance provided; • concerted action to bring down pressure on teachers’ workload; and • assurance that students presenting for the old Highers would not be disadvantaged and that they would have parity of esteem with the new qualifications.
8.160 As a result of pressure from the NASUWT, the Scottish Government allowed schools to delay the implementation of the new Highers by a year.
The National Improvement Framework
8.161 The draft National Improvement Framework (NIF) was announced by the First Minister in September as part of the ‘Programme for Government’.
8.162 The NASUWT identified enormous implications for teacher workload, accountability and professionalism arising from the framework and engaged in several government meetings in relation to the proposals. The Union also submitted robust written evidence in response to the draft framework at the end of November, describing this as heralding radical reform to the education system.
Improving Schools in Scotland
8.163 In 2013, the Scottish Government had commissioned the OECD to undertake an independent review of CfE and education policy and practice in Scotland.
8.164 The OECD report, Improving Schools in Scotland, was published in December. The report made 12 recommendations, all of which the Government stated would be considered and used to inform the ongoing consultation on the NIF in the New Year.
8.165 The NASUWT drew particular attention to the generally positive evaluation of the education system and its capacity for continued improvement. The Union made use of these findings to emphasise that future reform should seek to build on the achievements of the system rather than be regarded as a means of addressing educational failure.
8.166 The NASUWT noted the finding of the OECD that insufficient attention had been given in the implementation of policy to effective management of reform at intermediate-tier level. The Union highlighted the longstanding concern of teachers and school leaders that problems in respect of curriculum and qualifications reform had arisen to a significant extent as a result of inadequate approaches to implementation adopted by local authorities.
The Scottish Advisory Group on Relationships and Behaviour in Schools (SAGRABiS)
8.167 SAGRABiS continued to provide advice to national and local government on relationships and behaviour in schools, or wherever learning takes place. The Group met twice during the year.
8.168 The NASUWT was represented on the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research and Strategy (BiSSR) sub-group which continued to consider how to improve the BiSSR research questions for the next survey in 2016 and then make recommendations to the full group. The sub-group met three times during the year.
Included, Engaged and Involved Part 2
8.169 The national working group met four times during the year to continue its work reviewing, refreshing and developing improved guidance on managing school exclusions. This work was scheduled to be completed in early 2016.
95 Scottish College for Educational Leadership
8.170 The NASUWT continued to engage with the Scottish College for Educational Leadership (SCEL) as part of the stakeholder group. The Group met twice in the year, providing stakeholders with an update of the progress towards bringing together leadership qualifications and learning opportunities for those teachers wishing to move into leadership.
8.171 The SCEL had only been in existence for just over a year and the NASUWT continued to be supportive in principle, whilst highlighting concern amongst other things at the burden both financial and in time that would be imposed on aspiring headteachers who will now be required to achieve the Standard for Headship by 2017.
8.172 The NASUWT also raised concern at the scandalous lack of BME teachers in leadership roles across schools in Scotland.
Master’s Programme
8.173 The roll-out of new master’s programmes continued. The NASUWT continued to support the initiative in principle but warned that the funding being allocated was unlikely to meet the full costs and that some teachers might be expected to pay for access themselves.
Child Poverty
8.174 The NASUWT continued to focus on a number of activities on child poverty in Scotland during the year, including fringes at the SNP and Labour Autumn Party Conferences.
8.175 The NASUWT was particularly keen to press the Scottish Government on addressing issues of welfare and support for families, given the increased powers that the Government held. Although there was commitment to address these issues, the Union remained concerned that the issues were not adequately addressed. The Union called upon the Government to poverty-proof the school day.
8.176 The NASUWT did welcome, in August, the extension of the EMA by the First Minister and the announced protection of FSM and nursery places in September.
8.177 The NASUWT welcomed the Scottish Government’s decision to increase the eligibility for EMAs which would enable thousands more young people from lower income families to stay in education.
8.178 The NASUWT stressed that it was important to acknowledge that there were actions Ministers could take to address the consequences of child poverty on the life chances of children and young people. The Union pointed to the critical role played by effective early intervention strategies and the need to ensure effective collaboration between all key services for children.
8.179 The NASUWT noted that the Scottish Government had recognised the importance of this dimension of policy in its Child Poverty Strategy but emphasised that further work was required to effect meaningful change in this area.
8.180 The NASUWT stressed that too many services for children in Scotland worked in isolation from each other. It highlighted the fact that, from a school perspective, there was clear evidence that too many responsibilities for child welfare and wellbeing defaulted to schools without adequate support from other children’s services. The NASUWT maintained that not only did these arrangements deny vulnerable and disadvantaged children access to the support they required, it also impeded the ability of teachers and school leaders to concentrate on teaching and leading teaching and learning and thereby enhance pupils’ future life chances through the provision of high-quality learning experiences.
96 WALES
Early Years Education
8.181 In January, Ministers in Wales set out a draft ten-year plan for early years education which aimed to address skills development among workers in the sector. The NASUWT called for a national pay and conditions structure to be established for all workers across the sector and made strong representations to the proposals to increase the pupil/teacher ratio from 1:8 to 1:10.
Curriculum, Assessment and Qualifications
8.182 Following the publication, in February, of Professor Donaldson’s independent review of curriculum and assessment arrangements in Wales, Successful Futures (the Donaldson Report), the NASUWT sought to ensure that the view expressed by the Minister for Education and Skills, that the new curriculum would be ‘built for the profession, by the profession’, became a reality.
8.183 The Minister made this statement in March when he announced that the Donaldson Report would be the subject of ‘The Great Debate on Welsh Education’ (the Great Debate). The NASUWT encouraged members to contribute to the Great Debate and submitted a full response to the online questionnaire.
8.184 In tandem with the announcement on the Great Debate, the Minister offered a New Deal for the education workforce that would provide an entitlement to access world-class professional learning opportunities to develop their practice.
8.185 The New Curriculum and the New Deal dominated the work of the Union in pursuing related resolutions passed at Annual Conference and the NASUWT Cymru Conference.
8.186 National Executive Member Neil Butler addressed a Policy Forum for Wales Keynote Seminar on Curriculum reform in Wales: content, assessment and the challenges for implementation and emphasised that change would need to be managed appropriately, funded fully and introduced in a timely way, with access to sustained and extensive professional development being key to successful implementation.
8.187 In representing the Union on the New Deal Partnership Group and at the Union Partners’ meetings, where the proposals for the development of the New Curriculum were discussed, the National Official for Wales, Rex Phillips, highlighted the need for teacher workload and work/life balance to be considered.
8.188 It became a matter of growing concern that the cautious welcome given by the NASUWT to both initiatives was proving to be well-founded.
8.189 The Union’s concerns over the New Deal are covered elsewhere in this Annual Report.
8.190 In relation to the New Curriculum, the publication, in October, of the Welsh Government document, A curriculum for Wales – a curriculum for Life, confirmed the Union’s concern that the development of the New Curriculum could be hijacked by the education establishment, rather than being ‘built for the profession, by the profession’, as the Minister had indicated when he accepted the recommendations of the Donaldson Report.
8.191 The NASUWT stressed that the implementation of the New Curriculum would require a serious review of the way in which Estyn undertook its work, as the principles upon which the Donaldson Report was based ran counter to those at the heart of the Estyn Inspection Framework.
97 8.192 The announcement in November that 120 Pioneer Schools would be at the forefront of shaping the future of education in Wales, with 68 schools leading on the design and development of the New Curriculum and 60 schools leading on the New Deal, did little to allay the Union’s concerns, as the vast majority of the teaching profession, it became clear, would be disenfranchised from the process.
8.193 These newly announced schools would work alongside the Pioneer Schools previously selected to design and develop Wales’ new Digital Competency Framework.
8.194 In making the announcement the Minister did, however, following representations from the NASUWT on workload, emphasise the need for the Pioneer Schools to look at the workload implications for teachers and the wider education workforce, given the radical nature of the changes being considered.
8.195 The NASUWT continued to monitor closely the situation in the Pioneer Schools and laid plans to write to every member working in these schools to invite them to join a feedback group. In addition, a strategy to visit and keep in contact with the school representatives was developed.
8.196 The NASUWT was at the forefront of a short, sharp campaign by education unions to ensure that each trade union had a seat on the Curriculum Reform Strategic Stakeholder Group. The Welsh Government originally suggested three seats for the trade unions, with members attending on a rota basis.
8.197 Neil Butler, National Executive Member, was nominated to represent the Union on the Strategic Stakeholder Group.
8.198 Early indications on the Foundation Phase Profile (FPP), introduced from September, were positive, with NASUWT members using it as a tool to support baseline assessment during the reception year. This was in marked contrast to the failed Child Development Assessment Profile (CDAP) that was withdrawn as a result of the NASUWT’s national action in 2011.
8.199 The NASUWT continued to express concerns about the quality and sufficiency of the training being provided by the Centre for British Teachers (CfBT) in relation to the Literacy and Numeracy Framework (LNF) and welcomed the DfES’ decision to end the contract early.
8.200 Following the establishment of the new independent regulatory body, Qualification Wales, in October, the Welsh Joint Education Committee set up a Wales Advisory Group to focus on the examination board’s work and invited a NASUWT nominee. Neil Butler was selected as the nominee, with Mark Cleverly, Rhondda Cynon Taff, NASUWT Secretary, as an alternate.
8.201 The NASUWT continued to be represented by Angela Butler, NASUWT Cymru Treasurer, on the Expert Literacy Group, and by Neil Butler on the Stakeholder Reference Group for the Implementation of the Review of Qualifications.
8.202 The NASUWT continued to press the Welsh Government on the need to ensure that the raft of changes being introduced to the education system in Wales were impact assessed in terms of teacher workload and work/life balance, in accordance with the national action short of strike action instructions.
School Reorganisation
8.203 The decline in the number of local authority maintained schools in Wales continued with the 2015 School Census results revealing 38 fewer schools than in January 2014. There were
98 158 fewer local authority maintained schools in Wales than in 2010. However, pupil numbers fluctuated throughout the same period, resulting in an overall increase of 1,437 pupils. In contrast, 776 FTE teaching posts had been lost since 2010.
8.204 The reduction in the number of schools was due largely to moves by local authorities to change the nature of educational provision, including amalgamations of infant and primary provision, school closures, the sacrifice of control of post-16 provision to FE and HE, and the establishment of all-through 3-19 provision.
8.205 The lack of clear direction from the Welsh Government over a preferred model of educational provision was exacerbated by the uncertainty surrounding local government reorganisation, the establishment of the four education consortia, and qualifications, assessment and curriculum change.
8.206 The NASUWT continued to remain at the forefront of campaigns to ensure that the protection of the jobs of teachers, lecturers and support staff underpinned any proposals proffered that could result in compulsory redundancies.
8.207 The Union was actively involved with the Workforce Partnership Council (WPC) in the development of a strategy to improve collective workforce planning and to support employees to move more easily across the devolved public services in Wales.
8.208 The proposals held the promise of achieving one of the Unions’ long-held policies of calling for the establishment of an all-Wales workforce adjustment strategy and fund to avoid compulsory redundancy in school.
8.209 At the close of the year, more work remained to be done.
Inspection and School Accountability
8.210 The NASUWT continued to question the independence of the Welsh Inspectorate Estyn because of its close alignment to the political system and highlighted the stress and increased workload generated by inspections.
8.211 Maintaining this pressure proved worthwhile as, following the retirement of the Chief Inspector in May, the Welsh Inspectorate took the opportunity to try to restore its standing among teachers through the launch of a consultation on ‘How Estyn inspects’, in preparation for the next inspection cycle from September 2017.
8.212 The NASUWT submitted a detailed response to the consultation, based on the resolutions of both the NASUWT Cymru Conference and Annual Conference, and the Inspectors Inspected report produced by the NASUWT.
8.213 The Union launched a postcard campaign to encourage members to engage with the consultation and contributed orally through the Estyn Primary Stakeholder Forum.
8.214 Following the Primary Stakeholder meeting and criticism raised previously by the NASUWT at the Union Partnership Group meetings, over a document issued by the Inspectorate in January that purported to clarify some of the myths surrounding school inspection, a revised version was circulated for comment in December. At the end of the year, consultation had not concluded.
8.215 As well as raising concerns directly with Estyn, the NASUWT was clear with the Welsh Government and the DfES that the success of the New Deal and the development and implementation of the New Curriculum would require the Welsh Inspectorate to return to the role of a critical friend to schools and provide an amnesty on inspection.
99 School Categorisation
8.216 The NASUWT met with the National School Categorisation Group in March and July to discuss some initial difficulties with the new system introduced to replace the discredited school-banding system.
8.217 Despite continuing reservations about the concept of school categorisation, the Union viewed the meetings as a demonstration of the willingness on the part of the Welsh Government to enable the system to target support where it was most needed, through the Consortia, and positive changes were made to the formulas being used.
Consortia
8.218 The support available through the Consortia continued to vary, with the Education through Regional Working (ERW) Consortium, in particular, being the focus of much criticism by the NASUWT throughout the year, and during a debate on a motion on the Consortia at the NASUWT Cymru Conference.
8.219 The Union subsequently made some progress with the ERW Consortium following a meeting with the Managing Director and the Local Authority Lead Director.
PARLIAMENTARY
WESTMINSTER
9.1 The NASUWT continued to maintain and enhance its political and parliamentary profile throughout the year.
9.2 The NASUWT met regularly with the Secretary of State for Education and with Ministers in the DfE ministerial team.
9.3 The Union monitored legislation being considered by both Houses of Parliament and, in particular, the following Bills and Acts:
• Deregulation Act 2015; • Childcare Bill; • Education and Adoption Bill; • Enterprise Bill; and • Trade Union Bill.
9.4 The Union provided regular briefings for MPs and Peers and submitted evidence to Bill Committees, undertaking line-by-line scrutiny of legislation. Improvements were made to these Bills in part due to the influence of the NASUWT.
9.5 The NASUWT worked closely with backbench MPs to raise written and oral questions on a range of issues of interest and concern to the Union and its members.
9.6 The Union continued to monitor private members’ bills and, where proposed bills reflected the policy of the Union, worked in support of the proposing MP.
9.7 The Coalition and subsequent Conservative Government remained substantially reliant on the use of regulation to pursue its policy agenda and the Union monitored all relevant regulations placed before Parliament for consideration and to seek to amend or oppose those which were detrimental to the interests of public services, education, the workforce and trade unions.
100 Deregulation Act 2015
9.8 The Deregulation Act 2015 was enacted in January and included a number of provisions directly related to education including:
• removing the requirement on governing bodies to make and review a statement of general principles that the headteacher was to have regard to when formulating the behaviour policy; • removing the requirement for governing bodies in England to adopt a home-school agreement and a parental declaration; • transferring responsibility for determining term dates in community, voluntary controlled and community special schools in England and maintained nursery schools from local authorities in England to individual governing bodies; and • removing the duty on governing bodies and headteachers of maintained schools in England and local authorities in England to have regard to guidance issued by the Secretary of State relating to the appointment, discipline, suspension and dismissal of school staff.
9.9 The NASUWT made strong representations during the passage of this legislation, particularly on the matter of term times, arguing that the proposed change would create a potential free-for-all for 23,000 schools, thus creating additional problems for businesses, parents, communities and the school workforce.
Education and Adoption Bill
9.10 The Education and Adoption Bill had, at its core, the drive for continuing structural change to secure the academisation of the overwhelming majority of schools on the premise of raising standards. It sought to do this primarily by creating a new ‘coasting’ category of schools, which would be targeted for academisation, and by removing most, if not all, opportunities for schools, parents, communities and local authorities to oppose academisation.
9.11 The NASUWT continued to oppose robustly much of the content of this Bill, making the point that since 2010 there has been a significant move to centralise control of the public education system with successive pieces of legislation, which move power away from democratically elected local bodies and communities to the Secretary of State. This Bill continued that process of centralisation by removing a fundamental entitlement of parents to have a say in the type of school in which their child is educated.
9.12 The Union consistently highlighted and criticised the elements of the Bill which removed the right of parents to have a say in the type of school in which their child is educated and removed the right of individuals to make representations about Government strategies.
9.13 At the end of the year, the Bill had concluded Committee Stage in the House of Lords and was awaiting the Report Stage and Third Reading.
9.14 The NASUWT’s response to the Education and Adoption Bill pointed out that much of the Bill was unnecessary, given that the Government already had the powers to carry out those activities suggested as necessary by Ministers. The primary concern, as highlighted by the NASUWT, was that the Bill, if enacted, would transfer further powers directly to the Secretary of State and remove these from the scrutiny of Parliament.
9.15 Consequently, the NASUWT submitted evidence to the Bill Committee on the Education and Adoption Bill, including oral evidence and the submission of amendments. As of the end of the year, all opposition amendments were rejected by the Coalition Government.
101 Trade Union Bill
9.16 The NASUWT rejected entirely the proposals for trade union reform contained in the Trade Union Bill as disproportionate, discriminatory, ideologically motivated and in breach of fundamental human rights as contained in national and international conventions and legislation.
9.17 The NASUWT asserted that the proposed changes were completely unnecessary and related to a longstanding ideological opposition to trade unions held by the Conservative Government.
9.18 The proposals sought to restrict, in particular, the rights of workers within the public sector. The NASUWT asserted the right to strike as a fundamental right which should be enjoyed by all working people, regardless of whether they work in the public or any other sector.
9.19 The NASUWT worked closely with the TUC and with sister trade unions to oppose the Bill at all stages, including participating in the rally and mass lobby of Parliament on 2 November.
9.20 A total of over 800 trade union members lobbied their MPs on the day, with a targeted focus on Conservative backbenchers, and many hundreds more attended the rally. The targeted approach, including collecting detailed feedback from lobbyists, paid real dividends and uncovered more than 20 Conservative MPs who were prepared to express concerns about the Bill.
9.21 The Union also submitted written evidence to the House of Commons Bill Committee considering the legislation and subsequently presented oral evidence to the committee.
9.22 The Union also sought legal advice on the Bill provisions.
9.23 The NASUWT lobbied extensively on the likely impact of the Trade Union Bill upon working people and their trade unions. This included giving oral and written evidence to the Bill Committee and lobbying parliamentarians, both in person and through materials produced by the Union.
9.24 The NASUWT sought to place the Trade Union Bill in context both through the motion submitted and passed at TUC Congress in September and through party conference fringes on trade union and human rights. The NASUWT pointed out that the Conservative Government as seeking to systematically undermine human rights and stifle opposition in order that it would be able to carry out policies supporting its ideological agenda without scrutiny.
British Bill of Rights
9.25 The Bill was a commitment in the Conservative Party Manifesto and intended to replace the Human Rights Act.
9.26 By the close of the year, no details of the Bill had emerged.
Vote for Education
9.27 A key element of the year up until the May 2015 General Election was on the NASUWT’s Vote for Education Campaign, designed to encourage engagement amongst teachers, the electorate in general and candidates with education issues. It was clear from private independent polling that the Campaign raised the profile of education as an election issue.
102 9.28 The Union’s activities also included ensuring that members received high-quality information, support and advice. Extensive research, including commissioned research, was undertaken to inform the Union’s policy positions.
9.29 The Campaign resources were highly innovative, using a range of techniques in order to put across the key messages for the Campaign, specific for each of the nations/administrations.
9.30 The Campaign began by articulating the entitlements for children that need to be restored, maintained or developed.
9.31 A booklet entitled ‘The Promise’ was distributed to all members. A summary of the key problems faced by teachers was highlighted in a publication in a ‘100 Days to Go’ leaflet.
9.32 ‘The Promise’ booklet was widely distributed to, and used in meetings with, policy-makers, politicians and prospective politicians, and was used in meetings throughout the country between representatives of the NASUWT and members of the public.
9.33 The key questions were also distilled into a Canvass Card issued to all members to ensure that all members were able to ask prospective candidates what they would do to improve education.
9.34 At regular intervals throughout the Campaign, posters were sent into schools, articulating the key themes. A social media strategy was deployed that ensured that messages on the themes around the Campaign were sent out on a daily basis in the 100 days in the run-up to the Election.
9.35 The NASUWT produced booklets focused on workload and pay and pensions, using survey and case study information received from members to reflect their experiences.
9.36 A Staffroom Discussion Pack was sent to all schools in England and Wales to allow teachers to discuss the issues, in an original way.
9.37 Materials were punctuated by facts and figures gathered by the NASUWT, as a result of ongoing research, and one-off pieces to ensure that the Campaign reflected both the needs of teachers and was tailored to reflect issues being raised.
9.38 During the Campaign, the Union’s in-house magazine, Teaching Today, marshalled the key arguments in a readable and authoritative manner for members to respond to the latest policy statements.
9.39 Additional materials were provided, illustrating the choices that were available to the electorate, using actual words and phrases used by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition on the European Union, and materials that focused on the specific concerns of members from under-represented groups.
9.40 A leaflet was produced on the provisions for workers throughout the European Union.
9.41 Materials were also developed to encourage teachers, and the wider community, to register to vote and use their vote, amid evidence that turnout was likely to decline unless there was a concerted effort to push this message out as widely as possible.
9.42 The Campaign ended with a ‘7 Days to Vote’ leaflet that clearly laid out the stark consequences of electing a Conservative Government.
9.43 The Campaign was showcased at the Annual Conference in Cardiff. Throughout the entire Campaign, contact was maintained with key political parties.
103 9.44 The Campaign was highly successful in engaging members, politicians and prospective politicians in the key issues but also in ensuring that members were registered to vote.
9.45 The NASUWT commissioned independent polling that suggested greater levels of engagement in educational issues by the time of the Election than at the beginning.
9.46 The Union’s campaigning activity was constrained by the Lobbying Act, designed to stifle comment and scrutiny of those who may be opposed to the actions and policies of the Coalition Government.
9.47 Following the General Election, the Union analysed the Conservative Government manifesto and its implications for each nation/administration and distributed this to members through Teaching Today.
Select Committees
9.48 The NASUWT responded during the year to five calls for written evidence to inquiries made by the House of Commons Education Select Committee:
• School Buildings Programme; • role of RSCs; • mental health and wellbeing of looked-after children; • the supply of teachers; and • Holocaust education.
9.49 The Union also gave oral evidence to the Committee on the supply of teachers.
9.50 The Union continued to monitor the work of a range of other select committees whose work was of interest to the NASUWT and its members. These select committees include:
• BIS Committee; • Communities and Local Government Committee; • Home Affairs Committee; • International Development Committee; • Public Accounts Committee; • Science and Technology Committee; and • Work and Pensions Committee.
All-Party Parliamentary Groups
9.51 The Union continued to engage with the important, informal, cross-party interest groups, using them as a means to both progress the policy objectives of the NASUWT and also to develop improved relations with individuals and groups of parliamentarians.
9.52 In particular, the NASUWT continued to be involved in:
• the School Food All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG); • Global Education APPG; • the Asbestos Sub-Committee of the APPG on Occupational Safety and Health; and • the Burma APPG.
9.53 The Union continued to monitor and engage with a much wider range of groups covering subjects including social mobility, religious education and personal finance education.
104 Member Communications with Parliamentarians
9.54 The Union continued to prioritise facilitating members, contacting and influencing legislators both in Westminster and in the devolved nations/administrations, including via its online advocacy facility.
Meetings with Backbench MPs
9.55 The NASUWT continued to build relationships with backbench MPs as well as those holding ministerial or shadow ministerial office.
9.56 Meetings with parliamentarians of all parties were held over the course of the year.
Party Conferences
9.57 The NASUWT was represented and had a high profile at the Labour and Conservative Party Conferences.
9.58 At each of the Party Conferences, the NASUWT used its stand to promote the Union’s policies and campaigns, particularly highlighting the cost of education and the impact of financial pressures on children and young people. The Union sought to engage delegates on these subjects.
9.59 At each Conference, the stand was visited by a wide range of delegates including ministers and their shadows, parliamentarians, councillors, school governors, teachers and many others.
9.60 The Union also used a free prize draw to encourage delegates to enter a quiz designed to challenge misconceptions about trade unions and human rights.
9.61 At the Labour Party Conference in Brighton in September, the NASUWT hosted four fringe meetings.
9.62 The first fringe event at Labour Party Conference was entitled ‘Poverty Proofing the School Day’ and sought to address how schools should contribute to tackling child poverty and ensuring that entry to schools and access to educational opportunities are not based on the ability to pay. Chaired by Kathy Wallis, NASUWT Senior Vice-President, the meeting was addressed by Shadow Minister for Children and Families Sharon Hodgson MP, Alison Garnham, Chief Executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, and NASUWT General Secretary Chris Keates.
9.63 The second fringe meeting was entitled ‘Education and Human Rights’ and discussed how, as the debate on an appropriate framework of human rights in the UK continues, the UK could ensure that it meets domestic and international obligations to protect and enhance the rights of children and young people. Chaired by Graham Dawson, NASUWT President, the meeting heard from Lord Falconer of Thoroton, Shadow Secretary of State for Justice, Louise King, Co-Director of the Children’s Rights Alliance for England, and Patrick Roach, NASUWT Deputy General Secretary.
9.64 The third fringe event hosted by the Union was entitled ‘Between You and Me – The Future Direction of Schools Policy’ and addressed how to secure an education system with a clear public ethos and entitlements for children and young people which empowers communities and the schools workforce to meet local needs. Chaired by Graham Dawson, NASUWT President, delegates heard from Shadow Secretary of State for Education Lucy Powell MP, Olivia Bailey, Research Director at the Fabian Society, and NASUWT General Secretary Chris Keates.
105 9.65 The Union also took the opportunity presented by the Conference to meet with a number of Labour Party parliamentarians.
9.66 At the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham in October, the NASUWT hosted two fringe meetings.
9.67 The first fringe at Conservative Party Conference was entitled ‘Poverty Proofing the School Day’ and sought to address how schools should contribute to tackling child poverty and ensuring that entry to schools and access to educational opportunities are not based on the ability to pay. Chaired by Fred Brown, NASUWT Junior Vice-President, the meeting was addressed by Minister for Schools Nick Gibb MP, Alison Garnham, Chief Executive of the Child Poverty Action Group, and NASUWT General Secretary Chris Keates.
9.68 The second fringe meeting was entitled ‘Education and Human Rights’ and discussed how, as the debate on an appropriate framework of human rights in the UK continues, the UK could ensure that it meets domestic and international obligations to protect and enhance the rights of children and young people. Chaired by Graham Dawson, President of the NASUWT, the meeting heard from Louise King, Co-Director of the Children’s Rights Alliance for England, and Patrick Roach, NASUWT Deputy General Secretary.
9.69 The Union also took the opportunity to meet with Conservative parliamentarians and other politicians.
NORTHERN IRELAND ASSEMBLY
The Conscience Clause Bill
9.70 A Conscience Clause Bill was introduced in December 2014. At the NASUWT Northern Ireland Annual Conference, implications of the provision of the Bill were debated and the Union continued to campaign against it.
Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Bill
9.71 The NASUWT continued to enhance its profile with key stakeholders in the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Union engaged directly with the Minister for Education and the Education Committee throughout the year.
9.72 The consultation period for the SEND Bill was extended to November, despite having reached its second stage in March.
9.73 The Bill aimed to strengthen the existing duties on the Education Authority and Boards of Governors of grant-aided schools to address the needs of pupils with SEN and to provide greater rights to parents and children over compulsory school age within the SEN Framework and in respect of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal.
9.74 The NASUWT gave evidence in June to the Education Committee on our response to the SEND Bill.
9.75 The Union called for a draft Code of Practice to be published before any progress on implementing the Bill provisions was made.
9.76 The NASUWT raised in its evidence:
• the workload pressures and resource implications; • concerns about the proposals for Boards of Governors to be able to expand a SENCO’s responsibilities;
106 • the absence of provisions to ensure that a duty was placed on health and social care to collaborate and work with schools; • the potential for the Personal Learning Plans to increase bureaucracy; and • the potential for the provision for children and young people to appeal directly to the SEND tribunal to be manipulated by adults.
Shared Education Bill
9.77 The Shared Education Bill was introduced into the Assembly in November and was expected to reach its final stage in March 2016. The Bill, as originally envisaged, provided a legislative definition of Shared Education as involving those of different religious beliefs, including reasonable numbers of both Protestant and Roman Catholic children or young people, and those who are experiencing socio-economic deprivation and those who are not.
9.78 The Bill placed a power on the Department and its arm’s-length bodies to encourage and facilitate Shared Education and would enact the duty on the Education Authority in relation to Shared Education as set out in the Education Act 2014.
9.79 In June, the NASUWT gave evidence to the Education Committee’s inquiry into Shared and Integrated Education, and in December gave evidence on the Shared Education Bill
Addressing Bullying in Schools Bill
9.80 The Addressing Bullying in Schools Bill was introduced to the Assembly in November. It provides a legal definition of bullying; introduces a requirement for schools to record all incidents of bullying; and requires Boards of Governors to take direct responsibility for developing and monitoring the effectiveness of Anti-Bullying policy and practice within schools.
9.81 The NASUWT responded in full to the consultation on the Bill.
Party Conferences
9.82 The Union had stands at the Alliance Party, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), Sinn Féin, Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), and Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) conferences. The Union held fringe meetings at the Alliance and SDLP Conferences.
9.83 The fringe meeting at the Alliance Party Conference was called ‘Education in the Age of Austerity’ and the speakers were Trevor Lunn MLA, Gerry Campbell, Chief Executive of Colleges NI, and Justin McCamphill of NASUWT Northern Ireland.
9.84 The fringe meeting at the SDLP Conference was called ‘Programme for Government for Education’ and the speakers were Seán Rogers MLA and Justin McCamphill of NASUWT Northern Ireland.
9.85 At the conferences, the Union engaged with delegates, distributed materials and promoted Union policy.
9.86 These events were used to lobby MLAs, MPs, MEPs, local councillors and party members on both local and national issues.
SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT
9.87 The Cabinet Secretary met regularly with the NASUWT throughout the year to discuss the national trade dispute and other current issues.
107 9.88 The NASUWT gave written and oral evidence to the Education Committee in January in response to the Government’s consultation on CfE and the New Higher.
9.89 In May, the NASUWT submitted written evidence to the Education and Culture Committee on the Education (Scotland) Bill.
9.90 Meetings of the TU/SNP Liaison Group and the TU/Labour Group were attended by representatives from the NASUWT throughout the year. These meetings provide an excellent avenue for direct engagement with the Government.
9.91 The NASUWT gave written and oral evidence to the Education Committee in November as part of the consultation on the draft Scottish Budget for 2016-17.
9.92 The NASUWT met with the Shadow Education Minister, Iain Gray MSP, and the Labour Leader, Jim Murphy, in February to discuss the Union’s Vote for Education campaign prior to the UK General Election.
9.93 In August, the NASUWT met with the new Labour leader, Kezia Dugdale, and Iain Gray MSP to discuss the national trade dispute and policy issues relating to education.
Meetings with Politicians
9.94 The NASUWT met with the SNP Education spokesperson, Carol Monaghan, to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern.
Party Conferences
9.95 The NASUWT had an exhibition stand at the Scottish Labour Party Spring Conference (Edinburgh), the Conservative Party Spring Conference (Edinburgh), the Liberal Democrat SpringDRAFT Party Conference (Aberdeen) andCOPY the SNP Spring Conference (Glasgow). This provided the opportunity to engage with politicians and members of the public to promote NASUWT policy, raise the Union’s profile and discuss the issues facing teachers and education. The theme for the stands was the Union’s Standing up for Standards campaign, with details of the cuts to teachers’ pay and pensions evidenced.
9.96 The NASUWT held a fringe meeting at both SNP and Labour Spring Conferences entitled THIS‘Protecting our Public Services’. VERSION The fringe at the Labour Conference was supportedIS by Dave Watson (Unison) and Neil Findlay MSP, and the fringe at the SNP Conference had Christina McKelvie MSP and Jane Peckham, NASUWT National Official Scotland, as speakers.UNPROOFREAD 9.97 The NASUWT also exhibited at the Labour Conference in November in Perth and the SNP Conference in November in Aberdeen. The theme for the stand was the Union’s Standing up for Standards campaign, with details of the cuts to teachers’ pay and pensions evidenced.
9.98 The NASUWT held two fringe meetings at both conferences entitled ‘Poverty Proofing the School Day’, which had speakers from Child Poverty Action (Scotland), and ‘Inclusion – Ideology and Reality’, with Angela Constance MSP speaking at SNP and Iain Gray MSP speaking at Labour. Both events were very successful and well-attended.
9.99 At the NASUWT Scotland AGM, a motion was passed expressing concerns that children with additional needs were being placed in settings which were inappropriate.
9.100 The NASUWT raised these concerns with the Cabinet Secretary at one of their regular meetings, highlighting the impact of the presumption of mainstream policy.
108 The Programme for Government
9.101 In September, the First Minister announced the Programme for Government, a large part of which focused on education priorities.
9.102 Following the announcement, the Scottish Government launched ‘Creating a Smarter Scotland – A Draft National Improvement Framework for Scottish Education’.
9.103 The programme included:
• a new Read, Write and Count campaign; • an Education Bill to give new rights to children; • a raising-attainment-for-all initiative; • a Scottish Business pledge to commit to investment in youth training and expand apprenticeships; • a 20% target for university entrance for pupils from the most deprived communities; and • double the hours of free childcare.
9.104 The main aspect of the programme which caused concern was the proposal to introduce a new national standardised assessment for children in primaries 1,4,7 and S3.
9.105 Whilst the NASUWT asserted that there was nothing intrinsically wrong in testing, and that it already took place in schools, it was the use to which the test results may have been put which had caused concern. The Union also highlighted that this had the potential to be the basis for the introduction of league tables by which schools could be ranked.
9.106 The NASUWT issued a full briefing to all members on the Framework and encouraged members to access the full Document on the Union’s website, provide feedback to the NASUWT and continue to implement the Union’s national action instructions.
Education Scotland Bill
9.107 The Bill provided for:
• the introduction of a statutory duty on councils to close the attainment gap; • the promotion of Gaelic education by placing a duty on councils to assess the need; • the assuranc that teachers are appropriately trained and qualified by requiring all teachers in independent schools to be registered the with the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS); • the creation of a Chief Education Officer post in local councils; and • the enhancement of children’s rights by extending the rights of children aged 12 and older under the Additional Support for Learning Act 2004.
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FOR WALES
The Wales Bill
9.108 The St David’s Day Agreement on the devolution of further powers to the National Assembly for Wales found that, whereas there was a consensus on teacher pensions remaining as a reserved power with the UK Government, there was no consensus on the devolution of teachers’ pay and conditions.
9.109 As the year progressed, the Welsh Government shifted its position and moved to favour the devolution of teachers’ pay and conditions in Wales.
109 9.110 This was evidenced in the Education Minister’s response to the Review Body’s 25th Report in which disappointment was expressed that the draft Wales Bill still contained a reservation on the devolution of teachers’ pay and conditions.
9.111 In December, the First Minister suggested at a meeting of the WPC that the Wales Bill, as currently drafted, would remove the possibility of having separate conditions across the public sector in Wales.
Lobbying
9.112 The NASUWT lobbied AMs and Welsh MPs throughout the year on a range of issues including:
• asbestos in schools; • school closures across the phases; • protection of the public sector workforce; • increasing teacher workload; • the failure to ensure a democracy basis for the new EWC; • maintenance of teachers’ national pay and conditions of service across England and Wales; • the exploitation of supply teachers; • the continuing misuse of international data; • the politicisation of the Welsh inspectorate, Estyn; • school and post-16 funding; • the role of the regional consortia; and • the unprecedented level of compulsory redundancies and job loss.
9.113 The Union attended and contributed to meetings of the National Assembly for Wales’ cross- party group on asbestos in schools.
Party Conferences
9.114 The NASUWT exhibited at the annual conferences of Welsh Labour (February, Swansea) and Welsh Conservatives (February, Cardiff); the annual conference (February, Cardiff) and Autumn conference of the Welsh Liberal Democrats (November, Swansea); and Plaid Cymru’s Spring conference (March, Caernarfon) and annual conference (October, Aberystwyth). The theme of the stand at the Spring conferences celebrated the advantages of being a pupil in the Welsh education system. The Autumn conference theme looked ahead to the National Assembly for Wales elections using the slogan, ‘How will your party support teachers to support children and young people?’, and covered indiscipline, salary loss and workload.
9.115 These events were used to lobby AMs, MPs, local councillors and party members on both local and national issues.
WORK WITH THE WIDER TRADE UNION MOVEMENT
TUC
10.1 The NASUWT General Secretary, Chris Keates, continued to represent the NASUWT on the General Council, together with Brian Cookson. The General Secretary also continued to serve on the TUC Executive Committee. Brian Cookson served on the Unionlearn Board.
110 TUC Congress, Brighton
10.2 The NASUWT continued to play an active role in, and had a high profile at, the TUC Congress in September. The Union was represented by the National Officers and delegates elected from the National Executive (see Appendix 2).
10.3 The NASUWT Senior Vice-President, Kathy Wallis, moved a composite motion on ‘Education and Extremism’ (see Appendix 3). The NASUWT General Secretary, Chris Keates, moved a motion on ‘Government Attacks on Civil Rights Extremism’ (see Appendix 3). Celia Foote, National Executive Member NASUWT, seconded a motion on ‘The Gender Pensions Gap’. NASUWT Deputy General Secretary Patrick Roach seconded the LGBT Conference motion on ‘Discrimination in Survivor Pensions’ and NASUWT President Graham Dawson seconded the motion on ‘Violence in the Workplace’ (see Appendix 3). NASUWT Ex-President Geoff Branner spoke in support of a composite motion on ‘The Housing Crisis’ (see Appendix 3). NASUWT delegates also spoke in support of a number of motions: ‘Public Sector Redundancy Cap’, ‘Public Funding for Arts and Culture’, ‘Education Funding Crisis’, ‘Education and Poverty’, ‘Defending Mental Health Services for All’, ‘Mental Health and Young Workers’, ‘Campaigning for Pregnant Workers’, ‘Disabled People and the New Government’, ‘Casualisation’, ‘Campaigning for Public Services and Against the Pay Cap’, ‘Child Sexual Exploitation – Campaign to Provide Services’, and the General Council’s Statement on ‘Refugees’. The NASUWT spoke against the motion on ‘Electoral Reform’ and opposed the motion on the ‘TUC Trades Union Councils Conference’.
10.4 NASUWT delegates also attended and contributed to a number of the fringe meetings and events.
TUC Awards
10.5 The NASUWT received a number of accolades in the TUC Annual Communications Awards held in July. The Union received a highly commended award for best campaign for the Union’s ‘Cost of Education’ campaign. The judges stated, ‘this was an interesting and impressive campaign that used a good range of well-coordinated materials. The link-up with Child Poverty Action Group was praised and helped to underline many of the union’s key arguments’.
10.6 In addition, the Union received a commendation for the Best Journal/Magazine award for Teaching Today, with the judges describing the strong focus on union news and campaigns as ‘the standout feature of this magazine’, and a commendation for the feature on the ‘Unite for Education’ campaign.
10.7 The Union also received commendations for its website, the ‘Vote for Education’ booklet, described by the judges as ‘a clarion call to vote for education’, and for best photo/illustration for the leaflet promoting the Women’s Consultation Conference.
TUC Women’s Conference, London
10.8 The NASUWT continued to play an active role in the TUC Women’s Conference in March. Twenty-three NASUWT delegates attended the Conference and participated in the debates and activities. Also in attendance were four NASUWT Visitors from various Local Associations who attended to observe the Conference. The delegates are listed in Appendix 2.
10.9 The NASUWT proposed two motions (Appendix 3). The motion entitled the ‘Cost of Education’ was moved by Helen O’Neill and seconded by the UCU. The motion was unanimously carried by Conference. The second motion on ‘Gender and Education’ was moved by Deborah Long. Both motions were unanimously carried by Conference.
111 10.10 The NASUWT delegation actively participated in the Conference and made nine speeches to 15 motions. NASUWT delegates spoke in favour of motions on gender equality, the casualisation of the workforce, cuts to staffing on rail services, pay and poverty, violence against women, NHS screening, TTIP, achieving a work/life balance, the menopause, abortion and the right to choose, and immigration.
10.11 A total of 15 nominations were received for the 14 places on Section A of the TUC Women’s Committee. An election was held and Kathy Duggan (National Executive and Chair of the Equal Opportunities Committee) was re-elected to the Committee. Ruth Duncan was also successfully elected to one of the seats reserved for black women (Section B) of the Committee.
TUC Young Members’ Conference, London
10.12 The NASUWT continued to play an active role in the TUC Young Members’ Conference in March. The NASUWT had four delegates attending the Conference and participated in the debates and activities. The delegates are listed in Appendix 2.
10.13 The NASUWT submitted a motion on ‘Recruitment and Retention of Young Teachers’ (see Appendix 3), which was moved by David Robertson. The motion was carried unanimously by Conference.
10.14 NASUWT delegates voted in support of a range of motions in accordance with NASUWT policy. These included housing, mental health, organising and the impact of student debt.
TUC Black Workers’ Conference, London
10.15 The NASUWT continued to play an active role in the TUC Black Workers’ Conference in April. Twenty NASUWT delegates and six NASUWT visitors attended the Conference. In particular, NASUWT delegates contributed to the discussions on the TUC report. Living on the margins: Black workers and casualization, providing information relevant to the teaching profession. NASUWT delegates are listed in Appendix 2.
10.16 The NASUWT motion on ‘Tackling Extremism and Hate’ (see Appendix 3), was proposed by Michelle Codrington-Rogers. The motion was seconded by PCS and unanimously carried by the Conference.
10.17 The NASUWT delegates made contributions to debates and supported motions on ‘Mental Health Inequality among Black People’, Reform of the Equality Act 2010’, ‘Zero Hours’, ‘Fighting the Challenge of UKIP and Organising Strategy’.
10.18 Michelle Codrington-Rogers was successfully re-elected to the TUC Race Relations Committee, almost topping the largest number of votes from the Conference.
TUC Disabled Members’ Conference, London
10.19 The NASUWT continued to play an active role in the TUC Disabled Members’ Conference in May. Twelve NASUWT delegates attended the Conference and participated in the debates and activities. The delegates are listed in Appendix 2.
10.20 The NASUWT proposed one motion (Appendix 3), ‘Mental Health and Reasonable Adjustments’. The motion was moved by Lara Morris and seconded by UCU. It was a popular topic and several unions spoke on the motion. The motion was unanimously carried by Conference.
112 10.21 The NASUWT delegation participated actively in the Conference and made seven speeches on six motions. The delegation spoke in favour of motions on: ‘Disabled Workers Deserve Better’, ‘Disabled People and the Pay Gap’, ‘Hidden Disabilities’, ‘Carers and Mental Health’ and ‘Cuts in Transport Staff’.
10.22 A total of 17 nominations were received for the 14 places on Section A, for the general seat, on the TUC Disabled Workers’ Committee. Therefore, an election was held. Lara Morris was returned to the Committee to serve for a second year.
TUC LGBT Members’ Conference, London
10.23 The NASUWT continued to play an active role in the TUC LGBT Members’ Conference in March. The NASUWT had 18 delegates attending the Conference and participated in the debates and activities. The delegates are listed in Appendix 2.
10.24 The NASUWT submitted one motion, ‘Equalisation of Survivor Benefits’, which was composited with the motion by Unite the Union, ‘End Discrimination in Survivor Benefits’, and the FDA motion ‘Equal Survivor Benefits’. The motion was moved by Unite the Union and seconded by Lee Williscroft-Ferris, NASUWT Representative on the TUC LGBT Committee. The motion was extremely popular at the Conference with many unions speaking in support of the issues raised. The motion was selected by the Conference to be the priority LGBT Conference motion to be debated at TUC Congress. This provided the NASUWT with the opportunity to second the motion at TUC Congress in September.
10.25 The NASUWT delegation actively participated in the Conference and spoke in support of a number of motions profiling the Union’s policies and work on LGBT equality. In particular, NASUWT delegates contributed to motions on ‘LGBT Workplace Bullying and Harassment in the Health Sector’, Supporting LGBT Carers’, ‘The High Risk of Homelessness’, ‘LGBT Private Rented Housing’, ‘Tackling Homophobia in Football’, and ‘International LGBT Representation’.
10.26 All nominees to the TUC LGBT Workers’ Committee were elected unopposed and Lee Williscroft-Ferris was duly re-elected to the TUC LGBT Committee.
10.27 In addition, Debbie Hayton was co-opted to the seat set aside for trans members within the TUC LGBT Committee following a second nomination process in September.
TUC Conferences and Seminars
10.28 The NASUWT played an active role in the TUC throughout the year and was represented at a number of conferences and seminars organised by the TUC (see Appendix 2).
Durham Miners’ Gala
10.29 In July, the NASUWT was well represented at the Durham Miners’ Gala.
10.30 The biggest trade union event in Europe saw an estimated 150,000 people parade through the city.
10.31 The NASUWT march participants included members from across the UK, led by the NASUWT Riverside Band.
10.32 NASUWT General Secretary Chris Keates addressed the rally at Durham Racecourse, focusing on the need for trade unionists and ordinary working people to defend jobs and communities over the coming five years, focusing on the threats of the Trade Union Bill, the repeal of the Human Rights Act, and child poverty.
113 Burston Strike School Rally
10.33 The NASUWT continued to support the Burston Strike School Rally which celebrates the longest running strike in British history, between 1914 and 1939.
10.34 The rally, which took place in September, was attended by 3,000 trade unionists and was well supported by the NASUWT local activists. NASUWT Local Associations contributed towards the financial appeal for the upkeep of the Strike School and their names are on the plaque now in the Strike School.
Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival, Dorset
10.35 In July, the NASUWT once again had a significant presence at the TUC festival and rally at Tolpuddle, Dorset. The NASUWT maintained a large stall right in the centre of the festival site. Throughout the three-day event, the stall was staffed and visited by many activists both from the Dorset Association and from every other part of the UK.
10.36 The NASUWT had one of the largest trade union presences at the festival and the Riverside Band was once again a popular attraction.
Women Chainmakers’ Festival
10.37 The NASUWT supported the Women Chainmakers’ Festival in July in Cradley Heath, in the Black Country. The NASUWT West Midlands banner was carried by members in the procession along Cradley Heath High Street. The festival was supported by NASUWT members from across the West Midlands and attracted over a thousand trade unionists and members of the local community.
TUC Rally and March against the Trade Union Bill
10.38 The NASUWT was well represented at the TUC march and rally, ‘No to austerity, Yes to workers’ rights’, held in Manchester in October, with thousands of NASUWT members in attendance from across the UK.
10.39 The march and rally was held in Manchester due to its proximity to the Conservative Party Conference.
10.40 The NASUWT General Secretary, Chris Keates, spoke at the rally on the attacks on human and trade union rights of families, workers and trade unionists, making clear that no Act of Parliament would silence the voice of trade unions.
10.41 Sarah Duncan, an NASUWT member and a primary school teacher from the North West, also spoke at the rally, stressing the importance of the Union’s industrial action and the importance of defending working conditions as they act as a defence for the education provision of all children and young people.
TUC Equality Audit
10.42 The TUC biennial Equality Audit surveys the work and practices of trade unions on equality issues. It covers union structures, policies and services and benchmarks affiliates’ progress on equalities.
10.43 The NASUWT has taken part in all of the TUC audits and has received recognition from the TUC for its pioneering work on equalities.
114 10.44 Following the 2014 Audit, the NASUWT established an Action Plan, prioritising three key areas of equalities work up to 2017. These included:
• how the Union would champion equalities throughout its campaigning and bargaining work; • how the Union would build capacity within its policies, practices and leadership to increase the participation of under-represented groups within its structures; and • how the Union would equip its representatives, members and resources to tackle discrimination in the workplace.
IRISH CONGRESS OF TRADE UNIONS (ICTU)
10.45 The NASUWT was represented at the ICTU Biennial Delegate Conference in Ennis in July.
10.46 The themes of the 2015 Conference were ‘Living Wage’ and ‘Strong Economy’.
10.47 Over the course of the three days, almost 800 delegates, observers and visitors from across Ireland debated a wide range of motions, dealing with issues such as: wage-led growth, pay and pensions, precarious work and low-hour contracts, low pay and inequality, health and education, privatisation, TTIP and climate change.
10.48 The Conference adopted the motion from the NASUWT on the make-up of the new Northern Ireland Education Authority. The motion was proposed Justin McCamphill, NASUWT National Official (Northern Ireland), and seconded by Teresa Graham, NASUWT Northern Ireland President.
10.49 Justin McCamphill was re-elected to the Executive Council of Congress on the first count.
10.50 Justin McCamphill was also co-opted to the Northern Ireland Committee as an observer after the untimely death of NASUWT Official Karen Sims.
ICTU Education Trade Union Group
10.51 The NASUWT continued to play a major role in the Education Trade Union Group (ETUG) within the ICTU. The Union worked with the Group, which comprised members of teaching and non-teaching unions to co-ordinate its activities. Issues addressed during the year included:
• the education budget; • rationalisation of the school estate; • staff protections during reorganisations; • BDS procurement; • precautionary suspension; and • asbestos in schools.
SCOTTISH TUC
10.52 The NASUWT submitted a nomination to the General Council. Fifteen nominations were received for 14 seats. A ballot took place at Congress but unfortunately the NASUWT was not successful in securing a seat on the General Council.
10.53 The NASUWT submitted a nomination to the Women’s Committee. Jane Peckham, National Official, was elected to the STUC Women’s Committee.
115 STUC Congress
10.54 The NASUWT was represented by six delegates at the STUC Congress in Dundee in Ayr (see Appendix 2).
10.55 Bill Cook, NASUWT National Executive Member, proposed motions on ‘Child Poverty and Educational Attainment’ and Jane Peckham, NASUWT National Official Scotland, proposed a motion on ‘Rights to Flexible Working’ (see Appendix 3), which were carried by the Congress.
STUC LGBT Conference, May in Clydebank
10.56 The NASUWT was represented by six delegates at the STUC LGBT Conference (see Appendix 2).
10.57 This was the first time the NASUWT had sent a delegation to this Conference. Delegates took part in the debates and attended a series of workshops.
STUC Women’s Conference, November in Dundee
10.58 The NASUWT was represented by five delegates at the STUC Women’s Conference, four of whom were first-time delegates (see Appendix 2).
10.59 Moira Corrigan and Helen Auld proposed motions on ‘Impact of Poverty on Women and Families’ and ‘Education and Gender’ respectively (see Appendix 3), which were carried by the Conference.
10.60 The NASUWT participated in a rally at the Conference to promote the STUC Campaign, ‘A Women’s Place is in a Trade Union’.
STUC Black Workers’ Conference, October in Glasgow
10.61 The NASUWT was represented by five delegates at the STUC Black Workers’ Conference (see Appendix 2).
10.62 Zaf Hussain proposed a motion on behalf of the NASUWT on ‘Tackling Racism and Prejudice’ (see Appendix 3), which was carried by the Conference.
STUC Disabled Workers’ Conference, November in Clydebank
10.63 The NASUWT was represented by two delegates at the STUC Disabled Workers’ Conference (see Appendix 2).
10.64 John Forsyth proposed the NASUWT motion on ‘Mental Health and Reasonable Adjustments’ (see Appendix 3), which was carried.
WALES TUC
10.65 The NASUWT was represented throughout the year on the General Council of the WTUC by the National Official for Wales, Rex Phillips, and the National Executive Member and Cardiff Association Secretary, Jane Setchfield, who also serves on the WTUC Equalities Committee.
10.66 With the move to a biannual Conference, a Special Meeting of the General Council was held in May. As well as completing business required in the absence of a conference, the meeting
116 considered the strategic direction and key priorities for the WTUC in the context of the UK election result and in the run-up to the 2016 Assembly elections.
10.67 The NASUWT used the opportunity to raise concerns about the Welsh Government’s poor record on protecting the education workforce from redundancy and the flawed policies and initiatives introduced after the former Minister’s misguided decision to create an artificial crisis in 2010 following the release of the 2009 PISA outcomes.
10.68 Rex Phillips, NASUWT National Official (Wales), continued to serve on the WPC, as an elected representative from the Education Group within the WPC.
10.69 The work of the WPC was dominated by the prospect of local government reorganisation and the establishment of a Staff Commission.
10.70 As referred to elsewhere in this Annual Report under ‘School Reorganisation’, although the NASUWT had been encouraged by the Welsh Government’s decision to ask the WPC to develop a strategy for workforce planning and mobility across the Welsh devolved public sector, as it had the potential to provide the means of avoiding compulsory redundancies in the school sector, the revelation that the proposals would not initially extend to school governing bodies was received with extreme disappointment and the NASUWT pledged to continue to challenge these.
10.71 Jane Setchfield, NASUWT National Executive Member, and Angela Butler represented the NASUWT on the All Wales Equality Network.
10.72 Rex Phillips, NASUWT National Official (Wales), addressed the WTUC Workers’ Memorial Day ceremony in Cardiff on the need to remove the risk of exposure to hazardous substances in the workplace and called on the political parties in Wales to provide manifesto commitments to make schools asbestos-free zones.
10.73 The autonomy of the Wales TUC was enhanced in September by a change to the TUC constitution that recognised the rights of Welsh trade unionists to have their own democratic structure to make decisions on matters which are within the powers of the Welsh Government and legislature and on matters which are wholly specific to Wales.
10.74 The NASUWT contributed to several WTUC responses to Welsh Government and WPC consultations during the year.
INTERNATIONAL
11.1 Throughout the year, the NASUWT maintained its commitment to building the capacity of teacher trade unions in other countries, defending the human and trade union rights of teachers around the world and campaigning to secure the inclusion of education with the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
11.2 The campaign to secure education as a post-2015 SDG was ultimately successful, as on 25 September, the 193 countries of the UN General Assembly adopted the 2030 Development Agenda entitled Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which included the following goal on education: ‘Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’.
11.3 The NASUWT reviewed and updated its international strategy and programme, and continued to ensure that all areas of its work contributed to:
• securing improvements to the pay and working conditions of teachers in the UK; • building human and trade union rights and securing the goal of education for all;
117 • supporting teachers and trade unionists in the Unionʼs target countries, i.e. Bahrain, Burma, Colombia, Iraq and Zimbabwe; • supporting disaster-relief campaigns through the TUC and EI; • promoting the work and commitment of the NASUWT to members and to key external bodies; • advancing the Unionʼs key campaigns, including through representation on major bodies, campaigns and public protests; and • supporting the work of appropriate non-governmental organisations (NGOs), particularly those working principally in the area of trade union and workersʼ rights and educational equality.
11.4 The NASUWT continued to pursue its international objectives through engagement in and support for the work of a wide range of UK and international bodies, including:
• Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA); • Amnesty International; • Burma Campaign; • Commonwealth Teachersʼ Group (CTG); • General Federation of Iraqi Trade Unions (GFITU); • Global Campaign for Education (GCE); • Justice for Colombia (JFC); • Labour Friends of Iraq (LFIQ); • Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ); • The Robin Hood Tax (RHT); • Think Global – Development Education Association (DEA); • Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC); • TUC; and • Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO).
11.5 The NASUWTʼs activity also included work with government departments across the UK and the European Parliament.
11.6 The NASUWT continued to support efforts to secure the Education For All objectives, including the achievement of access to primary education for all children and equality of access to education for women and girls.
11.7 The Union contributed to international efforts to build and support the development of independent, democratic and non-sectarian teacher trade unions around the world and to aid the reconstruction of education in the wake of wars, conflict and natural disasters in countries including Burma, Colombia, Iraq, Zimbabwe and Nepal, as well as in the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
Bahrain
11.8 Throughout the year, the NASUWT continued regularly to press the case of Mahdi Abu Dheeb, President of the Bahraini Teachers’ Association (BTA), who was imprisoned in 2011 and subsequently tortured by the Bahrain authorities.
11.9 The NASUWT encouraged members to get involved in a number of campaigns, including those organised by LabourStart and Amnesty International. These included a postcard campaign in which 628,000 postcards were sent in support of Mahdi Abu Dheeb.
11.10 The NASUWT held a silent protest at Annual Conference in Cardiff against Mahdi Abu Dheeb’s continued detention. The whole conference participated in solidarity together with Jalila al-Salman, Vice-President of the BTA, and Shane Enright from Amnesty UK.
118 11.11 In addition, Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT Deputy General Secretary, was part of an Amnesty International delegation to the Bahrain Embassy in London, which called for the release of Mahdi Abu Dheeb, and hosted Jalila al-Salman when she attended an Amnesty International Conference in which she asked the British Government to speak out on behalf of Bahraini citizens.
11.12 Other work on Bahrain included support for the BTA to affiliate to EI and then subsequent support for the nomination of Jalila al-Salman for elections to the Executive Board on EI. Although Jalila al-Salman missed out, the close result demonstrated the high regard in which she was held by other trade union leaders.
Burma
11.13 The NASUWT worked to highlight the continuing severity of the situation in Burma. Following the rape and murder of two young volunteer teacher women, the Union supported the Burma Campaign UK in the printing and distribution of a postcard campaign calling for an international investigation into rape and sexual violence in Burma.
11.14 In advance of national elections on 8 November, the NASUWT alerted members to the serious concerns about the election process, including the exclusion of many people from the voting process and the constitutional issues that mean the military junta would retain power regardless of the outcome.
11.15 The NASUWT also worked with the Burma Campaign UK to support the development of community-based organisations in Burma, focusing on a project with the Women’s League of Burma, a grassroots organisation that works to empower women and advance the status of women in Burma. This project supported women within Burma through training and capacity building to raise awareness and advocate on the issue of rape and sexual violence.
11.16 The NASUWT also continued to participate in the All Party Parliamentary Group on Burma.
Colombia
11.17 The NASUWT continued to work closely with the Justice for Colombia campaign and to draw national and international attention to the denial of fundamental human and trade union rights to the people of that country. Particular activity during the year was focused on securing the release of Omar Combita, a teacher and trade unionist imprisoned for his advocacy of trade unionism and the rights of indigenous peoples in Colombia. Omar Combita was released in September.
11.18 The NASUWT made direct representations on the behalf of imprisoned human rights defenders and trade unionists to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Colombian Government.
11.19 The NASUWT continued to engage throughout the year with Justice for Colombia (JFC) and deepened links with the Colombian Teachers’ Union FECODE as a result of meetings held in Ottawa at EI World Congress. These connections have been maintained throughout the year and will include further meetings in the New Year.
Iraq
11.20 Throughout the year, the NASUWT continued to maintain a national and international spotlight on Iraq and its trade union movement, particularly the ITU and KTU, as the country continued to be gripped by extreme ISIS violence, a bloody sectarian divide and rampant financial and administrative corruption, with a consequent deadly impact on the trade union movement.
119 11.21 Against a background of violent repression and population displacement, the NASUWT continued to work closely with the ITU and to promote international recognition for the work of the ITU. The Union nominated Ahmed Jassam, President of the National Technical Sector (NTS) of the ITU, for the 2015 Education International Mary Hatwood Futrell Global Human and Trade Union Rights Award which he received at the EI 7th World Congress in Ottawa, Canada in July.
11.22 The NASUWT hosted a seminar on the future of Iraq at the TUC in April, entitled ‘Iraq, Where to Now? – 12 Years after the Invasion – Vision, Challenges and Way Forward’. A collection of essays was published in July.
11.23 ISIS extremists committed vile murders against ordinary Iraqis including trade union leaders and activists. The NASUWT condemned the murder by ISIS of the Mosul ITU Vice-President on 5 June.
11.24 The NASUWT contributed financially via EI to a solidarity fund to assist displaced Iraqi teachers and their families.
11.25 Throughout the year, the NASUWT received information from both the ITU and KTU that the Iraq trade union movement had initiated a new campaign of industrial action demanding labour rights, better working and living conditions and proper support for displaced people, especially in health and education. Unions are organising every Friday in Baghdad and across Iraq’s major cities, joining popular mass protests demanding constitutional reforms, judicial reforms, an end to the ISIS menace and epidemic corruption, and for the provision of basic services. The ITU is engaging instrumentally in this campaign. The NASUWT is supporting the campaign.
11.26 The NASUWT also supported the ITU, KTU and wider Iraqi trade union movement demands for an International Labour Organization (ILO)-compliant trade union. The NASUWT has continued to engage with EI and the TUC for an international trade union mission, led by the ITUC, to press for a compliant draft trade union law.
11.27 The NASUWT continued its efforts to develop the democratic capacity of the ITU and KTU. The NASUWT, together with EI, organised a training programme for the KTU on 27-28 October, exploring the development of KTU internal democracy, including the organisation of an annual national delegates’ conference.
Turkey
11.28 During the year, the Turkish State continued to pursue an aggressive policy of human and trade union rights violations against the organised public sector Turkish trade unions confederation, KESK, and its affiliated teachers’ union, Egitim Sen. The situation has further deteriorated due to the rise of ISIS and its occupation of large areas in Syria and Iraq that border with Turkey.
11.29 Egitim Sen, supported by the NASUWT, organised humanitarian efforts to assist refugees and displaced children and families with basic education and shelters. The NASUWT National President, Graham Dawson, alongside colleagues from GEW visited three refugee camps in Turkey, in April, as guests of Egitim SEN.
11.30 The NASUWT provided financial aid to Egitim Sen to support its humanitarian relief work with refugee children. The money donated by the NASUWT enabled the provision and expansion of a schools programme which Egitim Sen has established in the refugee camps for Syrian and Iraqi children.
120 11.31 Between June and October, ISIS committed three suicide bombings. The first slaughtered over 30 civic Turkish-Kurdish humanitarian aid workers in a Turkish-Syrian border city. The third bomb attacks were in Ankara in which over 20 KESK and Egitim Sen members were killed. The NASUWT publicly condemned these attacks.
11.32 The NASUWT continued to ensure that international trade union pressure and scrutiny was kept on the Turkish authorities with the aim of seeking to persuade the Turkish Government to adhere to and respect legitimate democratic and independent trade union representation, as enshrined by the ILO core conventions.
11.33 The NASUWT continued to make representations to the Turkish Government and called on the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office to intervene to secure fair justice for members of Egitim Sen and to respect freedom of expression and freedom of association.
11.34 The NASUWT wrote to the Turkish Embassy in the UK to protest against the attacks and called on the Turkish Government to respect trade unions. The NASUWT General Secretary and Deputy General Secretary sent letters of sympathy and condolences to the Egitim Sen leadership, condemning the ISIS twin suicide attacks in Ankara on 10 October that killed members of Egitim Sen and KESK.
11.35 Following representations from the NASUWT, the TUC also wrote letters of support, in solidarity, to Egitim Sen.
Iran
11.36 The NASUWT continued to monitor the trade unions and human rights situation in Iran and provided political and practical support to Iranian trade union activists including the Iranian Teachers Trade [Union] Association (CITTA).
11.37 The NASUWT International Solidarity Awards at Annual Conference in April recognised the work of CITTA in campaigning for democratic and free trade unions and the rights of teachers. At the Seventh World Congress of EI in July, the NASUWT played an instrumental role in highlighting the plight of trade unions and human rights activists and tabled an emergency resolution calling on the global trade union community to provide political and practical support for CITTA and to secure trade union rights and democratic reforms, while demanding the release of jailed teacher trade union leaders.
Uganda
11.38 Throughout the year, the NASUWT continued to work in solidarity with the Ugandan Teachers’ Union, UNATU. UNATU President Margaret Rwabushaija gave a presentation at a fringe meeting at Annual Conference on the work of UNATU in tackling violence against women and girls.
11.39 The solidarity work with UNATU included a mutual exchange visit of representatives from both unions to discuss and share experiences of capacity building for trade union recruitment and organising. The NASUWT engaged with UNATU on its trade union education and training programme, industrial action activities and other campaigning work.
11.40 In December, the NASUWT National President, Graham Dawson, and the National Official for Equality and Training, Jennifer Moses, continued their engagement with UNATU by attending the UNATU Annual Conference in Kampala, Uganda. At the event, NASUWT representatives discussed with UNATU strategies for recruiting and retaining women in leadership positions within the union.
121 UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)
11.41 In March, the NASUWT Senior Vice-President, Kathy Wallis, and the NASUWT National Official for Equality and Training, Jennifer Moses, attended the 59th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York. The CSW is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) dedicated exclusively to gender equality and the advancement of women. The purpose of CSW is to evaluate progress on gender equality, identify challenges, set global standards and formulate policies to promote gender equality and advancement of women worldwide.
11.42 The NASUWT Representatives attended as part of the EI delegation and lobbied governments on their commitments to women’s and girls’ equality, as well as supporting the work of the UK NGO Liaison Group.
11.43 The NASUWT, together with the international trade union movement, joined with over 1000 women’s rights NGOs to protest about their exclusion from the negotiating process.
11.44 The NASUWT Representatives played a full and active part in disseminating the trade union perspectives of the priority theme for implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA) and Post-15 Development Agenda at various side events and parallel meetings. The NASUWT Representatives also lobbied the UK Government representatives to secure a joint statement with global unions calling for trade unions to be recognised as key partners in defining the new framework for promoting and advancing rights for women and girls post 2015.
Zimbabwe
11.45 Zimbabwe continued to be one of the NASUWT’s priority countries. The NASUWT has a long-established solidarity relationship with trade unions in Zimbabwe, in particular the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ).
11.46 The NASUWT was pleased to host the PTUZ President and other officials at its Annual Conference, where it shared its experiences and good-practice examples of organising and building capacity in challenging circumstances. The Union also provided the PTUZ with information on training for school representatives and other roles to support its ongoing struggle to recruit and organise activists.
11.47 PTUZ President Takafavira Zhou was recognised by the International Solidarity Award for his commitment and work to secure human and trade union rights in Zimbabwe.
11.48 At the end of the year, the NASUWT Junior Vice-President, Fred Brown, attended the PTUZ Conference in Harare.
Nepal
11.49 Following the earthquake in Nepal, in which thousands were left dead, including 62 teachers, the NASUWT offered to assist with financial and other support to the people of Nepal through EI.
International Solidarity Award
11.50 The NASUWT’s Annual International Solidarity Award recognised the bravery and commitment of individuals and organisations who work to promote human rights and to defend the rights of teachers.
122 11.51 In April, the NASUWT awarded the fourth annual International Solidarity Award to the Korean Teachers’ Union (KTU), for its work in campaigning for the defence of trade union rights in Korea, in the face of sustained attacks by the Korean Government.
11.52 At the EI World Congress in July, the NASUWT worked to successfully secure the election of the KTU to the World Executive Board of EI.
11.53 Other individuals and organisations recognised for their contributions to human and trade union rights by the NASUWT International Solidarity Award were the CITTA (Iran), Omar Combita (Colombia) and Takavafira Zhou (Zimbabwe).
ET2020 Working Group on Transversal Skills
11.54 The National Treasurer, Brian Cookson, continued to attend the European Commission Working Group on Transversal Skills. The recommendations of the Working Group helped to inform EU policy.
Education International (EI) Congress
11.55 In July, the NASUWT was represented at the EI 7th World Congress in Ottawa, Canada. NASUWT Representatives were Victor Agüera; Geoff Branner; Fred Brown; Brian Cookson; Graham Dawson; Jennifer Moses; Abdullah Muhsin; Dr Patrick Roach; and Kathy Wallis.
11.56 The Union submitted draft resolutions for debate at the Congress on a range of issues including: the Right to Education for Displaced People, Refugees and Stateless Children; Opposing TTIP, TISA, CETA, TPP and other similar trade and investment agreements; Migration, Professional Diversity and Racism; Support of United Nations Employees’ Rights; Securing LGBTI Rights; Education and Extremism; and Teachers’ Rights in Iran. The NASUWT Representatives contributed to debates on global education and attacks on public services and teachers across the world.
11.57 Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT Deputy General Secretary, was re-elected to the Executive Board of Education International. The open-seat elections saw 16 candidates campaigning for the nine open seats. Dr Roach was elected for the second time for a four-year term of office.
11.58 During the World Congress, Dr Roach chaired the Resolutions Committee of Congress in his role as Vice-President of the World Executive Board.
11.59 The NASUWT nominee, Ahmed Jassam Salih Al-Shiblawi (ITU), received the Mary Hatwood Futrell Award for Trade Union and Human Rights at a moving ceremony, during EI World Congress, for his work in Iraq as a trade unionist, activist and teacher.
11.60 The NASUWT welcomed a message from Sharan Burrow, General Secretary of ITUC, of solidarity between the International Trade Union Confederation and EI. Sharan Burrow emphasised the need for trade unions and their work across the world. She condemned the anti-trade union legislation being introduced in both Canada and the United Kingdom. She stated that every child has a right to universal, free, quality education.
11.61 During EI Congress, AFT, AEU and the NASUWT held a joint session on teacher stress and wellbeing, using their respective surveys as the basis of their discussions. The event was chaired by Dr Patrick Roach, and Gareth Young, NASUWT National Official, highlighted some of the key drivers of teacher stress, the impact of stress on teachers and information from the NASUWT’s Big Question research.
123 11.62 The NASUWT participated at fringes and seminars during the EI Congress, including:
• Stepping up: Quality Leadership; • On OUR Terms: Quality Terms of Employments; • A Global Response to the Commercialisation and Privatisation of Education; • Strengthening the Voice and Influence of Young Teachers; • Safety and Security for all in Educational Settings; • Promoting Rights for All; • Advancing our Global Priorities Post-2015; • Leading our Professions; • EI Comnet; • LGBT and Indigenous People Caucus; • Women’s Caucus; • Commonwealth Teachers Group; and • Higher Education Caucus.
Education International (EI)
11.63 The NASUWT remained committed to and engaged with EI, with Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT Deputy General Secretary, continuing as a member of the Executive Board of EI, following re-election in July at the EI World Congress. During the year, Dr Roach also served as Vice-President of EI.
11.64 The Fifth International Summit on the Teaching Profession was held in Banff, Canada in March. The summit brought together education ministers, union leaders and other education experts from the world’s highest-performing and rapidly improving education systems, to consider how best to improve the quality of teaching and learning. The UK was invited on the basis that it is in the top 20 highest-performing education nations in the world.
11.65 The UK Ministerial Delegation was led by Angela Constance, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning in the Scottish Government. Darren Northcott, National Official, represented the NASUWT as part of the Minister’s delegation.
European Trade Union Committee for Education
11.66 The NASUWT played an active role within the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE). Key areas of work in this regard included supporting the development of European-level trade union responses to the global economic crisis and sustaining and enhancing engagement with the institutions of the European Union (EU) on issues of concern to teachers including a particular focus on opposing TTIP,CETA and TISA.
11.67 The NASUWT continued to use its position within the ETUCE to press the UK Government to support the introduction of the Robin Hood Tax on the banking and financial sector.
11.68 The NASUWT continued to be represented on the ETUCE Bureau and Committee.
ETUCE Standing Committee for Equality
11.69 The NASUWT was represented at a meeting of delegates from European education unions to consider the ETUCE Work in Progress on Equal Opportunities (2013-16) and the implementation of the 2014 ETUCE Standing Committee for Equality Recommendations on ‘Mainstreaming Diversity and Tackling Inequalities’. The meeting also considered the issue of Social Dialogue and Equal Opportunities. European social dialogue refers to discussions, consultations, negotiations and joint actions involving organisations representing the two sides of industry (employers and workers). It takes two main forms:
124 • a tripartite dialogue involving the public authorities; and • a bipartite dialogue between the European employers and trade union organisations. This takes place at cross-industry level and within sectoral social dialogue committees.
Inclusive Prosperity Commission
11.70 The NASUWT General Secretary, Chris Keates, was a UK Commissioner to an International Commission on Inclusive Prosperity. The final Report of the Commission was issued in January.
11.71 The Report made a wide-ranging series of recommendations on how the gap between rich and poor can be narrowed, including a detailed blueprint of what would be needed for education that built upon the NASUWT’s Maintaining World Class Schools Report.
Ebola Campaign
11.72 The NASUWT responded to a call from EI to contribute to the EI Solidarity Fund to assist victims of Ebola and in particular to advance health education programmes on the ground in the most affected countries. The EI appeal directed funds via education unions on the ground.
Robin Hood Tax Campaign
11.73 The NASUWT continued to support the Robin Hood Tax (RHT) campaign, promoting a Financial Transactions Tax (FTT) that, if implemented, would raise billions of pounds of revenue which could be spent on public services.
11.74 The NASUWT promoted campaign literature and videos at exhibitions and stands at fringes, asked members to write to their MPs in support of the tax and gave financial support.
Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
11.75 The NASUWT continued to engage actively in the work of the TUAC to the OECD.
11.76 The Union used its participation in the activities of the TUAC to develop its understanding of the implications of the OECD’s PISA study for policy development in the education systems of the UK and to explore the extent to which its policies might best be informed by practices in other education systems.
11.77 The Union also engaged actively in TUAC’s work related to the OECD’s Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS). The Union continued to be particularly active in assessing the implications of the extension by the OECD of its consultancy and advice services.
World Education Forum, South Korea
11.78 In May, the NASUWT National President, Graham Dawson, attended the World Education Forum in South Korea, attended by governments, officials and unions from around the world. Issues discussed included progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the future for education in the context of the post-2015 global agenda for sustainable development.
11.79 The World Education Forum resolved to accept the Incheon Declaration, ‘Education 2030: Towards inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all’, which called for the post-2015 Development Goal on education to be adopted in order to create a new vision for education, with ‘bold and innovative actions’, by 2030.
125 11.80 South Korea refused to allow the Korean Teachers’ Union (KTU) to participate at the Forum. The NASUWT supported the KTU in protest against this decision.
Department for International Development (DFID)
11.81 In October, the NASUWT published a Report on the impact of the Department for International Development (DFID) upon education, privatisation, equality and social justice. The Report highlighted the significant shift since 2010 in DFID’s strategy to increasingly promote private sector involvement in the design and delivery of education services, despite the fact that DFID’s own research evidence questions the impact of such interventions in relation to education quality and equity for learners.
11.82 The NASUWT met with civil servants to discuss matters relating to its international strategy, including the role of DFID in the establishment of low-fee schooling in developing countries. The NASUWT met with Pearson Education to discuss the Union’s concerns about investment in low-fee schooling and the role of Pearson in the provision of education in countries around the world.
EI Research Network
11.83 The NASUWT continues to be an active member of the EI research network. Meetings of the network provide opportunities for the NASUWT to hear about EI research projects, comment on and seek to influence the direction of the EI research programme, and promote the findings of NASUWT studies and research to EI members.
AFT Conference
11.84 The NASUWT attended the AFT’s biennial conference in Washington DC. The theme of the Conference was ‘Teacher Voice Matters’ and the NASUWT was able to contribute to discussions and debates about teachers’ professional development, private sector involvement in education, assessment and testing, education inequalities and education reforms. The Conference enabled the NASUWT to gain a better understanding of international education policy trends, and identify issues and common concerns for teachers and school leaders in the UK and USA.
NASUWT Communications
11.85 The NASUWT continued to publish its International Solidarity magazine and update relevant stories on the website. In addition, the NASUWT sent out In Solidarity bulletins with calls for action to members on important issues throughout the year.
Representations to Governments Oppressing Teachers and Trade Unionists
11.86 The NASUWT continued to play an active role in highlighting and campaigning against unacceptable, oppressive and violent treatment of teachers and trade unionists around the world. Representations made by correspondence from the NASUWT General Secretary, throughout the year, included:
• Argentina: Letter to Sonia Alesso, CTERA, expressing solidarity at the setback of the election of Mauricio Macri’s conservative government. • Bulgaria: Letter to Janka Takeva, President, Syndicat des Enseignants Bulgares, SEB, expressing sadness following the passing of Kounka Damianova. • Canada: Letter to Heather Smith, President, Canadian Teachers’ Federation congratulating her on the ‘I Vote for Our Canada, Our Students, Our Profession’ campaign, run by the CTF during the Federal elections.
126 • Colombia: Letter to Juis Alberto Grubert Ibarra, President, FECODE, expressing sympathy and condolences regarding the assassination of Marcelis Mendes, President of Coveñas regional subdivision of the Colombian Teachers Federation (FECODE). • Denmark: Letter to Anders Bondo Christensen, President, Danish Union of Teachers, thanking him for his hospitality during the DLF Congress and mentioning that DLF and the NASUWT have a great deal in common and that we look forward to deepening our relationship with them. • Dominica: Letter to Fred van Leeuwen, General Secretary, Education International, regarding the tragic situation in Dominica in the wake of tropical storm Erika and our contribution towards the appeal to assist members of the Dominica Association of Teachers in rebuilding their education system. • Finland: Letter to Olli Lukkainen, President, Opetusaian Ammattijarjesto (OAJ), expressing solidarity with the Finnish labour movement’s demonstration. • France: Letter to Frederique Rolet, SNES, expressing solidarity and deepest condolences following the appalling attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo and subsequent incidents in Montrouge, Dammartin-en-Goele and Porte de Vincennes. • France: Letter to Laurent Escure, Secretary General UNSA, expressing solidarity and deepest condolences following the appalling attack on the offices of Charlie Hebdo and subsequent incidents in Montrouge, Dammartin-en-Goele and Porte de Vincennes. • France: Letter to Laurent Escure, Secretary General, UNSA, expressing sincere condolences, support and sympathy for the terrible terrorist attacks on 13 November. • France: Letters to Frederique Rolet and Roland Hubert, Joint Secretary Generals, SNES, expressing our sincere condolences, support and sympathy for the terrible terrorist attacks on 13 November. • Germany: Letter to Marlis Tepe, GEW, expressing solidarity for their action week ‘Dream job in Academia’ to increase pressure on their federal government to ensure better protection of higher education employees. • Germany: Letter to Marlis Tepe, President, GEW, expressing solidarity and condolences following the death of two teachers and 16 students in the crash of the Germanwings flight in the Alps. • Germany: Letter to Udo Beckmann, President Verband Bildung und Erziehung (VBE), sending deepest condolences following the sad passing of Juergen Fischer. • Greece: Letters to Komininos Mantas, President, and Stavros Petrakis, General Secretary, Greek Primary Teachers’ Federation, expressing solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Greece at a time of heightened national and international concerns regarding the country’s economic future. • Greece: Letters to Temos Kotsifakis, General Secretary, and Nikos Papachristos, President, Greek Federation of Secondary State School Teachers (OLME), expressing solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Greece at a time of heightened national and international concerns regarding the country’s economic future. • Iran: Letter to His Excellency Hassan Rohani, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, conveying our deepest concern regarding the continuous harassment of education trade unionists in Iran. • Iran: Letter to His Excellency Hassan Rouhani, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, requesting the immediate release of Mr Esmail Abdi, General Secretary of the Iranian Teachers’ Trade Association. • Iraq: Letter to Abbas Al Sudani, National President, ITU, thanking him for his Eid Al- Adha greeting message and expressing our solidarity with ITU to champion the causes of fairness, equality, justice and quality public education for all. • Iraq: Letter to Dr Haider al-Abadi, Prime Minister of Iraq, expressing deep concern regarding the plight of teachers in Iraq who have not been paid salaries for three months. • Iraq: Letter to Dr Haider al-Abadi, Prime Minister of Iraq, asking him to reverse the decision taken by his Cabinet regarding matters pertaining to the work and organisation of the Iraqi Teachers Union.
127 • Iraq: Letter to Nechirvan Barzani, Prime Minister, Council of Ministers of Kurdistan, expressing our deep concern regarding the plight of teachers in Iraq who have not been paid salaries for three months. • Iraq: Letter to the President of ITU Baghdad al-Karkh Branch to express our deepest condolences, sympathy and outrage regarding the murder of Habib-taha Abdullah al- Mashandani, the ITU head of Al-Tarmiah branch and his son, Firass Habib-taha Abdullah al-Mashadani, who were murdered by ISIS, Daesh terror group. • Islamic Republic of Mauretania: Letter to Seyidna Ali Ould Mohamed Khouna, Minister of Public Functions, Labour and Administrative Modernisation, Islamic Republic of Mauretania, to stop the trafficking of Mauritanian women to Saudi Arabia. • Kenya: Letter and statement to Wilson Sossion, Secretary General, Kenya National Union of Teachers, expressing solidarity and support following the barbaric murder of 147 students by Islamist gunmen in North-East Kenya. • Korea: Letter to Mr K Jeonghum, President, Korean Teachers Union, extending solidarity and support to the Korean Teachers Union in the face of government opposition and how proud we were to present the International Solidarity Award to the KTU. • Nepal: Letter to Baburam Thapa, Nepal National Teachers’ Association, expressing solidarity and support following the catastrophic earthquakes in Nepal. • Nepal: Letter to Mohan Jnawali, Nepal Teachers’ Association, expressing our solidarity and support following the catastrophic earthquakes in Nepal. • Nepal: Letter to Mukunda Gautam, Nepal Institutional School Teachers’ Union, expressing solidarity and support following the catastrophic earthquakes in Nepal. • Poland: Letter to Slawomir Broniarz, President, ZNP, thanking him for the invitation to participate at the 110th anniversary of ZNP and expressing solidarity in advocating for the teaching profession and for quality education as an entitlement for all children and young people. • Turkey: Letter to His Excellency Ahmed Davutoglu, Prime Minister of Turkey, expressing our deep concern over the arrest of three members of Egitim Sen. • Turkey: Letter to His Excellency Efhan Ala, Minister of Internal Affairs, expressing deep concern over the arrest of three members of Egitim Sen. • Turkey: Letter to His Excellency Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey, expressing deep concern over the arrest of three members of Egitim Sen. • Turkey: Letter to Kamuran Karaca, President, Egitim Sen, sending deepest sympathy and solidarity following the barbaric attacks in Ankara. • Uganda: Letter to Margaret Rwabushaija, National Chairperson, UNATU, expressing solidarity with education workers in Uganda for their industrial action in response to the failure of the Ugandan Government to make provision for an incremental increase in teachers’ salaries. • United Kingdom: Letter to the Rt. Hon. Justine Greening MP, Secretary of State for International Development, regarding the Education and the Post-2015 Global Development Agenda and the UK’s involvement and contribution. • USA: Letter to Lily Eskelsen Garcia, President, National Education Association, expressing our sadness at the news of the killing of students and education staff at Umpqua Community College. • USA: Letter to Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers, expressing our sadness at the news of the killing of students and education staff at Umpqua Community College.
Representation at International Events
11.87 International events at which the Union was represented are listed in Appendix 2.
128 ORGANISING
INDUSTRIAL ACTION
National Action
12.1 The NASUWT conducted a total of 41 workplace ballots for industrial action during 2015. In addition, 23 schools were notified of strike action in furtherance of the national trade dispute.
12.2 A significant number of disputes in hundreds of schools across the UK were resolved without the need to ballot for or escalate to action.
Pupil Indiscipline
12.3 The NASUWT dealt with an increasing number of collective issues relating to pupil indiscipline.
12.4 Ballots authorising members to refuse to teach violent and/or disruptive pupils were required in four schools.
12.5 The NASUWT continued to support members where pupil discipline had broken down. Successful resolute in many of these cases avoided industrial action.
Other Action Matters
12.6 Industrial action ballots were organised in schools, colleges and academies in respect of disputes over:
• potential staff redundancies and job loss, including procedures being followed for the implementation of potential redundancies; • potential staff restructuring with adverse impact upon pay, workload and working conditions; • failure to implement the Cost of Living Pay Award for Academic Year 2014/15; • management and working practices having an adverse impact on working conditions, including abuse of procedures; • Trade union victimisation; and • proposal to convert a school to an academy with the potential adverse impact on job security, pay and conditions of service, and union recognition.
Schools Balloted
12.7 The ballots which led to strike action being required are listed below:
• Bournville School and Sixth Form Centre (WM Birmingham); • Cwmcarn High School (Wales Caerphilly); • New College (WM Telford); • Small Heath School (WM Birmingham); • St Wilfrid’s Catholic High School and Sixth Form College (Yorkshire and Humberside, West Yorkshire); • Swansea EOTAS Service (Wales Swansea); and • The Leathersellers’ Federation of Schools (London).
12.8 Ballots were conducted in a number of schools but matters were resolved before action was taken.
129 12.9 Strike action was also taken at Cwmcarn High School (Wales Caerphilly) during the year in furtherance of a ballot conducted during 2014.
Escalated Action under the National Trade Dispute
12.10 Strike action in furtherance of the national trade dispute was taken in the following schools:
• Coleg Cymunedol y Dderwen (Wales Bridgend); • Darland High School (Wales Wrexham); • Fitzalan High School (Wales Cardiff); • Merril Academy (EM Derby); • St Jude’s Catholic Primary School (NW Wigan); • The Harwich and Dovercourt High School (Eastern Essex); • Wellsway School (SW Bristol); • Winterbourne International Academy (SW Bristol); • Wyedean School (SW Gloucestershire); and • Ysgol Penweddig (Wales Ceredigion).
12.11 A ballot was undertaken at Oban High School, Argyll, Scotland, to bring it within the national dispute.
12.12 Escalated action under the national trade dispute was notified but not, in the event, taken in dozens of schools as matters were resolved before the action was taken.
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
13.1 Throughout the year, the NASUWT continued to develop and embed its programme of equalities work within the Union’s policies, processes, campaigns and structures.
13.2 The NASUWT programme of equalities work was supported by the Union’s advisory committees for Women, BME, Disabled, Young and LGBT members, which had key roles in the organising of the Union’s annual Equalities Consultation Conference Programme, as well as advising the Equal Opportunities Committee on relevant issues. The Union’s equality and organising priorities were also reflected in the continuing development of training courses targeted at under-represented groups within the NASUWT’s membership.
13.3 Throughout the year, the Union continued to witness the years of campaigning and progress on equality being rolled back as, first, the Coalition and then after May the Conservative Government as the attacks on equalities continued.
13.4 The impact of Government policies had a major effect, creating a climate in which bullying and harassment in the workplace thrived and minorities and communities were scapegoated, while women, disabled, BME and LGBT workers were disproportionately adversely affected by the economic policy.
13.5 The NASUWT was particularly concerned about the Prevent Duty that was introduced in July to identify and report those vulnerable to extremist radicalisation. The concerns centred around a lack of clarity about schools’ responsibilities and the lack of consistency in schools’ responses around the duty. There were also concerns about the introduction of the duty on schools in England to promote ‘fundamental British values’, as this left staff vulnerable due to the vagueness of the provisions. The NASUWT continued to raise this issue with the DfE, and began to develop materials for teachers and school leaders.
13.6 The NASUWT continued to lobby and challenge the Government on policy reforms such as changes to welfare benefits, gender pay gap, inequalities in pension provisions, immigration and asylum, anti-terrorism and security, and the failure to equalise the survivor benefits for same-sex partners.
130 13.7 The Union continued to condemn the attacks on the lives and living standards of disabled people and the associated propaganda that reinforced prejudices and discrimination against disabled people.
13.8 Combined with the attacks on workers’ rights and the Government’s regressive education reforms, a climate where employers feel that they can ignore equalities issues, and their duties under the Equality Act 2010, was created.
13.9 The Union welcomed, in principle, the legislative enhancements to the 2010 Equality Act in England, Wales and Scotland as it has harmonised the legal framework into a more streamlined piece of equality law which was extended to include gender reassignment.
13.10 The Union remained deeply concerned about the lack of positive narrative in Northern Ireland around equalities issues. Disparate levels of protection for specified groups within the equality legislation in Northern Ireland meant that inequalities between different groups continued to thrive.
13.11 World Teachers’ Day in October saw the close of the Union’s Gender Equality Challenge, which was supported by a number of key equality organisations, including the TUC, WISE, VSO and the Centre for Studies in Inclusive Education.
Stolen Lives
13.12 The NASUWT was the sole teacher trade union sponsor of a new education resource produced by the Wilberforce Institute at the University of Hull.
13.13 ‘Stolen Lives’ is a project which issues music, songs, images, film and animation to raise awareness of modern-day slavery, human trafficking and trans-global child labour issues.
Consultation Conferences
13.14 The NASUWT’s annual programme of Equalities Consultation Conferences targeting Women, Disabled, BME, Young and LGBT teachers was once again highly successful, with attendance at all of these at record high levels. The growing popularity of these conferences resulted in these events being the largest gatherings of their kind in the UK.
13.15 The conferences continued to provide an opportunity for the Union to engage with the concerns of teachers from groups under-represented in the Union’s structure. The issues raised provided vital feedback to the NASUWT to inform the Union’s strategies for policy development and campaigning. The issues raised proved invaluable in informing the ongoing representations to Ministers across the UK.
13.16 The consultation programme was linked to the work of the wider trade union movement through the TUCs in England, Wales, Scotland and the ICTU in Northern Ireland.
13.17 In particular, issues emanating from the consultation conferences were used to inform debate and actions at each of the TUC and ICTU conferences.
13.18 The NASUWT General Secretary and/or Deputy General Secretary addressed each of the consultation conferences, taking the opportunity to promote policy issues, provide information on key developments and receive feedback from attendees on NASUWT policy and issues facing them in their workplaces.
13.19 The NASUWT continued to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the consultation conference programme and impact on the Union’s wider organising activities. Analysis
131 showed that the conferences continued to attract many teachers who had not been previously involved in any union activity and who then went on to become active in the Union at local and national levels.
13.20 The analysis also showed that the conferences were a useful recruitment tool and supported the retention of members.
13.21 The conferences further provided much-needed professional development opportunities for attendees.
Scotland Equalities Conference
13.22 In June, the NASUWT organised its inaugural equalities conference in Scotland, which was well attended by teachers from under-represented groups. This prestigious event was held at the Grand Central Hotel, Glasgow, and chaired by Mike Corbett, NASUWT National Executive Member. The theme of the Conference was ‘Championing Equality in Scotland’. The NASUWT General Secretary gave a keynote speech on the equalities challenges in Scotland and strategies that the Union was adopting to overcome these challenges by championing equality and promoting diversity.
13.23 A real-time poll at the Conference was used as a means of gathering information from members in Scotland on their experiences in schools.
13.24 Attendees participated in workshops on the following subjects: ‘Improving Emotional Wellbeing by Working Assertively’; ‘How to Negotiate Reasonable Adjustments’; ‘“Out and Safe” – Coming out in School’; ‘Racism – Know Your Rights’; and ‘Positive Behaviour Management’.
13.25 The participants were keen to continue and develop their engagement with the NASUWT and a programme of development events were initiated and rolled out as a result of the Conference.
13.26 Plans were also laid during the year for inaugural conferences in Northern Ireland and Wales.
LGBT Equality
13.27 The NASUWT continued to promote LGBT rights in the workplace as well as in the international arena. During the year, the Union sought to increase its work on raising the importance of trans equality and supporting gender identity. This was supported by Gendered Intelligence, through training sessions for Equality Officers and workshops at the Union’s Consultation Conferences.
13.28 The NASUWT also sponsored, supported and attended the UK Trans Youth Conference in November. The Union continued its close working relationship with other LGBT campaigning organisations such as Stonewall and LGBT History Month.
13.29 Feedback from members showed that discrimination in the workplace against LGBT teachers continued to be a constant concern. At the NASUWT LGBT Conference, 100% of delegates declared that they had experienced discrimination at work. Combating discrimination by priority, ongoing training of caseworkers and further development of the casework management system allowed the Union to monitor significant trends and patterns.
13.30 The NASUWT enhanced its campaign to oppose the continuing discrimination against women, civil partners and same-sex married couples in the provisions of TPS survivor benefits. The Union continued to lead the campaign through the trade union movement.
132 13.31 In February, the Union promoted LGBT History Month by supporting events organised by the LGBT History Month campaigning group and raising awareness of its ongoing work on Trans equality. The NASUWT LGBT Teachers’ Consultation Conference is traditionally held during LGBT History Month to commemorate this important area of work in the Union’s calendar of events.
13.32 The NASUWT continued to have a large presence at a number of Pride marches and parades celebrating LGBT equality throughout the UK. The Union provided a substantial financial contribution to the London Pride event in June.
13.33 The Union’s international work fighting homophobia worldwide continued. The NASUWT secured commitment from EI to assist unions in defending the rights of LGBT students, teachers and education support staff.
13.34 The Union’s campaigns against human and LGBT rights abuses included continuing action against the various governments introducing or reaffirming anti-gay legislations in Uganda, Russia and Pakistan.
Older Workers
13.35 Following the resolution adopted at Annual Conference mandating the Union to expose and challenge discrimination against older teachers, the NASUWT commissioned the University of Warwick to research the extent of discrimination related to pay reforms, accountability and capability procedures in relation to groups with protected characteristics, including the impact upon older teachers.
13.36 Focus groups were held at each of the NASUWT Consultation Conferences in order to inform the research and provide qualitative information. Awareness raising sessions on identifying and tackling discriminatory pay, appraisal and capability procedures were also held at the conferences.
13.37 The NASUWT continued to campaign against the growing nature of discrimination against older teachers and lobbied government ministers throughout the UK with evidence of this practice.
TUC Equality Audit 2014
13.38 The NASUWT continued to focus its work on the three key equality policy themes which were adopted following the 2014 TUC Audit. The priorities were:
• industrial and bargaining campaigning – to secure pay and conditions frameworks for teachers and school leaders which are non-discriminatory, advance equality for teachers with protected characteristics, and promote good relations between protected groups; • capacity building – continuing to build the Union’s lay capacity and secure the engagement of under-represented groups within the Union’s democratic structures; and • tackling discrimination in the workplace – continuing to equip representatives and staff to protect and defend members (individually and collectively) who are vulnerable to prejudice-related discrimination, harassment and victimisation in a context of extended deregulation and employment freedoms in schools.
Race Equality
13.39 The Union’s work on promoting race equality, multiculturalism and diversity continued to grow through effective engagement with BME members at the BME Consultation Conference and other events. The Consultation Conference was the largest ever, attracting hundreds of BME teachers. The theme for the Conference was ‘Celebrating Diversity,
133 Promoting Equality and Justice’ and the event provided two workshop opportunities for member engagement on a number of subject areas.
13.40 At the Conference, the Union launched its ‘Act for Racial Justice’ campaign.
13.41 Feedback from BME members showed a growing feeling of scapegoating, persecution and injustices experienced by BME teachers and communities as a result of Government reforms which were resulting in fear and isolation.
13.42 The Act for Racial Justice campaign provided a timely opportunity for the Union to highlight this problem and champion the cause of racial justice within education and beyond.
13.43 The NASUWT continued to work with organisations such as Race on the Agenda (ROTA), the Centre for Research in Race and Education (CRRE), the Anne Frank Trust and Runnymede Trust, campaigning and lobbying Government and undertaking research on strategies for tackling racism.
13.44 In June, the Union continued to promote Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month.
13.45 In November, the NASUWT submitted a report to the House of Commons Education Select Committee regarding the importance of teaching both the Holocaust and other genocides.
13.46 Black History Month continued to be a key feature in the Union’s programme of activities throughout the year.
13.47 In October, the Union celebrated its annual Arts & Minds Schools Competition.
13.48 The Competition invites schools from across the UK to use art and creative writing to express what cultural diversity and racial equality means to them. Winners were invited to a prestigious awards ceremony during Black History Month in October along with their parents and school representative.
13.49 Over 1,000 entries were received from schools across the UK, with more schools entering than ever before, particularly in devolved nations/administrations.
13.50 The Union was pleased that once again TV celebrity Gok Wan supported the Arts & Minds Competition, judging the final winner. The Competition also saw an increase in the number of entries for the special Anne Frank Poetry Prize, which is a key feature of the NASUWT Arts & Minds programme.
13.51 The NASUWT continued its longstanding campaigning work against the racist and fascist activities of far right parties, working alongside organisations such as Unite Against Fascism (UAF), Searchlight, Hope Not Hate and the Anne Frank Trust in condemning the racist and fascist activities of the BNP and the English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish Defence League.
13.52 With the increasing anti-Muslim rhetoric and the current climate of increasing crimes against humanity, the NASUWT was at the forefront of opposing growing Islamophobia.
13.53 The NASUWT continued to be represented on the National Steering Committee of Unite Against Fascism.
13.54 The NASUWT continued to support and work closely with Unite Against Fascism Wales throughout the year by printing and distributing materials as appropriate, as well as sharing information about various events and protests.
134 Equality for Women
13.55 Throughout the year, increasing evidence demonstrated that progress on women’s equality issues across the UK continued to reduce. Economic, social and welfare policies continued to have deep and damaging effects on every aspect of women’s lives. The NASUWT continued to highlight the issues faced by women workers as a consequence of the ideological reforms.
13.56 The Union continued to challenge all forms of sex discrimination and disadvantage experienced by women teachers through casework and its ongoing campaigning around pay and pensions.
13.57 The theme for the Women Teachers’ Consultation Conference was ‘Empowerment through Engagement’ and the event incorporated a session promoting World Teachers’ Day.
13.58 The Union took the opportunity to hold a collection for the Syrian refugees and promoted the TUC’s refugee statement.
13.59 The Union worked with organisations including the National Alliance of Women’s Organisations (NAWO), Fawcett and the TUC to challenge the ‘triple jeopardy’ women workers face as a result of wage freezes and job cuts in the public sector, as well as the impact on frontline users of public services.
13.60 The Union engaged with women members and other groups to inform initial work for its Warwick University longitudinal study into the equality impact of pay arrangements, including capability procedures, to identify the extent to which women and other groups were disadvantaged.
13.61 Initial findings of the research were released in November and were used to inform the Union’s evidence to the Review Body to inform its 26th Report.
13.62 The Union’s campaign for securing global equality for women and girls as global citizens continued.
13.63 The Union worked with organisations such as FORWARD and the Freedom Charity to train members on identifying the signs of girls at risk of female genital mutilation (FGM), forced marriages and other acts of dishonour-based violence.
13.64 The Union’s guidance on forced marriage was updated.
Gender Equality Challenge
13.65 The NASUWT launched in March its Gender Equality Challenge across the UK which was scheduled to run up to World Teachers’ Day in October. The NASUWT hosted examples of good practice from schools on its website about how they were working to secure equal rights for women and girls.
13.66 The Union asked schools to sign up to a series of gender equality principles.
Violence Against Women
13.67 The Union continued to be at the forefront of national campaigns against violence against women and sexual bullying, working closely with a range of organisations, including the End Violence Against Women (EVAW) campaign, the White Ribbon Campaign and Fawcett.
135 13.68 The Union continued to participate in the EVAW Prevention Network which campaigns on violence against women and girls. The NASUWT supported the ‘No More Page 3’ campaign, opposing the growing sexualisation of girls and women in the media and the impact of this on boys’ and men’s attitudes.
13.69 The Union continued to promote the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women held on 25 November.
13.70 The Union expressed serious concerns over cuts at local domestic violence services, including domestic violence projects, specialist support for ethnic minority women fleeing violence, and counselling services for survivors of childhood sexual abuse, as a result of government austerity programmes.
13.71 The NASUWT continued to work to end sexual bullying of pupils and staff in schools and colleges. The Union continued as an active member of the Anti-Bullying Alliance (ABA), which includes within its remit work to prevent the sexist bullying of girls and women teachers.
Flexible Working
13.72 As a result of a motion adopted at Annual Conference on Flexible Working, the NASUWT began work on advice and training on these issues. At the close of the year, materials were on course for publication at Annual Conference 2016.
13.73 The NASUWT continued to research the extent to which members are denied or granted access to flexible working. The research explored reasons teachers apply for flexible working and the reasons employers give for refusing requests. Data was collected on the ages of those applying, allowing the NASUWT to identify and address discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity, age, sex and disability.
13.74 The Consultation Conferences enabled the NASUWT to gather additional data on flexible working requests and policies currently operating in workplaces throughout the UK.
13.75 The NASUWT facilitated workshops on flexible working at each of its Consultation Conferences. Workshops were also held at NASUWT Equality Officers’ Briefings.
13.76 The NASUWT continued to raise with the Government its concerns regarding rights to flexible working.
Disability Equality
13.77 Advancing disability equality in schools and colleges was a key theme of the various events and activities throughout the year, championing the positive contributions of disabled students and staff in schools.
13.78 The Westminster Government’s austerity policies and welfare cuts continued to disadvantage disabled people across the UK. The cuts to voluntary sector funding, the privatisation of public services and reduced state support further disadvantaged disabled people.
13.79 The theme for the Disabled Teachers’ Conference was ‘Ability, Aspiration, Ambition, Achievement’ which highlighted the challenges that disabled teachers face.
13.80 Amongst the many issues discussed were job insecurity, the rise in the use of temporary contracts, the lack of accountability for supply agencies regarding equalities and reasonable
136 adjustments, the negative impact of government policies on teachers’ pay and pensions, prejudice-related bullying and harassment through the abusive use of capability procedures, and the failure of many employers to make reasonable adjustments for disabled teachers.
13.81 In November, the NASUWT continued to promote Disability History Month. The Union was represented on the Disability History Month Steering Committee.
13.82 In December, the Union raised awareness of World AIDS Day and continued to work with the National Aids Trust and the Terrence Higgins Trust on these issues.
13.83 The NASUWT reaffirmed its commitment to the Social Model of Disability by adopting the revised TUC Social Model Guidance for affiliates.
13.84 The Union commenced an audit of its procedures and policies to ensure these are compliant with the social model of disability.
Young Teachers
13.85 Work to highlight the experiences of young members continued throughout the year.
13.86 The Union continued to organise a range of activities supporting members aged 30 and under within the Union and the workplace.
13.87 The Young Members’ Advisory Committee informed policy development on issues affecting young members and supported campaigning on issues, including access to professional development, workload, lack of professional autonomy, and pay and employment rights.
13.88 The theme for the Young Teachers’ Conference was ‘Organising Young Teachers: Championing Education’ which highlighted the challenges that young teachers face from rising job insecurity, temporary and zero-hours contracts, lack of professional autonomy and excessive workload, and the continual denial of high-quality CPD.
13.89 The Union lobbied the Coalition Government on the growing concerns expressed by young teachers, including the teacher recruitment and retention crisis, excessive workload contributing to stress and ill health, the abuse of temporary contracts for NQTs, and the adverse impact of the continuing pay freeze and increasing pension contributions.
13.90 During the year, the Union updated the Discrimination Casework course for NASUWT caseworkers. This course provided caseworkers with practical skills and knowledge for identifying and tackling discrimination cases. Courses were run throughout each of the Regional and National Centres. This course became an essential requirement for caseworker accreditation.
Equality Officers
13.91 Local Association Equality Officers continued to play a key role in promoting equal opportunities issues at local level, advising Local Associations on current developments in the area of equalities, supporting casework and promoting the participation of members with protected characteristics in Union activities.
13.92 Throughout the year, NASUWT Equality Officers attended termly briefing sessions held at NASUWT Headquarters. The briefings provided valuable feedback and enabled the exchange of information and important updates on developments in inequalities legislation, campaigns and casework-related issues. All Equality Officers were invited to attend a National Open College Network (NOCN) and TUC-accredited training course to ensure their skills and knowledge on equalities matters were updated.
137 13.93 The briefings covered topical equalities issues, including updates on discrimination case law, flexible working, FGM and forced marriage, trans awareness training and organising around neurodiversity. These briefings engaged Equality Officers on strategies for ensuring that equalities issues are embedded in the Union’s national, regional and local campaigns.
RECRUITMENT
Overall Membership
14.1 The National Executive is extremely pleased to report continued success in recruitment during the year.
14.2 The total membership of the NASUWT for 2014 was 295,565 and this was registered with the Certification Officer in May, as required by the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act.
14.3 The NASUWT remained the largest teachers’ union in the UK. The Union is the largest in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and the fastest growing in Scotland.
Student Membership
14.4 The NASUWT continued to develop and take forward a targeted student recruitment and organising strategy encompassing raising the Union’s profile in all teacher training institutions across the UK and student teachers undertaking a variety of entry routes to reach QTS (and the Standard for Full Registration in Scotland).
14.5 The Union continued to use every opportunity to encourage student teachers to join the NASUWT and also to undertake a degree of activity with the Union. The Union continued to develop strategies to recruit students undertaking school-based routes into teaching, such as the School Direct Programme.
14.6 The NASUWT was represented at a wide range of enrolment days, freshers’ fairs, graduation balls and specifically organised presentations to talk about teacher trade union membership, in teacher training institutions throughout the UK. Increasingly, teacher training institutions were seeing the benefit of engaging with the NASUWT with regard to the package of talks and presentations the Union can provide to teacher trainees.
14.7 The Union produced an updated student recruitment pack that included the highly successful Student Diary and other resources. These materials were welcomed by student teachers.
14.8 The NASUWT continued to expand on the variety of lectures delivered to student teachers across the UK through the Teach First and School Direct programmes.
14.9 The NASUWT’s First Appointments Lecture Tour continued to be a huge success and was delivered in ITT institutions throughout the whole of the UK. The Union’s previous expansion on the number of associates able to deliver the lecture provided increased capacity.
14.10 The National Executive places on record its thanks to everybody whose work has led to the NASUWT maintaining its position as the preferred education union for student teachers in the UK. Local Associations and federations are to be commended for their continued commitment to student recruitment.
Newly Qualified Teacher Membership
14.11 The successful recruitment of newly qualified teachers continued throughout the year, despite the challenges posed in England by the Government’s changes to teacher training and teacher recruitment.
138 14.12 Thousands of new teachers continued to join the NASUWT and the strategies to ensure conversion of qualifying student teachers to full members were increasingly successful.
14.13 Newly qualified teachers received regular mailings and publications from the NASUWT throughout their final year of study and into their first years of teaching. Direct contact was also made with new teachers in every part of the UK, through a series of new teacher seminars both prior to and throughout their first year of teaching.
14.14 The ongoing support for newly qualified teachers during their induction year continued to be well-received.
Recruit a Friend Reward Scheme
14.15 After the continued success of the first NASUWT Recruit a Friend Scheme, the NASUWT launched the third year of the Scheme. Members once again were able to gain generous vouchers for encouraging colleagues to join the Union.
14.16 The Scheme was a huge success throughout the year, with thousands of members taking part in the initiative. Changes were made to the free membership offer to provide free membership for 12 months from the point of joining.
Publications
14.17 The NASUWT produced materials for students and newly qualified teachers in a variety of formats. The nation-specific NASUWT Student Diary was distributed within student packs to student teachers at the beginning of their courses.
14.18 The NASUWT updated its online guidance aimed at assisting new teachers to obtain a new teaching position.
14.19 The NASUWT continued to develop the popular and unique nation-specific Induction Planner which not only offers guidance on the induction process, but also provides a term- based planner with tips and questions to consider, in order to enable NASUWT new teacher members to undertake reflective practice and plan their induction time effectively. The feedback on the planner was excellent.
14.20 The NASUWT Starting Out guide for newly qualified teachers continued to be extremely popular. This was enhanced with the addition of information detailing the rights and requirements for newly qualified teachers on classroom observations.
Recruitment Awards
14.21 The Recruitment Awards were presented at Annual Conference in April. The winning Local Associations were Doncaster Association for Best Campaign and Sheffield Association for Best Communication. Alison Leveridge from South Suffolk Association won the Recruiter of the Year Award.
Formation, Dissolution and Amalgamation of Local Associations
14.22 The National Executive approved the following changes to Local Associations.
14.23 The non-negotiating Local Associations of North Warwickshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth were merged to form a new non-negotiating Local Association, North Warwickshire, affiliated to the Warwickshire Federation, with boundaries based on the areas of the former Associations.
139 14.24 The non-negotiating Central Warwickshire and Stratford-upon-Avon Local Associations were merged to form a new non-negotiating Local Association, Central and South Warwickshire, affiliated to the Warwickshire Federation, with boundaries based on the areas of the former Associations.
14.25 The Bishop Auckland, Durham City, North Durham, Peterlee and South Durham non- negotiating Local Associations that formed the Durham Federation were merged to form a new negotiating Durham Local Association with boundaries the same as the former Durham Federation area. The National Executive will review the effectiveness of the new structure in two years’ time.
14.26 Federation model constitutions were changed to allow Officers to count towards the quorum for meetings.
TRADE UNION EDUCATION AND TRAINING
15.1 The NASUWT continued to deliver a full range of trade union education and training, taking account of developments across the UK’s various and diverging education systems in the planning, organisation and delivery of union training courses.
15.2 The Union prioritised equalities strands within the training courses, building on issues raised at the Union’s consultation conferences. Building on the established Development Courses for BME, disabled, LGBT, women and young members, the Union launched a development course for supply teachers, as well as the ‘Out and Safe’ course for LGBT members.
15.3 The Union focused on supporting representatives in developing effective skills in negotiation, pay appeals and representing and organising NASUWT members. Training materials were updated to reflect changes to employment and equality law and to underpin the Union’s continuing industrial action campaign.
15.4 Regular information and support was provided via the dedicated Tutor Resource page of the NASUWT website. Online booking of courses via the NASUWT website continued.
15.5 Throughout the year, many courses were evaluated to identify priority updates. The Union responded to updates during the year by the TUC to the overarching training units. The Development Courses for under-represented members were refreshed and nation-specific Development Courses for Scotland were written and piloted.
15.6 In response to the changing training needs of members, and to link with new technologies which allow greater flexibilities, the NASUWT is developing an online learning programme in association with the TUC. This gives added value to the training courses for both tutors and learners, and complements the established NASUWT suite of successful training courses and CPD delivered to members.
15.7 The planning process for the NASUWT’s annual training programme allowed National/Regional Training Committees to evaluate their future needs and plan effectively for the year. The increase in demand for ‘non-standard’ courses demonstrated that the Union’s national training programme remained relevant. During the year, a member of the National Executive Trade Union and Education Training Committee trained with Mental Health First Aid England, to become an accredited trainer for this course, which was then rolled out. Further tutor training is planned.
15.8 Following the success of the termly NASUWT seminars for supply teachers, the Union held a national training day for supply teachers which focused on CPD workshops for members. Almost 300 supply teachers benefited from the training in topics such as ‘Safeguarding Children in Education’, ‘Curriculum and Inspection’ and ‘Behaviour Management’.
140 15.9 The National Executive Trade Union and Education Training Committee met with the Chairs of National/Regional Training Committees in March and November. Throughout the year, the work was undertaken on widening the tutor bases and engaging with non-active lay tutors.
15.10 Processes for NOCN accreditation were embedded, for both internal and external verification, and accreditation good practice was shared between tutors.
Course Programme
15.11 The NASUWT aimed to ensure that Workplace Representatives had the relevant knowledge and necessary skills to carry out their role effectively. The detail of the courses in the NASUWT trade union training and education programme during the year is set out in the table on page 143.
15.12 The NASUWT continued to offer a full range and programme of courses. However, increasing difficulties in obtaining time for training continued to be a challenge to participation.
15.13 The Union sought to provide assistance and representation to members who had difficulty securing time off for training throughout the year.
15.14 The NASUWT provided caseworker briefings to ensure that representatives were up to date with the most relevant and recent legislative changes reflecting activity around the action taken by the NASUWT to defend the teaching profession from Government attacks on terms, conditions and teacher professionalism.
15.15 During the year, the Union embedded the new one-day Discrimination Casework course for NASUWT caseworkers. This new course provides caseworkers with practical skills and knowledge for identifying and tackling discrimination cases, and courses are regularly run throughout each of the Regional and National Centres. This course is now a requirement of caseworkers’ accreditation.
15.16 In November, a successful Training Officers’ Training and Development Day was held at Rednal. Sessions were held on the NOCN accreditation, Discrimination Training for Accreditation of Caseworkers, the NASUWT online learning programme, the Social Model of Disability, the Trade Union Bill and a TUPE update, as well as an update from the legal department on discrimination case law.
15.17 The table on page 143 provides the course programme run in the regions.
15.18 The Union’s Stage 3 Casework Course continued to be a mandatory requirement for NASUWT caseworkers and throughout the year the number of activists trained as caseworkers increased.
15.19 The Union continued to run its Behaviour Management training as part of its programme of professional development. This was also developed into a one-hour or 90-minute workshop and delivered at seminars and conferences throughout the year, including at the Scotland Equalities Conference.
15.20 New Benevolence Caseworkers were also trained during the year.
15.21 Course modules were regularly updated to take account of the rapidly changing education and employment landscape.
15.22 The women-to-men percentage ratio of participants on trade union courses continued to empower women representatives, with a majority of newly trained representatives being women.
141 15.23 Women members were again in the majority of those attending the Working Together Stage 1 courses, the most popular and well-attended course run by the Union. Women were also in the majority in Behaviour Management and Working Assertively courses.
National Open College Network (NOCN) Accreditation
15.24 The NASUWT National Course Programme for Representatives is accredited through the TUC and NOCN, enabling course participants to obtain credits through the NOCN which can be included as part of their CPD record.
15.25 The NASUWT actively promoted and engaged with the NOCN both with the internal and external verifiers as well as with the TUC, who provided course-outcome statements.
15.26 Regular standardisation meetings were held with active tutors to standardise samples, and outcomes and good practice were shared with all tutors. Regular tutor bulletins outlining NOCN practices and updates were regularly disseminated to tutors.
15.27 The NASUWT was applauded by the NOCN External Moderator for the high quality and consistency of internal quality assurance systems and processes, which may ultimately lead to Direct Claim Status with the NOCN.
15.28 During the year, the Union initiated research into the use of the accreditation by participants. By the close of the year, the results were being analysed.
142 Training courses run at Headquarters and in the nations/regions during the year
Trade Union Courses Academy Representatives Stage 1 Advocacy Behaviour Management Benevolence Casework Casework Briefing Development Course For BME Members Development Course For Disabled Members Development Course For LGBT Members Development Course For Women Dignity at Work: Your Rights, Their Responsibility Discrimination Course Equality Officers Health and Safety (Stage 1) Health and Safety (Stage 2) Health and Safety (Stage 3): Organising Health and Safety Management Mental Health Awareness Mental Health First Aid NASUWT Governors NOCN Standardisation Meeting Organising: In The Local Association Redundancy Regional Briefings Regional-Safety Representative Briefing Regional-School Representatives Briefing Representatives (Stage 1): Working together Representatives (Stage 2): Working together Representatives (Stage 3): Casework Representatives (Stage 3): Negotiation Representatives (Stage 4): Casework Representatives (Stage 1): Working Together (Independent School) Stress Management Supply Teachers Network Day Supply Teachers’ Safeguarding Course Trade Union Seminar Treasurer Tutoring and Accrediting NASUWT Courses Union Learning Representatives (Stage 1) Union Learning Representatives (Stage 2) Workers on the Autistic Spectrum and TU Support Working Assertively Young Members Development Course
IT Course Excel (Stage 2) PowerPoint Using the internet and social media for Organising WORD
143 LEGAL AID, BENEVOLENCE AND SERVICES
Legal and Casework
16.1 During the year, the Union achieved compensation on behalf of members in the sum of £16,077,328.53. A further £3,000 was achieved for a member through generic employment- related casework handled by the Union’s solicitors.
Employment Tribunals
16.2 The Union and its solicitors continued to submit applications (twice more than the previous year) to Employment Tribunals (ETs) on behalf of members. These included claims for unfair dismissal, redundancy pay, breach of contract, harassment, victimisation, discrimination on the grounds of protected characteristics, and trade union detriment.
16.3 Claims were also lodged in respect of the right to be informed and consulted under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE).
16.4 Tribunal cases lodged by the Union represent the tip of the iceberg, since the overwhelming majority of casework is resolved at the appropriate level without the need for recourse to law and without the need for compensation to be paid.
16.5 Settlements or awards totalling £784,074.79 were achieved for members either through pre claim ACAS Conciliation or through ET casework in the same year. The following examples of successful ET casework give a brief indication of the breadth of issues this casework covered.
16.6 The NASUWT welcomed the fact that the Scottish Government announced that tribunal fees would be abolished once the powers for Employment Tribunals were transferred from Westminster to the Scottish Government.
Exemplar Case Studies
16.7 Case 1: A member’s husband was convicted and served a prison sentence for sexual offences. Tribunal proceedings were lodged for a member who was dismissed from her employment for refusing to divorce her husband due to her deeply held Christian beliefs and the importance that her marriage vows, given before God, had to her. The member was dismissed for gross misconduct. The legal reason relied on by the school was never made clear and varied between the member’s refusal to divorce her husband (conduct) and ‘some other substantial reason’ (breakdown in trust and confidence and/or damage to the school’s reputation). The Union commenced ET proceedings on the member’s behalf for unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal and indirect discrimination on the grounds of religious beliefs.
16.8 The Union was successful with the unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal claims. The Employment Tribunal Judge, in his judgement, was clearly unimpressed by the school’s hazy reasons for dismissal, failure to consider the member’s case with an open mind and the lack of any kind of process. As to the indirect discrimination claim, the Union was unsuccessful with its arguments that the school’s approach to treat an employee’s decision not to end a relationship with her husband due to her religious beliefs bore more heavily on people with religious beliefs (such as the member) than people without such beliefs. Following Counsel’s opinion on the prospects of appealing the indirect discrimination claim, the Union lodged an appeal against the ET’s decision on this part of the judgement. The appeal is due to be heard in January 2016.
144 16.9 Case 2: The Union lodged ET proceedings under TUPE against an academy in the North East on behalf of 48 members. The basis of the claims was that the transferor (an Academy) failed to provide the required information and consultation to the NASUWT as required by law. TUPE prescribes certain pieces of information that an employer must provide to appropriate representatives and also requires that the information be provided to the appropriate representatives ‘long enough’ before the proposed transfer. In determining what length of time is ‘long enough’, the law says any period of time when the workplace concerned is closed will not be counted.
16.10 The transfer in this case was due to take effect on 1 September. The academy sent a letter to the employees’ representatives inviting them to a consultation meeting in July, two working days before the meeting, and only 12 working days before the end of the school term. The consultation meeting was scheduled to last for 45 minutes, but started 15 minutes late.
16.11 At a preliminary hearing, the academy argued that as it did not envisage taking any measures in relation to any of the employees in connection with the transfer, it had no duty to consult with the Union and that the consultation meeting was a voluntary meeting. The Union maintained that it had a duty to inform and consult. A few days before the full ET hearing, the academy made an offer of £43,035.79 in full and final settlement, which was accepted by the members.
16.12 Case 3 Tribunal proceedings were submitted for a member who was dismissed for his trade union activities. The NASUWT also claimed disability discrimination because he was diagnosed with heart problems, having experienced two heart attacks. The member was employed as a teacher at an academy in 2004 until his dismissal in 2014. He had been the NASUWT Workplace Representative for nine years. Prior to the school becoming an academy in 2011, the member had been extremely vocal in opposing the conversion process. Between 2011 and 2013, several complaints were made by pupils (and a parent) regarding the member’s conduct, alleging banging desks with various objects, shouting at pupils, displaying aggressive behaviour and using bad language. The member was suspended with immediate effect. At around the same time, the member submitted a grievance, setting out his belief that he was being victimised as a result of his trade union activities. He was also signed off work due to illness.
16.13 Following an investigation into the allegations, the member was invited to a disciplinary hearing. The disciplinary panel decided to summarily dismiss him in 2014. He was also informed that his grievance had not been upheld. The NASUWT issued proceedings in the ET on the basis that the member was unfairly and wrongfully dismissed, discriminated against because of his disability and dismissed for trade union activities. The ET case was listed for seven days in 2015. During the week leading to the hearing, the school put forward a number of offers to settle the case, which were rejected by the member. The school subsequently made an improved offer of £32,677 (including the ET fees), which the member accepted.
16.14 Case 4 A substantial settlement sum was obtained for a member following the lodging of an ET claim for race discrimination, harassment and disability discrimination for failure to make reasonable adjustments. On two separate occasions, a pupil assaulted a member of the NASUWT. As a result of the attack, the member sustained injuries to her neck and back. Immediately after the assaults, she commenced a long period of sickness absence. A year later, the member returned to the school and through the Union requested reasonable adjustments. Despite Access to Work and the Occupational Health Physicians recommending a number of adjustments, the employer failed to implement most of these adjustments.
145 16.15 Subsequently, the employer advised the member that she was at risk of redundancy. She applied for alternative posts without success. During a feedback session, the member was informed that she needed to act as a ‘Western man’. Since the member was not considered for alternative employment or offered any of the posts she applied for, she accepted voluntary redundancy.
16.16 The Union commenced an ET claim on the member’s behalf and referred her to the NASUWT’s solicitors for the personal injury claims. Having initially refused to engage in negotiation or consider the member’s schedule of loss, two days before the hearing the employer made a substantial offer of settlement to the Union. On the member’s instructions the offer was rejected. A day later, an improved offer of settlement was presented through ACAS. The member accepted this offer.
Overseas Members
16.17 Last year the NASUWT provided casework support, from the Legal Team, for two members based overseas. Due to factors such as jurisdiction and the non-recognition of the Union on these islands, such matters can pose very serious problems. This means that local solicitors are often instructed to ensure that overseas members are provided with the same level of advice and support as UK-based members. Thereby, in both cases, we were able to achieve successful outcomes for our members.
16.18 One member worked at a school on Ascension Island and faced allegations of misconduct. The employer commenced disciplinary proceedings against the member who was advised that the outcome could be dismissal for gross misconduct. Following the Union’s intervention, the disciplinary process was stopped and the member accepted a settlement sum of £12,000 and an agreed reference.
16.19 Another member, working on the Falkland Islands, was faced with disciplinary action due to alleged misconduct. After the Union liaised with the employer and a solicitor based on the Islands, the member was issued with a warning.
16.20 In both cases, the employers argued that the members had no legal right to NASUWT representation as they operated in separate jurisdictions to the UK. Notwithstanding this, the NASUWT intervened on their behalf.
Sixth-form Teachers’ Pay Deductions
16.21 Following the national strike action which took place on 30 November 2011, members employed in sixth-form colleges who participated in the full day of lawful strike action had deductions from their salary made at the rate of 1/260th rather than the usual 1/365th that applies to teachers employed in schools.
16.22 The Union’s solicitors lodged legal claims in the Court of Appeal, arguing that the deduction should have been made at the rate of 1/365th. The Court of Appeal ruled against the Union in March 2015. The Union sought legal advice from a Queen’s Counsel on the ruling and prospects of appealing the court’s decision. The advice was positive and, as a result, the Union lodged an appeal to the Supreme Court in June 2015. At the close of the year, the Union was awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision.
Employment Law Reforms and Consultation Responses
16.23 From April 2013, it became mandatory for a claimant in an ET claim to engage in ACAS Early Conciliation before they were able to lodge a claim. In the second year of its operation, the Union’s experience of the system continued to be mixed. The major factor hindering the
146 effectiveness of the system is that, although it is mandatory for claimants to contact ACAS, it is not mandatory for employers to engage with the process. Indeed, with the continued existence of ET Fees, there is no strong incentive for them to do so.
16.24 In December, the Union responded to a consultation on an English language requirement for public sector workers. According to the Government, the aim of the proposal was to improve the efficiency and safety of public services by ensuring that workers who regularly interact with the public are able to speak fluent English. The Union opposed this proposal, as no evidence was presented to show the lack of competency of teachers in relation to their fluency in the English language. Individuals cannot be employed as qualified teachers in the UK unless they meet the requisite standards, which include the ability to demonstrate communication skills.
16.25 The Union contended that the proposal appeared from the outset to be purely based on the current political agenda in relation to migration and immigration. This argument is reinforced by the legislative source of the proposal, which is directed towards preventing or reducing immigration and encouraging those the Government believes should not reside in the UK to depart. The Union further contended that if the proposal was implemented in its current form, it had the potential to have an adverse radicalised impact, to the detriment of BME teachers. The Union’s concerns in this regard were further informed by the fact that two thirds of BME teachers report that they have been subject to racially derogatory views or behaviours from pupils, parents or colleagues or have witnessed them.
16.26 In October, the NASUWT responded to a consultation on simplifying tax and national insurance treatment of termination payments. The Union expressed concern that the proposals would severely reduce the amount of tax-free money employees receive when agreeing to bring their employment to an end. The Union argued that at a time when workers are unemployed and, therefore, at their most vulnerable, they would need to keep as much of their termination payments as possible. Such proposed changes to the tax treatment of termination payments would only serve to increase the pressure on workers at an already stressful time.
16.27 The Union highlighted the fact that other Government policies, such as below-inflation rises, had already caused teachers to be worse off financially and this proposal would only add to that. In the Union’s view, the proposed changes would also be undesirable as they would complicate the taxation regime for termination payments, which was at odds with their stated objective. In addition, the proposals did not take into account the nuances of employment relationships and the reasons why people leave their jobs, as certain reasons for leaving would be treated more favourably than others.
Settlement Agreements
16.28 During the year, 1,304 new files were created for members for whom the Union was involved in negotiating Settlement Agreements.
16.29 The agreements are usually sought by employers upon the termination of a member’s contract and are legislated for in Section 203 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Such agreements preclude a member from bringing any proceedings before an ET. In return for giving up the right of recourse to law, the Union is able to negotiate a compensatory sum with the employer and usually an agreed reference for the member. By the end of the year, the sum of £14,271,581.33 had been secured for members through Settlement Agreements that were completed during the year.
147 Personal Injury Claims
16.30 In respect of employment-related personal injury claims pursued through the Union’s solicitors, a total sum of £1,021,672.38 was secured on behalf of members during the year (including assault cases). A total of 154 new potential personal injury claims for members were referred to the Union’s solicitors (including assault and stress cases). The following are examples of some of the successful settlements achieved during the year.
Exemplar Case Studies
16.31 Case 1: (North West) A member suffered a serious injury to her left knee after slipping on a shiny floor in the sports hall. An MRI Scan showed that she had damaged the cartilage in her left knee. The school’s insurers refused to negotiate a settlement and it was necessary for the Union’s solicitors to commence court proceedings. In July, a settlement of £90,000 was achieved for the member.
16.32 Case 2: (South West) A member was seriously injured when he was involved in a road traffic accident on his way to work in November 2011. The member had to be cut free from the car and taken to Accident and Emergency (A&E). The orthopaedic doctor at A&E advised the member that he had broken his back. He also sustained a fractured cheek, broken nose, haemorrhage to his left eye, cuts and abrasions. Whilst liability was admitted early in the case, the other side’s insurers refused to negotiate a settlement and it was necessary for the Union’s solicitors to issue legal proceedings. Finally, in October 2015 a settlement of £140,000 was achieved for the member. Cases such as this show the value of the Union’s legal advice service. They also show that the NASUWT is prepared to take cases that claim companies and ‘no win/no fee’ solicitors will not.
16.33 Case 3: (North West) A member banged his head on a concrete floor when the chair he sat on broke apart. It was later discovered that three bolts were missing from the chair. The member injured his lower back, neck and left leg as a result of the accident in September 2011. Again, court proceedings were initiated before a settlement of £100,000 was agreed with his employer.
16.34 Case 4 (North East) Another member was injured in 2010 when she tripped as a result of a tear in the lino in the science classroom where she worked. This tear had previously been reported and was repaired using hazard tape. The member’s accident occurred as a result of the hazard tape lifting and causing the member to catch her foot and fall. She sustained an injury to her right knee. The member later underwent two operations to the knee and was diagnosed with chronic pain syndrome. Court proceedings were initiated due to the employer initially denying liability. The Union’s solicitors respectively rejected two offers of £30,000 and £40,000. Eventually, an offer of £55,000 was made in July, which the member accepted.
Employment-related Criminal Assault
16.35 During the year, 30 case files were opened for members requesting legal assistance in relation to employment-related criminal assault. These are extremely difficult to pursue successfully as negligence claims, because in most cases it is very difficult to prove to the satisfaction of a court that the specific risks posed by the pupil(s) concerned were foreseeable to the employer.
16.36 Nevertheless, the Union’s solicitors were able to obtain settlement in a number of cases related to assault by pupils.
148 Exemplar Case Studies
16.37 Case 1: A member was injured when a pupil was disrupting her class, jumping on tables and hitting other children. As the pupil ran out of the door, he knocked the member over, causing injury to her back. A week later, the member was about to start a lesson when two boys ran out of the room. The second boy knocked into the member, causing her to fall to the ground. An MRI Scan showed that the member had slipped a disc in her back. The member subsequently underwent a spinal surgery. The Union commenced court proceedings for the member in respect of both accidents. The member was able to obtain supportive medical evidence and a settlement was subsequently agreed in the sum of £185,000.
16.38 Case 2: A member was injured when she was trying to separate two pupils who were fighting. She lost her balance and fractured bones in her left foot. Following negotiations and detailed correspondence with the employer’s representative, the case was settled for £2,875.00
16.39 The Union’s solicitors are sometimes able to access and obtain compensation for assaulted members from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). This Scheme provides compensation where the injured party can demonstrate that the injuries sustained occurred as a result of a crime of violence which usually has been reported to the police.
16.40 During the year, positive results were achieved in gaining compensation from the CICA for seven members who received a total of £21,300.
Claims for Stress-related Illness
16.41 During the year, the Union has dealt with an increasing number of refusals for claims for compensation against employers as a result of stress-related illness. These claims are enormously difficult to pursue to a successful conclusion. However, each application was carefully assessed, with a view to pursuing such claims where there are sufficient prospects of overcoming the significant legal hurdles involved.
Criminal Law Casework
16.42 Over a hundred members were supported by the Union in police interviews because of a criminal allegation arising out of their employment. These included allegations of physical and sexual assaults against pupils. The Police/Crown Prosecution Service investigations have so far found that in 64 cases there is ‘no case to answer’. One member was acquitted at court. The remainder of the cases are ongoing.
16.43 The Union successfully represented a member who faced a charge of common assault. In January, the member was accused of kicking a pupil during a science lesson. In December, the matter proceeded to trial where the member was acquitted of all charges.
Regulatory Procedures
16.44 The General Teaching Councils continued their regulatory and registration duties in Northern Ireland and Scotland.
16.45 The EWC replaced the General Teaching Council for Wales (GTCW) in April.
16.46 The NCTL continued to be responsible for investigating allegations of serious misconduct against teachers and headteachers in schools in England and determining whether prohibition is appropriate.
149 16.47 During the year, the Union opened 49 case files for members in England who were referred to the NCTL, on grounds of alleged professional misconduct. A further case file was opened for a member in Northern Ireland who had been referred to the NCTL in England, which was successfully challenged for having no merit. A further six cases were opened for members facing a hearing before the EWC (formerly the General Teaching Council) in Wales and two cases for members facing a hearing before the GTCS.
16.48 It is of concern to the Union that in NCTL cases that attract enormous publicity, the Secretary of State’s interference is becoming customary. Such intrusion serves to deny teachers accused of serious offences, such as radicalisation, the right to a fair hearing because of a politically driven agenda.
16.49 The Union began collating evidence on a range of legal and procedural issues arising from the way in which the NCTL conducted its cases.
16.50 The Union engaged the NCTL regarding these points on a case-by-case basis and sought specialist legal opinion.
16.51 The Union successfully argued against the imposition of interim prohibition orders on members who were accused (without supporting evidence) of making inappropriate comments to pupils, behaving in an inappropriate manner towards pupils and failing to maintain professional boundaries.
16.52 The Union also successfully challenged the imposition of a final prohibition order by the NCTL against a member who was alleged to have: (a) demonstrated a pattern of inappropriate behaviour towards pupils despite previous advice; and (b) influenced a pupil to make a false statement regarding his behaviour.
16.53 The Union is currently providing legal support for a member accused of professional misconduct by the EWC in Wales.
Disclosure and Barring Service
16.54 During the year, the Union opened 89 files regarding issues relating to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The DBS undertakes an investigation and then makes a determination as to whether or not the individual should be barred from working with children.
16.55 A large number of the queries were regarding DBS certificates. The Union continued to seek to challenge the police, where possible, on behalf of members in relation to the disclosure of non-conviction information on Enhanced Disclosures. Approximately 10% of these queries related to the disqualification by association statutory guidance which was first issued in October 2014.
16.56 During the year, the DfE issued guidance on disqualification by association which raised the possibility of teachers being disqualified due to offences committed by people who live in the same household with them.
16.57 The guidance was issued without consultation and caused turmoil across the school system.
16.58 The NASUWT met with DfE officials and raised concerns about the provisions and the problems the guidance had caused. Following the meeting, the supplementary guidance was withdrawn and consultation took place on revised guidance.
150 16.59 The NASUWT issued its own guidance and supported members who faced disqualification under the provisions.
Child Protection
16.60 The Government published the revised guidance on safeguarding, entitled Keeping Children Safe in Education in July. This replaced Safeguarding Children and Safer Recruitment in Education, and dealt with allegations of abuse against teachers and other staff.
16.61 The revised guidance document was intended to set out the legal and statutory requirements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. The document contained information on what schools and colleges should do to keep children safe and sets out the legal duties with which schools and colleges must comply. The guidance provided additional information on checks on visitors, regulated activity and DBS checks, the portability of criminal record checks and employment references and previous employment history and pre-appointment checks.
16.62 In February, the DfE replaced the supplementary advice that was issued in October 2014 with the statutory guidance for local authorities, maintained schools, academies and free schools regarding disqualification by association. This meant that teachers who shared the same household as those who had been convicted of one of a number of listed offences would potentially be disqualified from teaching children up to the age of 8.
16.63 This derived from legislation intended to regulate the childcare sector and had not previously been applied to schools or teachers.
16.64 Since the introduction of the statutory guidance, the number of members suspended from work or asked to sign declaration forms have reduced significantly. The Union continued to provide support and information for members and assisted with individual cases, especially the making of waiver applications to Ofsted. The Union continued to press for the law and regulations to be changed.
Equality Legislation
16.65 The NASUWT continued to monitor developments in employment equality legislation and attended the annual TUC Discrimination Law Conference.
16.66 Support and information were provided for NASUWT Equality Officers’ Briefings, and individual Legal and Casework Surgeries were held at all of the Union’s Annual Consultation Conferences.
Benevolence
16.67 Over 300 new applications were dealt with during the year. This remained an extremely large number of applications and showed how demand for assistance from the Union’s Benevolent Fund remained consistently high. Many applicants continued to face escalating financial difficulties and unmanageable credit debts due to a number of circumstances, reflecting the ongoing current economic climate that continued to have a severe adverse impact on many households, including those of teachers.
16.68 A total of £275,326.01 was paid out from the Central Benevolent Fund in the form of grants to applicants. Of this total:
• £136,118.73 was for single payment grants to applicants who were facing financial hardship;
151 • £55,700.00 was for convalescence grants to aid applicants during a time of physical or emotional illness; • £22,138.70 in holiday grants; • £15,995.00 in monthly grants; • £14,700.00 in education grants; and • £13,838.58 in grants for rent and mortgage payments.
16.69 In total, the Benevolent Federations received £16,085.00 into their imprest accounts to provide grant aid at a local level.
16.70 The Central Benevolent Committee received £19,522.50 from recipients repaying loans awarded to them from the Fund. In addition, loans in the sum of £750.00 were converted to grants, and loans in the sum of £440.00 were written off as bad debts. The loan book for the Fund stood at £109,172.93 at the end of the year.
16.71 A non-member donated £7089.13 to the Fund from her estate, which will significantly assist applicants to the Fund during times of financial hardship. In addition, a further £466.50 was received in donations from members and non-members.
16.72 Applicants continued to be regularly referred to Payplan for money and debt advice, at no cost to the member or the Union. Applicants found the Payplan service very beneficial in helping them with their future budgeting and credit debt management.
16.73 The Fund continues to signpost applicants to a number of charities and organisations, relevant to their particular circumstances, which may also be of assistance in offering the support they require to enable them to move forward with their lives.
16.74 Two training courses for Benevolence Visitors were held in the Eastern and North East Regional Centres during the year, which were well attended.
16.75 A significant number of Benevolence Representatives attended the annual meeting. This proved to be a useful forum for receiving feedback from visitors and sharing information amongst visitors of varying experience.
16.76 The Benevolent Fund leaflets and information were all updated and the service promoted to members across the UK.
Services
16.77 Wesleyan provided briefings for members attending NASUWT conferences and seminars at national, regional and local level.
16.78 In addition, briefings on planning for retirement were held in a number of NASUWT centres throughout the year. A hundred per cent of teachers asked said Wesleyan made them feel valued as a customer and the same percentage said Wesleyan had a good knowledge of the teaching profession.
16.79 UIA provided members of the NASUWT with access to home, motor and travel insurance. During the year, UIA ran successful campaigns, with discounts of up to 40% for NASUWT members on home insurance policies.
16.80 Endsleigh continued to support NASUWT members with a range of insurance products and services designed to meet members’ motor, home and travel needs. In addition, Endsleigh continued to support the NASUWT Recruitment Awards.
152 16.81 The Union developed further the suite of NASUWT Benefits and Services. At the end of the year, the NASUWT Benefits and Services website contained offers, discounts, benefits and services from over 250 different companies.
16.82 The Benefits e-zine, with offers linked to the dedicated NASUWT Benefits and Services website, has been increased to two updates per month. The increase in frequency of the e mails has been reflected in the increase in pages viewed by members visiting the website.
16.83 The Gourmet Card was replaced in November with a new offer for members from Hi-Life Diners Club.
Local Financial Procedures
16.84 In September, a consultation to inform the review of the local financial procedures introduced in July 2014 was conducted with local treasurers and Local Associations. The views of Local Associations were sought to inform the annual review of the local financial procedures.
Task and Finish Group – National Executive Districts
16.85 At its meeting in September, in the context of capacity building to support lay activists, the National Executive resolved to establish a Task and Finish Group to review the criteria for the determination of the number of National Executive Members per Executive District.
Eamonn O’Kane Young Activist of the Year
16.86 David Robertson of the Birmingham Association was chosen as the Young Activist of the Year and received his award at the NASUWT Annual Conference from Tristram Hunt, Shadow Secretary of State for Education, NASUWT President Graham Dawson and Assistant General Secretary of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Paul Nowak, who had addressed the Conference.
PERSONAL
17.1 Fred Brown, Paul Cockman, Elaine Cross, Mike Dawson, Mike Grant, Karen Hopwood, Kim Jamson, Pam Milner, David Morgan, Keith Muncey, Kirsty Price, Ingrid Reeds and Paul Watkins left the National Executive during the year.
17.2 Linda Gray, National Executive Member (2009-2015), died in November. The National Executive wishes to place on record its grateful thanks for her valuable and unstinting work for the Union.
17.3 Richard Bell, John Crofts, Harold Gurden, Chris Head, Adrian Joice, Ngaire McCann, Damien McNulty, Alison Morgan, David Morgan, Neil Richards, Russ Walters and David Whitworth joined the National Executive during the year.
153 APPENDIX 1
NASUWT CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS (OTHER THAN TRAINING)
NASUWT Young Teachers Consultation Conference, January
The Young Teachers’ Consultation Conference was chaired by NASUWT Senior Vice-President Graham Dawson. The theme of the Conference was ‘Organising Young Teachers: Championing Education’. Keynote speakers included Dr Debra Kidd, an educational consultant and a passionate advocate of a broad and balanced curriculum for all pupils, who spoke about ‘Redefining Educational Success’.
Attendees participated in workshops on the following subjects: ‘Performance Management: Know Your Rights’; ‘Assertiveness in the Classroom’; ‘Valuing Your Professionalism: Accessing Professional Development’; ‘Supporting You and Your Pupils Online’; and ‘Philosophy for Children – Open Dialogue in the Classroom’.
A Conference Declaration setting out the concerns of the Young Teachers’ Conference and identifying issues for action by government and other agencies across the UK was published and disseminated following the event.
NASUWT Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Teachers’ Consultation Conference, February
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) Teachers’ Consultation Conference was chaired by NASUWT Senior Vice-President Graham Dawson. The theme of the Conference was ‘Moving Forward – Next Steps: LGBT Equality’. Keynote speakers included Gethin Jones, an AGSM activist, as featured in the film ‘Pride’.
Attendees participated in workshops on the following subjects: ‘Promoting LGBT Equality in Schools through PSHE’; ‘LGBT and the Media’; ‘Performance Management – Securing your Entitlements’; ‘Coming Out At Work’; and ‘Assertiveness in the Classroom’.
A Conference Declaration setting out the concerns of the LGBT Teachers’ Conference and identifying issues for action by government and other agencies across the UK was published and disseminated following the event.
A real-time poll at the Conference found that:
• over half of teachers had experienced homophobia, biphobia and transphobia during their teaching career; • less than a quarter of teachers felt their school took discriminatory practices seriously; • almost half had experienced the word ‘gay’ being used as a derogatory term; • almost a quarter had to hide their sexual orientation at work; • only a third believe that teachers can be safe and out in schools; • over a quarter had experienced discrimination during their career; and • well over a third of disabled teachers had had difficulties in securing reasonable adjustments in the workplace.
Equality Officers’ Training and Development Days – March, July, October
There were three briefings held for Equality Officers during the year.
Topics covered during the briefings included: Equality Case Law updates; an introduction to the ‘Equality: Make it Happen’ resource pack (CSIE); Trans Awareness Training (Gendered Intelligence); Forced Marriage and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) (Freedom Charity); The Conservative Agenda
154 (and the impacts on equalities); Flexible Working; Shared Parental Leave and the Childcare Bill (Working Families); Neurodiversity and Trade Union Organising (TSSA); and The Social Model of Disability.
The briefings were addressed by a number of external speakers including: Dr Artemi Sakellariadis (Centre for Studies in Inclusive Education); Simon Croft (Gendered Intelligence); Aneeta Prem (Freedom Charity); Julie McCarthy (Working Families); and Adele Potten-Price (TSSA).
NASUWT Disabled Teachers’ Consultation Conference, June
The Disabled Teachers’ Consultation Conference was chaired by Fred Brown, NASUWT Junior Vice-President.
The theme of the Conference was ‘Ability, Aspiration, Ambition, Achievement’. Keynote speakers included Adele Potten-Price, TSSA, who spoke to delegates about neurodiversity and TU organising.
Attendees participated in workshops on negotiating disability leave and reasonable adjustments, neurodiversity and trade union organising and a workshop on pension issues by Wesleyan.
A Conference Declaration, setting out the concerns of the Disabled Teachers’ Conference and identifying issues for action by government and other agencies across the UK was published and disseminated following the event.
Health, Safety and Welfare Seminar Day, July
The Annual Health, Safety and Welfare Seminar Day for NASUWT Health and Safety Representatives was chaired by Kathy Wallis, NASUWT Junior Vice-President.
External speakers were Ian Draper from the UK Work-Stress Network, David Whiting from ACAS and Hugh Robertson from the TUC.
Workshops were held on stress and stress management, workplace bullying and health and safety as an organising tool. Other activities included a sharing good practice session and a briefing on the work of the NASUWT Health and Safety Committee.
Women Teachers’ Consultation Conference, November
The Women Teachers’ Consultation Conference was chaired by the NASUWT President, Graham Dawson. The Conference theme was ‘Empowerment through Engagement’. Keynote speakers included Sian James, a former Welsh Labour MP.
Members were able to vote and share their thoughts and experiences on flexible working arrangements in schools during the popular interactive electronic voting session.
Attendees participated in workshops on subjects including ‘Empowerment: You and Your Pay’; ‘Assertiveness in the Classroom’; ‘Identifying and Dealing with Bullying and Harassment’; Supporting your Wellbeing and Success’; ‘Body Language – Building Positive Relationships’; ‘Flexible Working’; ‘Philosophy for Children – Open Dialogue in the Classroom’; and ‘A Brief Introduction to Trans Awareness’.
A Conference Declaration document setting out the concerns of the Women Teachers’ Conference and identifying issues for action by government and other agencies across the UK was published and disseminated following the event.
155 Training Officers Training and Development Day – November
The Union continued to update NASUWT trade union education and training tutors at the annual briefing. The briefings provided valuable information to tutors on the strategic priorities of the Union’s training course programme, course material revisions and topics relevant for updating their skills and knowledge.
The tutors were briefed on issues including updates to the NOCN Accreditation requirements; discrimination case law updates; the NASUWT online learning project; the Trade Union Bill; and TUPE; along with a presentation on the Social Model of Disability.
Black and Minority Ethnic Teachers’ Consultation Conference, December
The Annual Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Teachers’ Consultation Conference was chaired by the NASUWT President, Graham Dawson. The theme of the Conference was ‘Celebrating Diversity, Promoting Equality and Justice’.
The NASUWT General Secretary launched the Union’s ‘Act for Racial Justice’ campaign and invited the BME teachers to contribute and participate in the taskforce that would be set up to deliver the campaign throughout the country.
The prominent playwright and human rights activist, Bonnie Greer, addressed the Conference and discussed the importance of continuing to champion race equality and challenge all forms of injustices within education and society as a whole.
Participants took part in workshops on the following subjects:
• Key Leadership Skills – a practical session providing tips on the key skills required for effective leadership and management; • Assertiveness in the classroom; • Identifying and dealing with bullying and harassment; • Body language techniques – building positive relationships; • Flexible working – your rights and entitlements; • Inspections; and • Fundamental British values – meeting the duties.
A Conference Declaration setting out the concerns of the BME Teachers’ Conference and identifying issues for action by government and other agencies across the UK was published and disseminated following the event.
Negotiating Secretaries’/Local Secretaries’ Briefings
Termly briefings were held for Negotiating Secretaries.
The briefings addressed a wide range of current issues, including pay and performance management/appraisal policies, pensions, the Vote for Education campaign, the Trade Union Bill, curriculum and qualifications developments, inspection framework changes and industrial action implementation.
A special workshop was held for local secretaries on implementing the 2015-16 pay award.
Newly Qualified Teacher Seminars
As part of the NASUWT commitment to supporting and developing new teachers, the programme of preparatory seminars ran from late July to late August across the UK.
156 The seminars included a range of advisory and interactive sessions and covered information on topics such as rights during induction and the issues facing teachers in education. In addition to interactive sessions on e-safety and teacher wellbeing, sessions on behaviour management and voice care were provided.
Further seminars were held for new teachers in February, June and November. These sessions were highly successful, covering a range of topics including how to manage work-related stress, dealing with challenging pupil behaviour, time management and prioritising workload, and the role of Ofsted. The seminars gave new teachers the opportunity to share their early experiences of teaching and induction.
School Leaders’ Seminars, March and September
The NASUWT hosted seminars for school leader members.
Derek Moore, Chair of the Leadership Group Advisory Committee, chaired both events. The event in March covered a number of important issues which included, Headteacher Standards, School Funding, Disqualification under the Childcare Act 2006, Ofsted and the Counter Terrorism and Security Act.
During an open session at the seminar, the Union’s school leaders engaged in discussions with senior representatives from Ofsted and other agencies on the key issues impacting on the leadership and governance of schools, given the turbulence of education reform and increased accountability throughout the year.
The September seminar was a unique CPD and training event specifically focusing on school leaders’ needs. Sessions included: Supporting the Wellbeing of School Leaders, Fundamental British Values, Assessment and Accountability, Effective School Leadership, Changes to School Funding and Teachers’ Pay 2015-16.
Supply Teachers’ Seminars
UK-wide seminars for supply teachers took place in March and September.
Chaired by the President, Geoff Branner, the March seminar focused on the key political issues facing teachers through a keynote address by Dr Patrick Roach, the Deputy General Secretary, and an exploration of the initial findings of the supply teachers’ survey.
Professional development activities included a general session on Disqualification by Association issues, understanding your rights as a supply teacher and finding your ‘inner calm’.
The seminar in September was a professional development day with a range of sessions devoted to professional development needs, including supporting wellbeing and success, contract rights and safeguarding children in education.
157 APPENDIX 2
EXTERNAL CONFERENCES, SEMINARS AND EVENTS AT WHICH THE NASUWT WAS REPRESENTED January Discrimination Law Conference, Glasgow ETUCE Equality Working Group, Brussels Holocaust Memorial Celebration, Krakow, Poland Institute of Education, Tackling Homophobia Conference, London
February Conservative Party Conference, Edinburgh Education International (EI) ESP meeting, Brussels Global Campaign for Education World Assembly, Johannesburg, South Africa Ofsted SGTA meeting, London Public Concern at Work, London Safer Internet Day, London Supply and Training of Teachers Advisory Group: Building the Wall manifesto launch, London TALG meeting, London Trade Union Advisory Committee (TUAC) meeting, London UNESCO High Level Event for the Adoption of the New Education Agenda, Paris Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence Abuse meeting, Wales Westminster Education Forum – Keynote Seminar: Using Academic Research and Pupil Data in Education: Opportunities, Challenges and Best Practice, London Westminster Education Forum: Next Step for Learning Pathways Keynote Seminar, London
March Children and Young People Act Conference Scotland, Edinburgh Disadvantaged pupil attainment gap index, London EI-European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE) Conference on Educational Leadership, Amsterdam ETUCE Conference on Educational Leadership, Amsterdam ETUCE Standing Committee for Equality, Brussels Labour Party Conference, Edinburgh Liberal Democrats Party Conference, Aberdeen OCR, Cambridge SATTAG, London SNP Party Conference, Glasgow Teacher Ethics in Assessment Symposium, Oxford TUCFE, London UN CSW Conference, New York Unison, London
April ETUCE Pedagogical Workshop: Improving Competences of VET Teachers and Trainers, Barcelona Policy Forum for Wales Keynote Seminar: Curriculum Reform in Wales: Content, Assessment and the Challenges for Implementation Race on the Agenda Round Table, London Scottish Council for Independent Schools Conference, Edinburgh
May Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning Annual Lecture, Glasgow ETUCE Conference: Boosting the European Alliance for Apprenticeships, Riga, Latvia Teaching Scotland’s Future, Edinburgh Unite Against Fascism, Stand up to Racism, London
158 June EIS Annual General Meeting, Perth Scottish Primary Hockey Festival, Glasgow
July American Federation of Teachers (AFT): TEACH Conference; Washington Durham Miners’ Gala Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) How Equal is Britain? Conference, London National Association of Local Councils: What Next for Local Councils: England Post-General Election, London National Literacy Trust: Literacy for Life: Improving Secondary School Literacy, London Sutton Trust: EEF Pupil Premium Summit, London Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival, Dorset VSO Friends Reception, Parliament, London Women Chainmakers Festival, West Midlands
August Scottish Hazards Centre, Asbestos in Schools, STUC, Glasgow
September Burston Strike Rally, Norfolk
October AOb Seventh Congress, Utrecht, Netherlands ETUCE Equality Working Group, Brussels Labour Party Conference, Perth National Lebanese Teachers Unions (TSL) Conference, Lebanon Policy Forum for Wales Keynote Seminar: The Future for Early Years – Regulatory Change, Workforce Development and Improving Delivery of the Foundation Phase SNP Party Conference, Aberdeen
November AcademiWales Welsh Public Services Summit 2015: One Public Service – Leadership and Change Child Poverty Action Group Event, London CoED Foundation: Developing ‘British’ Values: Towards the Compassionate School; Services for Education, Birmingham OCR: Is the HE Admissions System in the UK Fit for Purpose?, Cambridge The Policy UK Conference: 21st Century Assessment – A Way Ahead for High-stakes Testing, eMarking and eAssessment, London UNESCO High Level Event for the Adoption of the New Education Agenda, Paris
December Inside Government: Reforming Education Through Improving Qualifications and Assessment, London
EXHIBITIONS/CONFERENCES AT WHICH THE NASUWT WAS AN EXHIBITOR
February Scottish Conservatives, Edinburgh Welsh Conservatives, Cardiff Welsh Labour, Swansea Welsh Liberal Democrats, Cardiff
March Education Show, Birmingham Plaid Cymru Spring Conference, Caernarfon Scottish Labour Conference, Edinburgh
159 Scottish Lib Dems, AECC Scottish National Party, Glasgow
April NUS Annual Conference, Liverpool
May Urdd National Eisteddfod, Caerphilly
July International Eisteddfod, Llangollen
August National Eisteddfod, Powys
September Labour Party Conference, Brighton Scottish Learning Festival, Glasgow
October Conservative Party Conference, Manchester OCR: The Validity of England’s Accountability Data, Cambridge Plaid Cymru, Annual Conference, Aberystwyth Scottish Labour, Perth Scottish National Party, Aberdeen TES SEN Show, London UCL Institute of Education: The Professional Formation of the Vocational Teacher, London Westminster Education Forum: Reforming England’s Exam System – Quality of Marking, Utilising Technology and New Providers, London
November Academies Show, National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham Welsh Lib Dems Autumn Conference
EXTERNAL BODIES ON WHICH THE NASUWT WAS REPRESENTED
Anti-Bullying Alliance AQA Curriculum and Assessment Quality Committee Chartered Institute of Educational Assessors (CIEA) Stakeholder Group Curriculum for Excellence Implementation Group (Scotland) Curriculum for Excellence Management Board (CfE) (Scotland) Curriculum for Wales: Strategic Stakeholder Group Education Copyright Users Forum Education Scotland Future of Inspection and Review External Reference Group (Scotland) Education Workforce Council English Speaking Union Professional Scholarship Committee Estyn Primary Sector Stakeholder Forum GTCS Professional Update Follow On Working Group (Scotland) Joint Council for Qualifications and Teachers’ Associations Liaison Group League for the Exchange of Commonwealth Teachers National Literacy Association OCR Qualifications Committee Ofqual/Teaching Association Meetings Primary Umbrella Group (PUG) Review of Qualifications Implementation Stakeholder Reference Group
160 SAGRABIS Included, Engaged and Involved 2 Sub-Group (Scotland) SCEL Stakeholder Group (Scotland) Scottish Advisory Group for Relationships and Behaviour in Schools (SAGRABIS) Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research Sub-Group (Scotland) Scottish Government Working Longer and Early Retirement Working Group (Scotland) Secondary Umbrella Group (SUG) SNCT Conditions of Service Working Group (Scotland) SNCT Support Group (Scotland) Sport and Recreation Alliance (previously Central Council of Physical Recreation) Standing Committee for the Education and Training of Teachers (SCETT) Standing Conference on Schools Science and Technology (SCSST) Welsh Joint Education Committee Advisory Group
TRADE UNION CONFERENCES AND SEMINARS AT WHICH THE NASUWT WAS REPRESENTED
TUC TUC Congress, Brighton
STUC Public Service Affiliates meetings STUC TU Bill Campaign Group meetings Equality Advisory Group STUC Congress STUC Health and Safety Group ULR Conference
WTUC All Wales Equality Network Special Meeting of a General Council to replace the WTUC Conference
ICTU Executive Council ICTU Congress LGBT Committee Women’s Committee
REPRESENTATIVES TO TUC AND ICTU CONGRESSES AND EQUALITIES CONFERENCES TUC Congress Geoff Branner, Fred Brown, Neil Butler, Michelle Codrington-Rogers, Brian Cookson, Elaine Cross, Graham Dawson, Nigel De Gruchy, Kathy Duggan, Ruth Duncan, Celia Foote, Alan Hackett, John Hall, Dave Kitchen, Dan McCarthy, Derek Moore, Paul Nesbitt, Timothy Ramsden, David Robertson, Sue Rogers, Nick Trier, Kathy Wallis and Lee Willcroft-Ferris.
TUC Disability Conference Nadjette Boutghane, Veronica Cooke, Frank Dutton, Lara Morris, Bernadette Omondi, Helen O’Neill, Timothy Ramsden, Sayema Rashid, Warren Speed, Louise Warren, Mike Watt and Michelle Williams.
TUC Women’s Conference Kathy Duggan, Ruth Duncan, Celia Foote, Helen O’Neill, Nadjette Boutaghane, Beauty Chimbetete, Amira Elgenidi, Paulette Ennever, Julia Harris, Catherine Holford-Myerscough, Jackie Hucklebridge, Deborah Long, Ngaire McCann, Lara Morris, Carol O’Connor, Bernadetta Omondi, Cheryl Richardson, Kathryn Salt, Jackie Scannell, Valerie Thomas, Michelle Williams, Sharon Winstone and Sayema Rashid. Additionally, the NASUWT took four guests to the conference: Megan Bettinson, Meredith Coates, Pat Lerew and Christine Hunter.
161 TUC Black Worker’s Conference Ruth Duncan, Michelle Codrington-Rogers, Ajaz Aslam, Abderrezak Bougara, Carol Braithwaite, Pushpalata Chaure, Bruce Choto, Patricia Earle Andrews, Bhavana Gupta, Mojisola Johnson, Omolo Johnson, Corneille Kessi, Florence Kondowe, Maria Morgan, Bernadetta Ormondi, Hervine Pelter, Patience Sena, Paulette Welter, Karen Williams-Kassaei and Jennifer Moses.
TUC Young Members’ Conference David Robertson, Sobhia Mahmood, Dale Minto, Bradley Wall.
TUC LGBT Conference Phil Siddle, Catherine Holford Myerscough, Kim Jamson, Lee Williscroft-Ferris, Dora David, Terence Harris, Simon Haskew, Nafiza Khan, Dominic McPherson, Alan Phippen, Patrick Pope, Karen Shaw, Leon Smith, Peter Taylor, David Thomas, Bradley Wall.
ICTU Conference Graham Agnew, Graham Dawson (Observer), John Devlin, Teresa Graham, Justin McCamphill, Ngaire McCann, Sean McElhinney, Kieron Moss, Brian O’Hara, Dennis O’Hara, Marian O’Hara, Jackie Shaw, Anne Thompson and Angela Wallace.
ICTU Global Solidarity Conference Justin McCamphill, Danny McKendry
ICTU Disability Conference Louise O’Prey
STUC Congress Bill Cook, Mike Corbett, Bill Matthew, Stephen Brown, Darren Wapplington and Jane Peckham.
STUC LGBT Conference Shaun Cooper, Christopher Potter, Nik James, Walter McCunnie, Darren Wapplington and Jane Peckham
STUC Women’s Conference Helen Auld, Moira Corrigan, Linda Greig, Claire McInnes and Jane Peckham.
STUC Black Workers’ Conference Derek Sturridge, Justina Oguguo, Zaf Hussain, Afifa Khanam and Claire McInnes.
STUC Disabled Workers’ Conference John Forsyth and Stephen Brown.
162 APPENDIX 3
NASUWT MOTIONS TO THE TUC, STUC, WTUC, ICTU TUC EQUALITIES CONFERENCES AND INTERNATIONAL MOTIONS
TUC
The motions submitted to the TUC Congress were as follows:
Education and Extremism
‘Congress asserts that educational equity and inclusion are critical to securing sustainable economic and social development and in the fight against bigotry, hatred and extremism around the world.
Congress pays tribute to all teachers and educators who courageously endeavour to educate the world’s children in many of the most hostile and dangerous places in the world.
Congress deplores the violent attacks, witnessed in a number of countries, by those who have deliberately targeted, killed, injured and kidnapped students and teachers, particularly women and girls, in pursuit of extremist ideologies.
Congress further deplores the anti-immigrant rhetoric, and the xenophobic and Islamophobic language that characterises much political and media discourse about Britain’s ethnic and religious minorities.
Congress deeply regrets that some British young people are being targeted by extremists, including far-right extremists and jihadists.
Congress further regrets actions by the Government which put at risk international commitments to educational inclusion and ending poverty, creating the conditions where social and economic exclusion, bigotry, intolerance and hatred flourish.
Congress calls upon the TUC to: i. support the work of affiliates in tackling prejudice-related bullying and extremism; ii. demonstrate active solidarity with trade unions and civil society organisations at home and abroad in the fight against extremism; iii. highlight the impact of the UK Government’s Prevent Agenda and action to counter extremism; iv. monitor the impact of far-right extremism in schools, colleges and in the wider society; v. plan and co-ordinate a campaign of activity with affiliates to challenge all forms of extremism in education.’
Government Attacks on Civil Rights
‘Congress asserts that the Conservative’s programme for Government represents a fundamental attack on basic rights, freedoms and entitlements and on democracy.
Congress deplores the Government’s centralising plans which are being delivered through measures to silence opposition from workers, families and communities.
Congress further deplores the fact that the Government’s economic, social and education policies are designed to privilege the voices of those with financial advantage, whilst stripping away access to civil rights for the majority.
163 Congress calls upon the General Council to: i. mount a public awareness campaign to highlight the Government’s attacks on civil rights; ii. support affiliates in their campaigns to challenge the Government’s programme of oppressive and anti-democratic legislation; and iii. work vigorously with the ITUC and the ILO to challenge the attacks on civil liberties and rights at work.’
TUC WOMEN’S CONFERENCE
Cost of Education
‘Conference is appalled by the findings from NASUWT research on the ‘Cost of Education’ and work by Child Poverty Action which shows that access to education for some children is increasingly based on their parents’ ability to pay.
Conference asserts that more children and working families are now living in poverty as a result of the Government’s social and economic policies.
Conference condemns the fact that increased financial burdens are disproportionately falling on women and are a further hidden tax on them.
Conference calls on the TUC to: i. work with affiliates to campaign for access to all public services to be free at the point of use, which has always been a fundamental principle of public service provision; and ii. campaign for economic and social policies which address the growing income inequality of women.’
Education and Gender
‘Conference is deeply concerned that despite international pressures, women and girls continue to be denied free and equal access to education around the world.
Conference notes with disappointment that the 2015 UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for universal primary education and gender equality will not be met.
Conference asserts that education equality for women and girls should be a national and international priority and applauds the work of affiliates in their attempts to secure free and quality education for all in the post-2015 MDGs.
Conference calls on the TUC to continue to campaign for the priorities for women and girls identified for the 2030 MDG to be translated into genuine national and international actions.’
TUC YOUNG MEMBERS’ CONFERENCE
Recruitment and retention of young teachers
‘Conference asserts that young teachers are the future of the profession. Conference further asserts that the recruitment, retention and development of young teachers is critical to ensuring high educational standards for all children and young people. Conference condemns those employers who exploit young teachers and fail to provide them with the support to which they are entitled. Conference is alarmed by the growing crisis in the recruitment and retention of young teachers which is fuelled by pay cuts, pension reforms, excessive workload, attacks on professional status and the casualisation of the profession, making teaching increasingly unattractive. Conference calls upon the TUC to support the work of affiliates in campaigning against the injustices faced by young teachers.’
164 TUC BLACK WORKERS’ CONFERENCE
Tackling Extremism and Hate
‘Conference asserts that education plays a key role in challenging prejudice and all other discriminatory attitudes.
Conference is deeply concerned that racial equality is disappearing from the education agenda, resulting in increased prejudice, negative stereotyping and bigotry.
Conference condemns the government’s handling of the ‘Trojan Horse’ investigation which scapegoated and pilloried local communities and undermined social cohesion.
Conference believes that urgent action is required to put racial equality at the heart of the education agenda and create a society that is fair, equal and respectful of all cultures, faiths and backgrounds.
Conference calls on the TUC to: i. actively promote affiliates campaigns that seek to prevent racists and far right extremists from working in schools and colleges; ii. develop a robust campaign against the growing language of hate of marginalised and disadvantaged communities.’
TUC DISABLED TEACHERS’ CONFERENCE
Mental Health and Reasonable Adjustments
‘Conference is deeply concerned by the growing evidence of increasing discrimination against disabled workers.
Conference is particularly concerned by the evidence that over three quarters of teachers assert that the job impacts negatively on their mental health and wellbeing.
Conference condemns the lack of support for teachers and other workers with mental health issues and in particular those on the autistic spectrum or with other neuro-diverse conditions.
Conference further condemns the negative attitude of some employers who refuse to make reasonable adjustments for workers with mental health issues or create a climate of uncertainty and fear which discourages workers from disclosing their conditions.
Conference calls upon the TUC to work with affiliates to: i. research the extent of discrimination against those with mental health conditions ii. prioritise campaigning and bargaining policies that defend disabled workers’ rights and iii. campaign to raise awareness and remove the stigma associated with mental health conditions.’
TUC LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL AND TRANS TEACHERS’ CONFERENCE
Equalisation of Survivor Benefits
‘Conference condemns the continuing discrimination against civil partners and same-sex married couples with regard to pensions.
Conference deplores the failure of the Coalition Government to address the inequality of survivor pensions within occupational schemes.
165 Conference asserts that the Treasury’s claims that equalisation in line with other survivors is unaffordable were misleading and inaccurate.
Conference believes that there is a responsibility of Government not only to end this discrimination and adhere to the provisions of the Equality Act 2010, but also to meet the costs of any backdated payment.
Conference further believes that such backdated payments should not be viewed as a “new” cost, rather as reimbursements of monies to public service scheme members which have been unjustifiably withheld.
Conference calls on the TUC to: i. continue to press Government to end this unfavourable treatment and practice by enforcing the full equalisation of survivor benefits; and ii. lobby MPs for a change in the law to end discrimination in survivor benefits.’
SCOTTISH TRADES UNION CONGRESS
Health and Safety
‘Congress congratulates all STUC affiliates’ Health and Safety Representatives who work so diligently to make workplaces safe.
Congress condemns the systematic, ideological attack which has been mounted on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) since 2010.
Congress asserts that this attack demonstrates contempt for the health and wellbeing of working people.
Congress further asserts that the commercialisation of the HSE, cuts to its funding and the reduction in the number of inspectors put working people, including teachers, in danger.
Congress calls upon the STUC General Council to continue to: i. support affiliates in working to secure highly trained Health and Safety Representatives in every workplace; ii. campaign for a return to a properly funded and independent HSE that is able to secure compliance with health and safety provisions and iii. campaign to ensure that the health, safety and wellbeing of workers is put before profits.’
Child Poverty and Educational Attainment
‘Congress condemns the post 2010 social and economic policies which have resulted in 1 in 5 children in Scotland living in poverty, with the expectation that this number will rise to 1 in 3 by 2020.
Congress recognises the fact that this bleak prospect for child poverty is the fault of the UK Government.
Congress notes the evidence that demonstrates the direct link between poverty, homelessness and educational achievement.
Congress asserts that it is unacceptable that teachers and schools are being expected to pick up the pieces of these failed policies.
166 Congress further asserts that the Scottish Government can act to address the consequences of these policies on the life chances of children and young people and welcomes the Scottish Government’s recognition of the importance of this in the 2014-17 Child Poverty Strategy.
Congress calls upon the STUC General Council to: i. support affiliates in their efforts to highlight the issues and their impact on educational attainment; ii. work with affiliates and other organisations to campaign for full implementation and future review of the Scottish Government’s Child Poverty Strategy and iii. challenge the ‘no excuses’ dogma promoted by some which denies the impact of poverty, poor housing and access to other essential services on educational attainment.’
Rights to Flexible Working
‘Congress is deeply concerned about the number of employers who resist, and actively discourage, requests for flexible working.
Congress asserts that such practices are driving workers, particularly women, out of work or pressurising them into relinquishing hard won posts of responsibility to the detriment of their careers and financial security.
Congress calls upon the STUC General Council to: i. research and report on the extent to which workers are being denied access to flexible working, including any disproportionate impact this may be having on under-represented groups; ii. support affiliates in ensuring that members are aware of their rights; iii. encourage and support affiliates to challenge unreasonable and discriminatory management attitudes and practices and iv. campaign to secure a legal right to flexible working.’
STUC WOMEN’S CONFERENCE
Impact of Poverty on Women and Families
‘Conference asserts that more children and working families are now living in poverty as a result of the Westminster Government’s social and economic policies.
Conference condemns the cuts to welfare spending emanating from the Conservative Government, which are driving many working families even deeper into poverty.
Conference further condemns the disproportionate impact on women and children as a result of economic austerity policies.
Conference congratulates the Scottish Government’s decision to mitigate the impact of the ‘bedroom tax’ in Scotland, which has never been anything more than an attack on the poorest families.
Conference calls for further positive action from the Scottish Government to protect women and families from the impact of Conservative Government policy.
Conference calls upon the STUC to: i. work with affiliates to campaign for access to all public services to continue to be free at the point of use;
167 ii. publish evidence on the impact of the policies of the Scottish government in terms of reducing poverty; and iii. campaign for economic and social policies which address the growing income inequality between women and men.’
Education and Gender
‘Conference is deeply concerned that despite international pressures, women and girls continue to be denied free and equal access to education around the world.
Conference notes with disappointment that the 2015 UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for universal primary education and gender equality will not be met.
Conference asserts that education equality for women and girls should be a national and international priority and applauds the work of affiliates in their attempts to secure free and quality education for all in the post-2015 MDGs.
Conference welcomes the commitment enshrined in legislation to commit 0.7% of UK GDP to international development.
However, Conference deplores the decision of the Westminster Government to focus its international development programme on securing increased market opportunities for the private sector in developing countries.
Conference notes that low-fee school provision in developing countries is a major barrier to the educational participation of girls.
Conference asserts that international aid should not operate for profit.
Conference calls upon the STUC to campaign to secure genuine educational equality for women and girls by lobbying the Scottish Government and Scottish MPs to press for the greater international action to secure tangible progress towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals for education.’
STUC BLACK WORKERS’ CONFERENCE
Tackling Racism and Prejudice
‘Conference asserts that education plays a key role in challenging prejudice and discriminatory attitudes.
Conference is concerned by the increase in prejudice and bigotry, including Islamophobia, being fostered by the current political rhetoric on extremism and immigration.
Conference is deeply concerned by the absence of Black and Minority Ethnic teachers in promoted posts, particularly school leadership posts, and believes that the Scottish Government and employers should be ashamed of their appalling record in this regard.
Conference believes that the Scottish Government requires a coherent national strategy to challenge and tackle racism and religious discrimination in schools.
Conference calls upon the STUC to: i. campaign for the systematic, regular collection and monitoring of education workforce data by the Scottish Government and Employers relating to BME teachers and all teachers with protected characteristics;
168 ii. research and publish evidence on the extent of racial and religious discrimination in the public and private sectors; iii. campaign for action to address discrimination and inequality; iv. actively support and promote the campaigns of affiliates seeking to prevent far right extremists from working in schools and colleges.’
STUC DISABLED WORKERS’ CONFERENCE
Mental Health and Reasonable Adjustments
‘Conference welcomes the recognition by the Scottish Government of the need for action to improve the mental health and wellbeing of adults.
Conference asserts that Scottish Government actions for improving the mental health and wellbeing of adults must acknowledge and deliver improvement for workers, including teachers, who are most at risk of stress, anxiety and other mental health problems. Conference condemns the practice of employers which forces many teachers and other workers to struggle into work and fail to comply with the statutory provisions on adjustments for those with mental health impairments.
Conference deplores the poor management practices by some employers which has contributed to or exacerbated mental health problems at work, including the use of punitive sanctions.
Conference further condemns the climate of fear which exists in too many workplaces which discourages workers from disclosing information about their mental health or seeking reasonable adjustments at work.
Conference calls upon the STUC to: i. take concerted action to defend the rights of disabled workers; ii. lobby the Scottish Government to develop a specific strategy to secure equality for disabled workers and, in particular, to support workers with mental health conditions; iii. campaign, together with other organisations, to raise awareness and remove the stigma associated with mental health conditions iv. conduct research on the extent of discrimination against workers with mental health conditions; v. campaign to raise awareness and remove the stigma associated with mental health conditions.’
WALES TRADES UNION CONGRESS
As referred to elsewhere in this report, there was no Conference this year as it is now held biannually.
EDUCATION INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS
LGBTI Rights
‘Congress notes: i. that defending the human and trades union rights of all people around the world is a fundamental principle enshrined in international laws; ii. that the promotion and protection of human rights irrespective of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression is an important principle adopted by EI and its affiliate organisations; iii. the persistence of homophobic and transphobic hatred and the rising levels of hatred against LGBTI people as a result of the passage of laws that criminalise and stigmatise LGBTI communities;
169 iv. that in 78 countries the law criminalises homosexuality, creating the conditions that encourage the abuse, harassment, intimidation, violence and murder of people on the grounds of their actual or assumed sexuality or gender identity; v. that the incitement of hatred and legitimising anti-gay laws is a direct contravention of EU and international human rights obligations including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (Article 21); vi. the growing problem of hate speech and hate crime motivated by prejudice, discrimination and bigotry against LGBTI people; and vii. that hate crime and hate speech against LGBTI communities often go unreported due to fear of victimisation and reprisals.
Congress further notes: a. the 2014 Joint EI-PSI Statement on LGBTI violations condemning discrimination and violence against LGBTI people and calling for the global trade union movement to actively oppose homophobia and transphobia and organise to defend LGBTI rights; b. evidence demonstrating that discrimination in education continues to blight the lives of children, young people, teachers and education support professionals who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or intersex; and c. the work of organisations such as the International Lesbian, Gay Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA) and its member organisations in securing equal rights for LGBTI people around the world.
Congress believes:
1. that a violation of these rights by governments, political parties and other organisations is a legitimate trade union issue and one that should be challenged collectively by the trade union movement; 2. that the trade union movement is a formidable force for championing LGBTI rights and working in solidarity with the international community; 3. that schools, colleges and higher education institutions should be free from hatred, prejudice, intimidation and violence and be safe sanctuaries for children, young people, teachers and education support personnel; 4. that schools, colleges and higher education institutions play a key role in educating against homophobia and transphobia through curriculum subjects and effective employment policies.
Congress resolves:
A. to champion LGBTI rights throughout all EI campaigns and policies; B. to commit resources of Education International to lobby governments to end the criminalising and persecution of LGBTI people and to campaign for human rights for all; C. to assist the work of EI member organisations in defending the rights of LGBTI students, teachers and education support personnel; D. to work actively with partner organisations to promote LGBTI rights; and E. to collect, publish and disseminate evidence on the incidence and impact of LGBTI discrimination in education.’
Migration, Professional Diversity and Racism
‘Congress notes: i. that there is robust evidence demonstrating the link between quality education and equity of educational rights and entitlements; ii. that schools, colleges, universities and other educational institutions have a critical role to play in promoting equality and diversity and in tackling inequality, including that based on the ethnicity, religion and nationality;
170 iii. that education institutions contribute most effectively to transforming lives and life chances when they exist as inclusive communities in which the rights and entitlements of all members – staff, students and other stakeholders – are safeguarded and promoted; iv. the excellent work undertaken by Education International in standing up for migrant teachers and in developing a global strategy through the work of the Teacher Migration Task Force.
Congress further notes: a. that teacher mobility is a global phenomenon that requires a concerted and coordinated effort to curb the violation of migrant teachers’ labour rights; b. that migrant teachers often face unfair treatment, discrimination and racism; c. that migrant teachers also face exploitation from governments and employers and, together with migrant workers in other sectors, are victimised and blamed for wider social problems; and d. that economic austerity policy in many countries has increased the extent of discrimination, scapegoating and exploitation of migrant teachers.
Congress believes:
1. That the exchange of ideas and experiences between teachers from different nationalities and ethnic and religious backgrounds benefits education systems, enriches the curriculum and benefits students; 2. That migrant teachers make a vitally important and necessary contribution to the provision of quality education systems; 3. Migrant teachers should enjoy the right to dignity at work, free from any form of discrimination; 4. That teacher mobility should be supported and assisted on the basis of an internationally recognised and integrated framework of teacher qualifications.
Congress resolves:
A. To support the work of member organisations in promoting equality for migrant teachers. B. To continue to support the work of EI in working with supra-national organisations, including UNECSO, the ILO and the World Bank, to promote the benefits of teacher mobility; C. To campaign for the equal treatment of migrant teachers and education support personnel and to end the unscrupulous actions of some employment agencies.’
Education and Displaced People
‘Congress notes: i. That of the world’s 51.2 million forcibly displaced people, half are below the age of 18 years; ii. That statistical data compiled by the UNHCR confirm that conflict and persecution forced an average of 32,200 persons per day to leave their homes and seek protection elsewhere, either within the borders of their countries or in other countries; iii. That developing countries host 86% of the world’s refugees and displaced people but often lack the resources or infrastructure they need to meet their needs, including access to shelter, water, food and clothing; iv. That displaced children are disproportionately at risk of forced labor, child marriage, sexual exploitation, violence and recruitment by armed militia; and v. That many displaced children are denied access to even the most basic levels of education.
Congress further notes: a. That more than 100 years ago, the Red Cross established the right to healthcare in conflict zones; but the right of refugees to continue their education has yet to be won; b. That national governments have the primary responsibility for ensuring children’s rights in displacement;
171 c. That displacement can last for years or a lifetime. In many instances, children who are displaced grow up without any education throughout their lives; d. In a context where children are fleeing from conflict or natural disasters, education is too often seen as a “luxury” and not as a priority for displaced children; and e. That the success of Education International’s Unite for Quality Education campaign depends upon national and international efforts to protect the right to quality education for the world’s most vulnerable children, including refugee and displaced children.
Congress believes:
1. That education is a human right that should be accessible to all people including those displaced by conflict or natural disasters; 2. That national governments and the international community should be explicitly obliged to ensure that this right is a reality for all children and young people; 3. That richer countries should contribute more to fulfill the spirit of their international commitments and obligations to meeting the needs of refugee and displaced children, including through the provision of access to education.
Congress resolves:
A. To continue to advance the ideals, aims and objectives of the EI Unite for Quality Education campaign in the interests of refugee and displaced children; B. To continue to provide support and assistance to member organisations in countries where there are large numbers of refugees and displaced children; C. To maintain pressure on national governments and on international institutions to prioritise financial assistance for the education of refugees and internally displaced people; D. To work with the UNHCR and other partner organisations to assist refugees in developing the skills and knowledge they need to live healthy and productive lives, and to promote self-reliance and sustainable peaceful coexistence.’
Education and Extremism
‘Congress notes: i. That violent extremism, fuelled by ethnic and religious sectarianism and hatred, is one of the most urgent and serious security issues facing governments; ii. That violent extremists have targeted, killed, injured and kidnapped many thousands of students, teachers and education support personnel in deliberate attacks that have targeted schools; iii. That violent extremism represents one of the most serious barriers to universal quality education, human rights and freedom.
Congress further notes: a. That education is key to tackling extremism in all its forms; b. That individuals who are denied education, including those who cannot read or write, are easier to control and be manipulated by those with extremist views; c. That attacks by extremists have been used to justify attacks on ethnic and religious minorities, including the increased incidence of Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism; d. That nationalist politics and anti-immigration rhetoric are characteristics of increasingly divided societies where the presence and rights of minorities are violated.
Congress believes:
1. That education is a fundamental human right and a key building block for a democratic and inclusive society;
172 2. That education is essential to restoring normality in conflict situations and in uniting communities in the aftermath of extremist attacks; 3. That educational inclusion is essential in the fight against violent extremism; 4. That education trade unions can play an important role in resisting the spread of sectarianism and hatred; 5. That tackling violent extremism requires concerted efforts, nationally and internationally, to challenge and defeat narrow ideologies, false beliefs and extremist propaganda; 6. That the contribution of teachers and education support personnel in the fight against extremism should be recognised and valued, and that it is essential that the human rights of education workers are respected; and 7. That governments should act to promote universal values of democracy, freedom of speech, freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and freedom of association as key pillars in the fight against extremism.
Congress resolves:
A. To support member organisations in calling upon national governments in the fight against extremism, discrimination and inequality; B. To continue to assist member organisations in defending freedom of speech and freedom of association, including respect for trade union rights; C. To ensure that Education International continues to demonstrate its commitment to equality and diversity and its opposition to exclusion and extremism in all its forms; and D. To highlight and develop tools and resources to educate teachers and students in challenging extremism and advocating for equality, diversity and democracy.’
Support of United Nations Employees’ Rights i. ‘NOTING, that more than 60,000 men and women of the United Nations, working in 15 different U.N. agencies, are represented by several trade unions and staff associations, and are deployed worldwide on behalf of such organizations as the U.N. Headquarters, the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the World Food Programme; ii. REALISING, that these staff workers, though employed in different countries, share many of the same concerns over career-affecting conditions of employment, including choice of assignment, mobility, family security, and travel and safety; iii. UNDERSTANDING, that the work of U.N. staff will never be without risk, but that every measure must be taken to reduce those risks to the minimum and ensure that workers are protected; and that tragically all too many U.N. staff have been threatened, attacked or killed while serving in the world’s most dangerous places and whilst also seeking to ensure access to education as a human right; iv. ACKNOWLEDGING, that the ILO, where unions are equal partners in a tripartite framework, promotes workers’ rights to organize unions and guarantees collective bargaining in its international conventions “Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention (No. 87)” and “Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention (No. 98)”; v. RECOGNISING, that there has been established a labour-management process for negotiating agreements over the terms and conditions of employment; however, in recent years, this procedure has been broken as a result of management walking away from the process and refusing to recognize consensus dispute resolution; vi. BELIEVING, that by ending these discussions unilaterally, the U.N. administration has significantly damaged the few rights its workers had possessed; vii. ADDING, that workers’ rights must also include the right to raise issues of fraud and abuse where they might occur, but whistleblower policies at the U.N. are inconsistent, ineffective, and weakened by arbitrary loopholes; the non-partisan, public interest group, the Government Accountability Project, concluded that they are so weak as to be “officially inoperative.”
173 The Seventh World Congress: a. STANDS in solidarity with the 60,000 men and women who work for the United Nations worldwide, and honours their deployment often in dangerous theatres of war, natural disasters, or epidemic emergencies, in such places as Afghanistan, Haiti, South Sudan, Gaza, Iraq and Liberia; b. DEMANDS that the United Nations, and all agencies and bureaus associated with the U.N., bring all workers under the unified protections afforded other workers worldwide, within the purview of the ILO’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and the fundamental conventions, “Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention (No. 87)” and “Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention (No. 98).”; c. URGES the U.N. to fully and forcefully maintain its duty to safeguard the lives of all its workers by working with member states to strengthen established security measures, and enhance security in the field, including by the addition of needed security staff, equipment, and communications; d. SUPPORTS the strongest protections for U.N. employees, contractors, and peacekeeping forces who uncover illegal or wasteful practices in the workplace, yet have no way to report them for fear of retaliation, demotion, or dismissal; the U.N. must bring about authentic whistleblower reform, including widening whistleblower protections, and investigating any retaliation against those who invoke them; e. MANDATES Education International to inform the Secretary-General and the heads of all U.N. agencies of our support and solidarity for the rights of the U.N. workforce; f. CALLS on EI to update its leadership and affiliates, on a regular basis, of progress made to improve workers’ rights within the U.N. system worldwide.’
Solidarity with Iran Teacher Unionists
‘The 7th Education International (EI) World Congress meeting in Ottawa, Canada, from 21nd to 26th July 2015:
Recognising that: i. Human and trade union rights of workers and all people in Iran should be respected; ii. The Coordinating Council of the Iranian Teachers Trade Associations (CCITTA) is the EI’s affiliated organizations, and Mr. Mohammad Khaksari, the coordinator of the international Committee of the CCITTAs, is the communicators of the CCITTAs with EI; iii. Strong, free and democratic unions and social dialogue are essential to peace, rule of law, democracy and progress, EI considers that its affiliate (CCITTA) contributes to building civil society in Iran and strengthening quality education for all irrespective of gender, ethnic and social background or religion; iv. Despite many obstacles, teachers in Iran have succeeded to maintain union activism. Trade unionists are being targeted for their activism, and some have already spent years in unjustified detention; and v. EI works within the international labour movement to support education unions worldwide.
Mandates EI to: a. Praise the courage of CCITTA leaders and activists to pursue their rights even though they are often persecuted through the state’s harassment, unequal professional treatment, torture, unlawful imprisonment, and even execution; b. Continue to support, through capacity building and advocacy, the efforts of Iranian teachers and other workers to practice their internationally recognized their rights within independent, non-political, non-sectarian and democratic education trade union; c. Advocate for the Government of Iran to end impunity and bring about justice by respecting internationally recognized rights standards, including the labour conventions guaranteeing freedom of association and right to collective bargaining, peaceful assembly, and education- related recommendations and agreements;
174 d. Request that the Government of Iran guarantees the rights of all education workers and unionists and promote quality public education for all; e. Condemns any acts of intimidation targeting teachers and unionists of both gender; f. Campaign for the release of teacher trade unionists unfairly imprisoned, such as Esmael Abdi, Ali Akbar Baghani, Mahmoud Bagheri, Rasoul Bodaghi, Alireza Ghanbari and Alireza Hashemi; and g. Convene an international mission to Iran.’
Stop TTIP, TISA, CETA, TPP AND other similar trade and investment agreements
Proposed by: UCU/United Kingdom, AFT/United States, CAUT/Canada, FENPROF/Portugal, GEW/Germany, OLME/Greece, IFUT/Ireland, SNES-FSU/France, SNESUP-FSU/France, NZTEU/ New Zealand and NASUWT/UK.
The Seventh World Congress of Education International meeting in Ottawa, Canada, from 22 to 26 July 2015: i. Reaffirms EI’s longstanding opposition to multilateral, plurilateral, regional and bilateral trade agreements which seek to commercialise and privatise public services, including education; ii. Expresses grave concerns about the new wave of trade and investment agreements which are currently being negotiated by national governments and supra-national bodies such as the European Union (EU). These agreements include the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)2, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Trade in International Services Agreement (TiSA), which involves 23 members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) (including the EU as one); iii. Believes these trade and investment agreements will have far-reaching implications for the world economy, particularly as they are being promoted as benchmarks for future deals; iv. Recognises that developing countries are likely to be more adversely affected by rules of trade and investment agreements that limit and prevent the establishment and expansion of public services, including education; v. Condemns the lack of transparency and proper democratic oversight and the fact that representatives from the poorest countries of the world are excluded completely from these negotiations; vi. Recognises that these agreements seek to go far beyond traditional tariff reductions by imposing constraints on what governments can do behind their national borders, including the promotion of regulatory coherence and convergence across countries irrespective of national priorities; vii. Believes these agreements pose direct threats to the provision of quality public services, including education, in particular through restricting governments’ capacity to regulate in the public interest, encouraging further liberalisation of services and expanding the rights of multinational corporations; viii. Further believes that the application of corporate-dominated agreements will negate national legal sovereignty and undermine workers’ rights and social and environmental standards; ix. Remains unconvinced by official claims that these trade and investment agreements will lead to more jobs and improved economic benefits for working people, and that any economic gains that do arise will be distributed unequally and be outweighed by the costs to working people and their families; x. The Seventh World Congress of Education International is particularly concerned about the following elements within trade and investment agreements: a. Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS): a business-friendly arbitration panel which would allow foreign corporations to sue sovereign states, where an action of an elected government or sub-central authority, or an entity exercising delegated authority such as a licensing and funding agency, taken in the public interest curtails the corporations’ ability to maximise their profits.
2 In the United States, the EU-US trade agreement is known as the Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Area (TAFTA) rather than TTIP.
175 i. Existing trade agreements’ ISDS mechanisms that are routinely used and abused by multinational corporations to challenge legitimate public policies. ii. Potential for use of investor protections and ISDS to lock countries into neoliberal policies of privatisation, public-private partnerships, charter schools, voucher systems, student loan schemes and similar market models of public services, especially education. b. ‘Negative list’ approach: all services including education, will be open to liberalisation unless a specific exclusion is entered for them by the parties involved; c. ‘Ratchet clause’: a device to ensure parties automatically bind any autonomous liberalisation. This means that if a government were to experiment with liberalising the education sector in whole or in part, future governments would be unable to undo this without paying significant compensation; d. Regulatory cooperation and coherence – the establishment of new technocratic processes for policy making, overseen by regulatory bodies with power to monitor the implementation of regulatory commitments to criteria, processes and review, and to propose the development of future regulations; e. Labour rights: the failure to include effectively enforceable rules to protect and improve the rights of workers and employees – for example, a binding labour rights chapter based on ILO Core Conventions. The Seventh World Congress of Education International: a. Welcomes the contribution and support of national EI affiliates to campaigns on trade and investment agreements; b. Welcomes the work done by EI, ETUCE and other EI regions to co-ordinate campaigns and lobbying on trade and investment agreements; c. Welcomes the campaigning and lobbying done by EI, ETUCE and other EI regions to highlight the potential dangers posed by TTIP, CETA, TPP and TiSA to public education systems, while noting the difficulties in securing clear and unambiguous exemptions for education, particularly in relation to adult, higher and vocational education; d. Notes the dangers of being presented with a fait accompli in the form of inadequate, unacceptable agreements that workers and citizens have had no chance of influencing or amending and where time will make it difficult to mobilise opposition; e. Recalls that previous attempts to enshrine the investor rights of multinational corporations - for example, the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) in the late 1990s - were defeated partly as a result of popular pressure; f. Calls on the EI Executive Board to adopt a clear position of principled opposition to TTIP, CETA, TPP, TiSA and other similar trade and investment agreements, and to the inclusion of ISDS in other agreements such as Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs), whilst continuing to lobby and campaign for agreements that promote decent jobs and growth, protect quality public services and safeguard labour, consumer, environmental and health and safety standards.
Congress, furthermore, mandates the Executive Board: 1. To raise the awareness of EI members of the relevance, impact and importance of trade and investment agreements to the work of national organisations representing education workers; 2. To ensure that trade and investment agreements are a key part of the agenda for the EI task force or working group on Privatisation and Commercialisation of Education; 3. To work with global union federations, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and non-governmental organisations in campaigning against detrimental trade and investment agreements, including proposals emanating from the WTO; 4. To push for alternative trade and investment policies which fully respect states’ obligations under international law and in their constitutions and domestic law to human rights, including the right to education, and that stimulate job-based growth, provide decent work, respect Indigenous peoples’ rights, raise the living standards of all peoples, and ensure environmentally sustainable development.
176 APPENDIX 4
GENERAL TEACHING COUNCILS
NORTHERN IRELAND
General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland
The Department of Education Northern Ireland (DENI) conferred powers on the GTCNI in April to enable it to consider cases of serious teacher misconduct. The independent panel to conduct hearings was not established by the end of the year.
The NASUWT had the largest union representation on the General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (GTCNI). The NASUWT was represented on all committees and working parties within the GTCNI. The NASUWT’s nominated member to the GTCNI was Louise O’Prey, NASUWT Northern Ireland President, who replaced Teresa Graham in October. NASUWT elected members who served until the end of the term were Graham Agnew, Ciara McCay and Brian Carlin.
There was no movement in introducing the long-awaited GTCNI Bill in the Northern Ireland Assembly.
The draft GTCNI Bill will cover most of the anticipated statutory responsibilities of the Council, including: The Membership and Remit of the Council, Registration, Fitness to Practise, Approval of Teaching Qualifications; and Other Functions and Supplementary provisions. The size of the Council would remain the same at 33 but the four DENI appointed representatives would be replaced by representatives from the Further Education sector.
Unfortunately, during the year, the GTCNI was in crisis and an independent review criticised it as ‘fractured and dysfunctional’.
The NASUWT continued to campaign for a fit-for-purpose GTCNI.
The NASUWT Representatives on the GTCNI continued to hold the body to account for how it spent money and questioned why practising classroom teachers remained in the minority on the Council.
SCOTLAND
Mr Pat Boyle, NASUWT member from the Glasgow Association, served as elected member of Council.
The roll-out of Professional Update continued to dominate work with the GTCS. The professional update went ‘live’ across Scotland. The Professional Update Working Group was re-introduced as the Professional Update Follow-on Group to monitor the first year of the Scheme. The Group met three times. At the last meeting in October, 96% of teachers subject to professional update sign- off in the academic year had been successfully signed off.
The NASUWT distributed extensive information and advice to members on the update.
NASUWT representatives met with the Chief Executive of the GTCS in April to raise issues including CLPL opportunities.
The NASUWT responded to two GTC consultations during the year:
• the General Teaching Council for Scotland Revised Registration and Standards Rules; and • the General Teaching Council for Scotland Dual Registration for Secondary Probationary Teachers.
177 WALES
General Teaching Council for Wales (GTCW)/Education Workforce Council (EWC)
The NASUWT continued to engage with the GTCW/EWC through a regular pattern of meetings during the year.
The NASUWT was represented on GTCW by Jane Setchfield, Alan Minton, Siôn Amlyn, Angela Butler and Tim Cox up until it was disbanded in March.
Meetings relating to the establishment of the new Education Workforce Council (EWC) in April continued with the GTCW over the registration of FE teachers (lecturers) from 1 April, and school and college support staff from 1 April 2016, the registration fee, and the appointment of council members.
The NASUWT expressed concern that the GTCW was organising separate meetings with the sector groups required to register, but was disappointed by the lack of support from the other trade unions over this approach. The NASUWT was successful in insisting on attending the meetings considering the registration of FE lecturers, given our membership in the sector, and some progress was made in convincing the EWC and the other trade unions representing registrants of the merits of holding joint meetings after 1 April 2016.
The NASUWT submitted detailed responses to GTCW consultations in February over the Disciplinary Procedures and Rules, and the Registration Rules for the EWC.
Jane Setchfield, NASUWT National Executive Member, was successful in her application to serve on the new Council as an NASUWT nominee.
Although the registration fee was held at its current level for 2015, the NASUWT became concerned that the subsidy for the fee was made a part of the remit for the 26th Review Body Report by the Welsh Government and that the Welsh Government’s evidence argued for the removal of the £33 subsidy paid to teachers from the STPCD.
The NASUWT’s response to the Review Body is covered elsewhere in this report. At the close of the year, teachers were facing having to pay at least £45 for the fee in 2016, a 275% increase on the £12 contribution teachers currently make towards the fee.
As the year ended, the Welsh Government was giving consideration to extending the functions of the EWC which, amongst other things, suggested that this could encourage the investment of practitioners’ own resources in professional learning.
The NASUWT raised concerns at various meetings about this direction of travel for the EWC and will continue to monitor the situation closely.
STANDING JOINT COMMITTEES
The NASUWT continued to support members nominated to serve on the Standing Joint Committees (SJCs) for the principal awarding bodies for general qualifications in England. The SJCs continued their work in collating teachers’ comments on the Summer examination series and sharing the outcomes of its analysis with relevant awarding bodies. The SJCs also explored ways in which their work could take account of changes to the general qualifications landscape and enhancing levels of participation in its work.
The following members represented the NASUWT on the SJCs: Keith Bury, Paul Ellison, Bill Howell, Ernie Williams, Peter York, Colin Mills, Tim Scott, John Cater, Trevor Desmoyers-Davis, Douglas Morgan, Dan McCarthy and Terry McGee.
178 APPENDIX 5
AFFILIATIONS, DONATIONS AND SPONSORSHIPS (over £500)
AFFILIATIONS The Union is affiliated to the following organisations: Action For South Africa Amnesty International Campaign for Trade Union Freedom (CTUF) English Speaking Union Institute of Employment Rights International Centre for Trade Union Rights Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) Jubilee Debt Campaign Labour Research Department Liberty Maternity Action National Pensions Campaign Prospect SCETT Teacher’s Superannuation Working Party The Work Foundation TUC, STUC, WTUC Unions 21
DONATIONS The Union made the following donations: Child Poverty Action Group Education Science Workers Justice for Colombia London Pride Public and Commercial Services Union – National Gallery strike Robin Hood Tax Campaign Solidarity and support for Dominican teachers and their families Stolen Lives (www.stolenlives.co.uk) Stress Network World Congress Bucket Fund
SPONSORSHIP The Union sponsored a number of events to enhance its work and to maintain its high profile: Blush Magazine Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education Disability Review Magazine Durham Miners’ Gala English Schools Golf Association English Speaking Unions Research Project Global Campaign Education UK Coalition
179 Hazards National Trans Youth Conference National Youth Choir of Scotland Riverside Brass Band Scottish History Scottish National Primary Festival (Hockey) Tony Barnsley – ‘Martha’s Story’ VSO Christmas Concert Welsh Schools’ Athletics Association Welsh Schools’ Golf Association Youth Music Theatre
180 APPENDIX 6
ANNUAL CONFERENCES – DEVOLVED NATIONS/ADMINISTRATIONS
NASUWT Northern Ireland Annual Conference, March
The NASUWT Northern Ireland Annual Conference was held in Belfast. Northern Ireland President Teresa Graham chaired the Conference at which resolutions were passed on a range of issues relevant to teachers and school leaders, including:
• abolition of the General Teaching Council (NI); • budget cuts; • CCMS and data protection; • exploitation of teachers on the Daily Rate; • school reorganisation; • industrial action; • the NASUWT in FE; • stress; • Conservative party plans for strike action; • class size; • composition of the Education Authority; • complaints against teachers; • campaign to stop TTIP; • conscience Clause Bill; • Professional Development; • Organising.
Throughout the year the resolutions adopted at the Conference were tracked and monitored by the National Union through its monthly Standing Committees to ensure that the issues raised were progressed in the context of national policy and campaigns. Actions on the motions by the National Executive are contained in the relevant sections of the Annual Report.
The Conference was addressed by a number of high-profile speakers, including John O’Dowd, Northern Ireland Education Minister; Patrick Roach, NASUWT Deputy General Secretary; Geoff Branner NASUWT National President, the Deputy Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Máire Hendron, Danny Kinahan MLA, and Mr Jim Clarke, CCMS.
NASUWT Scotland Annual General Meeting, May
The NASUWT Scotland Annual General Meeting was held in Edinburgh. Scottish Executive Council Vice President Richard Bell chaired the meeting at which resolutions were passed on a range of issues relevant to teachers and school leaders, including:
• Teachers’ Pay; • National Terms and Conditions of Service; • Departure from COSLA; • Child Poverty and Educational Attainment; • Professional Standards; • Levels of Violence and Aggression; • Impact of the Presumption of Mainstream; • Physical Intervention; • ICT funding; and • Tackling Bureaucracy.
181 Throughout the year, the resolutions adopted at the Conference were tracked and monitored by the National Union through its monthly Standing Committees to ensure that the issues raised were progressed in the context of national policy and campaigns.
Actions on the motions by the National Executive are contained in the relevant sections of the Annual Report. The Conference was addressed by a number of high-profile speakers, including: Chris Keates, General Secretary; and Brian Cookson, Honorary Treasurer.
NASUWT Cymru Conference, November
The Annual Delegates Conference was held in Cardiff at the beginning of October. The Conference was addressed by Chris Keates, General Secretary, the Minister for Education and Skills, Huw Lewis AM and the newly elected MP for Cardiff Central, Jo Stevens. The Conference, under the Presidency of Calvin Williams, debated and passed motions on:
• work-related stress; • the role of the regional consortia; • the status and autonomy of the NASUWT Cymru conference; • support for lay activists; • the New Deal on professional development; • the exploitation of supply teachers; • the plight of centrally attached teachers; and • qualified teacher status for overseas trained teachers.
Sessions were held on the Trade Union Bill, Pay in Wales and the Welsh Assembly Election Strategy.
The Senior Vice President, Kathy Wallis attended and contributed to the Conference and spoke at the President’s Dinner
Throughout the year, the resolutions adopted at the Conference were tracked and monitored by the National Union through its monthly Standing Committees to ensure that the issues raised were progressed in the context of national policy and campaigns.
Actions on the motions by the National Executive are contained in the relevant sections of the Annual Report.
182 APPENDIX 7
CONSULTATION RESPONSES
ENGLAND
A major aspect of the work of the Union continued to be formulating formal responses to a number of significant consultation documents from Government across the UK and a wide range of organisations, including:
Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) • Trade Union Reform Consultation on hiring agency staff during strike action (September) • Trade Union Reform Consultation on ballot thresholds in important public services (September) • Trade Union Reform Consultation Tackling Intimidation of non-striking workers. Restricting the Right to Picket and Protest (September)
Department for Education (DfE)
February • A world-class teaching profession • Statutory guidance on disqualification under the Childcare Act 2006 • SEND funding: longer-term changes Call for Evidence
March • Teachers Working Longer Review Call for Evidence Stage 1 • Sharing Works: A Policy for Shared Education
April • Consultation on the Secretary of State’s Response to the School Teachers’ Review Body’s Twenty-Fifth Report
June • Amendments to the Schemes for financing schools - Statutory guidance for local authorities
October • Teachers Working Longer Review, Stage 2 Call for Evidence • Teachers’ Professional Development Expert Group on a standard for teachers’ professional development
November • School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations 2015
HM Treasury • Strengthening the incentive to save: a consultation on pensions tax relief (September)
House of Commons Education Committee • Education Committee Call for Evidence - School Buildings Programme (March) • Inquiry into the role of Regional Schools Commissioners (September) • Inquiry into Mental Health and Well-Being of Looked After Children (October)
House of Commons Parliamentary Committee • Evidence to the Parliamentary Committee on the Trade Union Bill (October)
183 Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) • Consultation on the Assessment of Practical Work in GCSE Science (February) • GCSE Computer Science: Consultation on Conditions and Guidance (March) • AS and A level Modern Foreign Languages Consultation on Conditions and Guidance covering: French German Spanish (March)
DEVOLVED GOVERNMENTS/ADMINISTRATIONS
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland Assembly • Legislative Consent Motion on the Public Sector Exit Cap (February) • Inquiry into Shared and Integrated Education (March) • Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Bill (April) • DENI Consultation on General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) Grading (June)
Scotland
Scottish Government • Draft Statutory Guidance on Parts 4 (Named Person), 5 (Child’s Plan and 18 (Section 96, Wellbeing) of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 and draft orders made under that act. (August) • Education and Culture Committee written evidence Curriculum for Excellence Highers. (January) • Education, Lifelong Learning and Culture Committee Draft Scottish Budget 2016 – 2017 and outcomes of 2015-6. (November) • Education and Culture Committee Written evidence Education (Scotland) Bill (May) • Creating a Smarter Scotland: A Draft National Improvement Framework for Scottish Education (November) • New Fair Deal Policy. (October)
Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) • The Teachers’ Superannuation (Scotland) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 (January)
General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) • GTCS Revised Registration and Standards Rules (November) • Dual Registration for Secondary Probation Teachers (February)
Wales
Welsh Assembly Government
January • Devolution, Democracy and Delivery White Paper-Public Services Staff Commission • Revised Child Poverty Strategy for Wales
February • Harmonising school term dates for 2016-17
March • Teacher assessment: strengthening arrangements to improve reliability, consistency and confidence.
April • The designation of higher education courses at alternative providers for the purpose of
184 student support • Aligning the apprenticeship model to the needs of the Welsh economy • Devolution, Democracy and Delivery Reforming Local Government: Power to Local People
May • The Great Debate
July • Proposals for the registration of school learning support workers with the Education Workforce Council
December • Draft Additional Learning Needs and Educational Tribunal (Wales) Bill
Other Bodies
January • Children, Young People and Education Committee (CYPEC) Inquiry into Supply Teaching
March • Oral evidence presented to CYPEC Inquiry into supply Teaching
September • CYPEC request for information relating to the Estyn and the Wales Audit Office (WAO) early reviews of the role and effectiveness of the regional consortia prior to evidence sessions with each of the regional consortia and the Minister for Education and Skills • CYPEC request for views on Welsh Government Guidance document no: 178/2015 Effective management of school workforce attendance, as part of the Inquiry into Supply Teaching
General Teaching Council for Wales
February • Education Workforce Council: Registration Rules 2015 • Education Workforce Council: Disciplinary Procedures and Rules 2015
Estyn
November • Consultation on how Estyn Inspects
185 APPENDIX 8
NASUWT MAJOR PROJECTS, RESEARCH AND SURVEYS
MAJOR PROJECTS
Arts and Minds The annual Arts and Minds competition, which marks Black History Month by celebrating cultural diversity and promoting racial equality in schools, continued to go from strength to strength. The competition provided a basis for supporting creative writing and art in schools and the winner was chosen by Gok Wan.
Over 1,000 entries were received and a high-profile awards ceremony was held in St James’ Court Hotel, London.
RESEARCH AND SURVEYS
The NASUWT commissioned research on a number of key issues.
The Annual Big Question
In February, the NASUWT launched its fifth annual UK-wide survey of teachers and school leaders – The Big Question.
The Big Question examined the views and experiences of teachers and school leaders in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales on a range of key issues, including: behaviour and discipline in schools; national policies for education; teachers’ pay and pensions; and teacher morale, motivation and job satisfaction. New sections were included on mental and physical health.
Over 16,000 teachers and school leaders participated. The findings confirmed a further decline in teacher morale and job satisfaction following UK-wide assaults on the professionalism of teachers, one that could be clearly tracked over the last four years.
Teachers again reported that their number one concern was an increase in excessive workload, mainly as a result of the impact of punitive accountability regimes, constant change in the system and school leaders’ reactions to these pressures.
The results of the Survey were used extensively throughout the year, serving as a powerful message to deliver to governments across the UK in meetings, within consultations and when presenting formal evidence.
Teachers’ Wellbeing and Satisfaction at Work
In November, the NASUWT commissioned ComRes, the independent polling organisation, to produce a third annual independent survey of teachers to assess their wellbeing and satisfaction at work.
Using methodology supported by the British Polling Association, the results clearly validated the work that the NASUWT had carried out through the Big Question for the last five years, showing that teachers were increasingly stressed and were facing massive workload pressures.
ComRes found that many teachers were finding the cost of living continued to affect their day-to day household expenditure and that as a consequence the majority felt that they could not recommend teaching as a career.
186 ComRes also found that many teachers were frustrated with their careers as, although they enjoyed interacting with children and young people, they were faced with unnecessary bureaucracy and constant change.
The ComRes Report demonstrated that in many areas, including that of workload, the situation had worsened for teachers over the three year time period.
Cost of Education Survey
In August, the NASUWT ran its second annual survey of parents on the costs they face associated with their children’s education. Over 2,500 parents responded to the survey.
The findings of the survey were that:
• 52% of parents had to pay more than £100 for their child’s uniform in the last year. 3% paid more than £300; • 63% were required to purchase uniform from the school directly or particular suppliers; • 81% were required to provide clothing/footwear for PE lessons. 27% of parents had to pay more than £50 on this clothing/footwear; • 20% had to provide specific PE equipment; • of those required to provide equipment, 51% of parents have spent £26 or more for their child, 29% spend £51 or more in the last year; • 4% of parents said that their child chose subjects on the basis of equipment costs; • 16% of parents pay £3 or more per day on school; • 18% of parents pay more than £1 for their child’s snacks per day; • 15% have been asked to regularly direct debit a contribution to the school; • 39% of parents have been asked to pay £51 or more. 2% have been asked to pay more than £400 per year; • 18% have had to pay for a trip that is linked to their exam course; • 12% of parents said that their child was unable to participate in a trip because of the cost; • 5% of parents have spent more than £500 on educational trips/visits. 18% have spent more than £200; • 38% have to pay for after school activities (not childcare); • 31% of parents pay £11 or more per week for these activities; • of those parents who have children who have to travel to school by public transport, 54% of parents spend more than £6 or more. 3% pay £40 or more; • 32% say that the costs of transport have increased in the last year; • 22% of parents said that the potential costs of attending particular school had an effect upon the choice that they made when selecting a school for their child; and • 11% would not recommend their child’s school to other parents on the basis of costs incurred.
The survey provided valuable information to support the NASUWT’s lobbying activity.
The Use and Abuse of Technology in Schools
Following increasing evidence of widespread malpractice by schools, the NASUWT launched its annual survey of members in February on the use and abuse of technology in schools. The survey contained three broad themes: the use of CCTV; e-mail intrusion; and the abuse of social media platforms.
In relation to CCTV, the survey found that almost one in ten teachers saw the use of CCTV in their classrooms. Over half (53%) said headteachers had viewed the footage, 29% felt that CCTV in schools were an invasion of their privacy, 24% said that it did not make a positive contribution to teaching and learning, and 86% cannot switch off CCTV if they wished to do so.
187 When asked about online abuse, 59% of teachers had comments posted online about them by pupils or parents, with almost half (48%) by pupils and over half (62%) being insulting. Furthermore, over a third of teachers (34%) had photos or videos posted by pupils without their consent.
E-mail intrusion was seen to have a major effect on teachers, with 88% receiving e-mails during the weekends, and 74% during the holidays; 49% received e-mails during periods of sickness absence. Two-thirds of teachers (67%) said that e-mail intrusion was having a detrimental impact on their work/life balance and workload.
The NASUWT used the survey extensively in lobbying and campaigning activities during the year. A booklet was published detailing the issues and was widely disseminated to members.
The Impact of Financial Pressures on Children and Young People
In March, the NASUWT conducted a second survey of teachers on their experiences of the financial pressures facing children and young people. Almost 4,000 members responded.
The survey found that 69% of teachers had seen children coming to school hungry in the last year, and almost a quarter (24%) had seen children who were bullied because they were considered to be poor. The survey found that a majority of teachers had to make specific interventions to support children, including lending money, lending equipment and lending clothing. Almost two thirds of teachers taught children who were unable to attend educational visits because of cost.
Almost a third of teachers (31%) saw pupils that were forced to leave their homes due to financial constraints, and 22% saw pupils that had lost their homes because of financial problems. The majority of teachers surveyed suggested that financial pressures have led to poor concentration, poor behaviour and other related problems.
The Union used the outcomes of the survey extensively in its dealings with government and key policy-makers, and planned a follow-on survey in the new year.
Pupil Premium Survey
The NASUWT conducted a survey on the use and impact of the Pupil Premium in schools in England in March.
The survey found that:
• 56% of teachers do not know how the additional funding for Pupil Premium Pupils is spent; • 70% of teachers stated that the whole school Pupil Premium strategies in the school have not been discussed and reviewed with staff; • 94% of teachers teach pupils eligible for the Pupil Premium; • 55% of teachers are given specific targets for Pupil Premium pupils without specific strategic support plans; • 88% of teachers have not received specific training ion teaching and learning strategies for pupils eligible for the Pupil Premium; • 56% of teachers said that the school devises the strategies to be used with pupils eligible for the Pupil Premium, as opposed to 44% of teachers who say that individual teachers devise the strategies; • 63% of teachers are required to track, monitor and report on the progress of pupils eligible for Pupil Premium in addition to other reporting procedures; • 60% of teachers say that the Pupil Premium strategies in the school create extra workload; • 36% of teachers state that data related targets for pupils eligible for Pupil Premium have been imposed as objectives or success criteria with their Performance Management;
188 • Of the priorities schools have focused on to support Pupil Premium pupils, the top five were: 38% said additional support in Literacy and Numeracy, 32% said early intervention strategies, 29% said identifying the specific needs of the eligible pupils, 28% said extra one-to-one tuition, and 27% said booster classes. However, 34% were not sure what priorities were used; and • 3% of teachers said that their school offers financial awards or incentives to parents who register their pupils for free schools meals to boost Pupil Premium funding but 47% did not know whether this happened.
The results of the survey were used to inform discussions with Ministers and policy makers in relation to funding and future advice and guidance.
189 APPENDIX 9
ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Black and Minority Ethnic Members’ Advisory Committee Ingrid Reeds Dave Kitchen Ajaz Aslam Carol Braithwaite John Buluma Patricia Earle Andrews Siddhartha Nandi-Purkayastha Hervine Pelter Andrea Stephens
Disabled Members’ Advisory Committee Timothy Ramsden Lynda Allison Steven Barker Colin Jackson Lara Morris Helen O’Neill Bernadetta Omondi Stephen Witherden
Leadership Group Advisory Committee Vince Bovill Wendy Horden Alan Parkhurst Jeffrey Lough Lindsey Hangar Derek Moore Anne Brimacombe
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Members’ Advisory Committee Ingrid Reeds Simon Haskew Deborah Hayton Joseph Henderson-Tang Nafiza Khan Peter Taylor Jane Setchfield Lee Williscroft-Ferris
Post-16 Advisory Committee Adam Fowler David Morton Anne Thompson Paul Wearmouth Stella Ucheobi Alan Hackett Peter Scott Wayne Broom
Primary Advisory Committee Beverley Alderson Claire Colling Alister Parker Michael Parsons Jackie Scannell Vicki Aldous Darren Murray Paul Watkins Lee Adams Damien McNulty Kathy Duggan
Young Members’ Advisory Committee Dave Kitchen Timothy Ramsden Natalie Lattibeaudiere David Robertson Alexandra Phillips
Sixth-form Colleges Advisory Committee Adam Fowler Ann Hodson Stewart Monk Anne Thompson Derek Moore Colin Collis Brenda Inman Hassan Rezai
190 Special Education Advisory Committee Tamsin Cube Kieran Moss Thomas McLaughlin Paul Nesbitt Carol O’Connor Michelle Maidment Jane Setchfield
Women Members’ Advisory Committee Wendy Exton Kathy Duggan Katherine Carlisle Katherine Fallon Julia Harris Jackie Scannell Deborah White
191 APPENDIX 10
STANDING COMMITTEES
Education – 11 Members Wayne Broom (Jan-Dec) Paul Nesbitt (Jan-Dec) Richard Bell (Nov-Dec) Neil Richards (Oct-Dec) Kathy Duggan (Jan-Dec) *Peter Scott (Jan-Dec) Chris Head (Jan-Dec) Jane Setchfield (Jan-Dec) Alison Morgan (Aug-Dec) David Whitworth (Aug-Dec) Damien McNulty (Aug-Dec) Elaine Cross (Jan-Dec) Paul Watkins (Jan-Aug)
Legal Aid, Services and Central Benevolent Committee – 6 Members Mike Grant (Jan-Feb) Chris Holland (Jan-Dec) Andy Curtis (Jan-Dec) Adrian Joice (Jan-Dec) *Celia Foote (Jan-Dec) Mark Morris (Jan-Dec) Pam Milner (Jan-Feb) Ingrid Reeds (May-July) Richard Bell (Dec)
Recruitment – 9 Members Siôn Amlyn (Jan-Dec) Phil Kemp (Jan-Dec) Ruth Duncan (Jan-Dec) Dave Morgan (Jan – July / Oct - Dec *Claudia Glasgow (Jan-Dec) Timothy Ramsden (Jan-Dec) Harold Gurden (Nov-Dec) Nick Trier (Apr-Dec) Alan Hackett (Jan-Dec)
Salaries, Pensions and Conditions of Service – 9 Members Anne Brimacombe (Jan-Dec) Dave Kitchen (Jan-Dec) Neil Butler (Jan-Dec) *Derek Moore (Jan-Dec) Colin Collis (Jan-Dec) Keith Muncey (Jan-Dec) Mike Corbett (Jan-Dec) Wendy Exton (Jan-Dec) Ngaire McCann (Aug-Dec) Karen Hopwood (Jan-Jul)
Training – 8 Members Mick Burrows (Jan – Dec) Dan McCarthy (Jan – Dec) Mark Dickinson (Jan – Dec) Russ Walters (Dec) *John Girdley (Jan – Dec) Dave Kitchen (Jan - Jul) John Hall (Jan – Dec) Linda Gray (Jan – Sept)
Equal Opportunities Committee – 7 Members Mark Dickinson (Dec) Timothy Ramsden (Jan – Dec) *Kathy Duggan (Jan – Dec) Jane Setchfield (Dec) Wendy Exton (Jun – Dec) Celia Foote (Jan – Apr) Dave Kitchen (Jan – Dec) Ingrid Reeds (Jun – Nov) Kirsty Price (Jan – May)
Health and Safety Committee– 8 Members *Mick Burrows (Jan-Dec) Keith Muncey (Jan-Dec) Wayne Broom (Jan-Dec) Dan McCarthy (Jan-Dec) Andy Curtis (Jan-Dec) Paul Nesbitt (Jan-Dec) Ruth Duncan (Apr-Dec) Karen Hopwood (Jan-Jul) David Morgan (Jan-Dec)
* denotes chair of Committee
192 193 NASUWT The Teachers’ Union
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