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Teachers await pay announcement Teachers given pay rise of 2.45%
(about 6 hours later)
Details of a controversial three-year pay deal for teachers in England and Wales are set to be announced by Schools Secretary Ed Balls. Teachers in England and Wales will get pay rises above the 2% set by Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Pay rises are expected to be pegged to 2%, in line with the government's policy on public sector deals. The three-year pay deal will mean increases of 2.45% in September 2008 and 2.3% in each of the following two years, says Schools Secretary Ed Balls.
Unions say this is a below-inflation increase and effectively represents a pay cut for teachers. Pay rises were expected to be pegged to 2%, in line with the government's policy on public sector pay deals.
The National Union of Teachers has already voted to prepare for a one-day strike in the event of such an offer. Head teachers' leader, John Dunford, said he was surprised and delighted by the higher than expected rise.
Chris Keates, general secretary of the Nasuwt teachers' union, said: "Compared with other public sector workers, clearly we have fared well."
But she said the union would hold an opinion poll "to gauge whether teachers feel that the level of this award is going to be sufficient".
'Affordable'
The Association of Teachers and Lecturers also acknowledged that the award was higher than for other public-sector staff, but cautioned that it still failed to match inflation.
The salary increases, recommended by the independent pay body, the School Teachers' Review Body, have been accepted by Mr Balls.
Describing teachers as the "backbone of our education system", Mr Balls said that the pay award was "fair and affordable for schools".
"Today's pay award will enable teachers and schools to plan ahead with a greater degree of security and certainty and at the same time will help deliver stability for the taxpayer and the wider economy," said Mr Balls.
This pay award was being watched as an indicator of public sector settlements - and Mr Balls said that the deal was "consistent with the achievement of the CPI inflation target of 2%".
Mr Balls said the pay rise, which will also see a £25,000 minimum starting salary in inner London, was "value for money for taxpayers" and reflected the labour market.
In the upper pay scale for teachers in inner London, the value of the rise will be 3.45%.
The pay award comes against a background of threatened industrial unrest among teachers. The National Union of Teachers had already voted to prepare for a one-day strike in the event of a 2% offer.
The government measures inflation by the consumer price index, which was running at 2.1% in November.The government measures inflation by the consumer price index, which was running at 2.1% in November.
But unions prefer another measure of inflation, the retail price index, which includes costs like rent and mortgages - in November the retail index was running at 4.3%. But unions prefer another measure of inflation, the retail price index, which includes costs such as rent and mortgages - in November the retail index was running at 4.3%.
No headline figures for pay rises have been revealed ahead of the announcement but Mr Balls is expected to accept the recommendations of the School Teachers Pay Review Body, which advises the government.
Union pressureUnion pressure
The announcement will mark the first of a new round of multi-year pay settlements which the government is trying to agree with public sector workers in a bid to keep inflation down and help departments plan their budgets more effectively. The announcement marks the first of a new round of multi-year pay settlements which the government is trying to agree with public sector workers in a bid to keep inflation down and help departments plan their budgets more effectively.
The current teachers' pay deal was announced in December 2005, when inflation was thought to be under control. The government is coming under increasing pressure from unions in other sectors over its 2% ceiling.
It offered 2.5% in September 2006 and a further 2.5% in September 2007. The next deal is due to cover the period from September 2008 to August 2011 and ministers told the review body to recommend a deal within the 2% inflation target.
But the government is coming under increasing pressure from unions over its 2% ceiling.
In December, police officers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were awarded a 2.5% pay rise but the Police Federation claims it was effectively only a 1.9% rise because the home secretary refused to backdate it to September.In December, police officers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were awarded a 2.5% pay rise but the Police Federation claims it was effectively only a 1.9% rise because the home secretary refused to backdate it to September.
But the Scottish Government did agree to backdate the rise to September, as recommended by the Police Arbitration Tribunal. The Scottish Government did agree to backdate the rise to September, as recommended by the Police Arbitration Tribunal.
The row has prompted the Police Federation to say it will ballot members in 2008 on whether they want the right to strike, as they are currently banned from doing so.The row has prompted the Police Federation to say it will ballot members in 2008 on whether they want the right to strike, as they are currently banned from doing so.
Nurses are also being restricted to a 1.9% rise.Nurses are also being restricted to a 1.9% rise.