Welsh Government announces 4% pay offer for teachers
The figure is below the recommendation of an independent pay review body
Teachers across Wales are being offered a 4% pay rise.
The figure is below the 4.8% recommended by The Independent Welsh Pay Review Body.
Lynne Neagle, Cabinet Secretary for Education in Wales, said while the increase is below the recommendation, it follows a higher pay award this year of 5.5%, which equates to a 9.7 pay award over two years.
That figure is higher than the 9.3% recommended by the IWPRB.
The Cabinet Secretary added: "For the Welsh Government to dedicate the resources necessary to fund the recommended pay award, it would require significant funds being redirected from other areas of Government spending such as school budgets, in addition to the funding recently announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language to support devolved public sector employers with the cost of increased National Insurance Contributions."
Speaking about the Welsh Government offer, the National Education Union (NEU) Cymru's Interim Wales Secretary, Nicola Fitzpatrick, said:
"NEU Cymru will be using this opportunity to consult with our members on the Welsh Government's offer.
"We know the funding of the offer is a red line for our members, and it is important that Welsh Government has assured us the increase will be funded and this has to be the case for all LA’s across Wales.
"We cannot state enough how important it is that the real cost of the pay rise makes it to every school in Wales."
Nicola Fitzpatrick added: "The offer is 0.8% less that the review body recommendation and it will be for our members to decide if that is acceptable to them. Whatever decision they make, NEU Cymru are clear this is still not the pay correction necessary if we are to redress historic cuts and genuinely ensure we recruit and retain the highly qualified staff we need."