Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a cap on chief executive pay in the school sector.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
The department sets out our expectations on senior pay for academies and academy trusts in the Academy Trust Handbook, which is published on GOV.UK here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66a3909aab418ab055592dda/Academy_trust_handbook_2024_FINAL.pdf.
The handbook requires that:
In addition, the department’s ‘Setting executive salaries’ guidance published on GOV.UK outlines the key contextual factors that trusts should be considering when setting or reviewing executive salaries. The guidance can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/setting-executive-salaries-guidance-for-academy-trusts/setting-executive-salaries-guidance-for-academy-trusts.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of establishing a national energy contract for the school sector.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department has assessed the potential benefits of establishing a national energy contract for the schools sector. We did this because many schools had been impacted when the war in Ukraine pushed prices to an all-time high in September 2022. Many had energy contracts due to be renewed at the time and ended up locked into long-term, fixed price contracts at peak prices. We recognised this would seriously impact future budgets.
The department undertook research to understand the energy options available to schools, the challenges and complexities faced and how we could help.
The research showed schools experienced difficulty in determining whether they had received a good deal, relying on brokers to get a better rate from energy providers than they could directly and frequently being expected to make quick decisions on energy deal proposals. Furthermore, the volatility of energy prices meant schools were often locked into expensive energy contracts which were hard to exit.
The three key objectives of the pilot were to simplify the buying of energy, reduce risk, and secure best value for schools.
During the pilot, the department identified if those benchmarked had used Crown Commercial Service’s V30 energy contract, mandated for central government, they would have saved an average of 36% on energy costs. This contract is flexibly priced, rather than fixed: some of the energy is bought up front, during the 30 months prior to delivery and also during the delivery period itself. This helps level out the peaks and troughs in market price variances.
The service also offers wrap around contract management and simplifies the energy buying process for schools, reducing administrative and time burdens.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the real terms value of pay awards through the School Teachers Pay Review Body process in the 2025-26 financial year on trends in the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of school teachers.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Pay for teachers and leaders in maintained schools is set through an annual statutory process with independent recommendations made by the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) based on a range of evidence, including the real terms value of teacher pay.
While in power, this government has accepted their recommendations in full.
This year’s pay award of 4% exceeds forecasts for inflation and provides a competitive salary for both new and existing teachers. Based on forecasts for inflation across the 2025/26 academic year, this is a real-terms increase of around 1.5%.
The department wants teaching to be an attractive and expert profession, to ensure that our children have the expert teachers they need to achieve and thrive and tackle recruitment and retention issues. That is also why we are committed to delivering the manifesto pledge to recruit 6,500 teachers across secondary and special schools, and in our colleges, over the course of this Parliament and there are already signs that our Plan for Change is working.
The workforce has grown by 2,346 full-time equivalent between 2023/24 and 2024/25, in secondary and special schools over the last year. Additionally, our future school teacher pipeline is growing. As of May 2025, there are 11% more trainees who have accepted offers to train as secondary subjects, including in priority subjects such as physics, where we have seen a 43% increase in acceptances compared to last year.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the real terms value of pay awards through the School Teachers Pay Review Body process on teachers in each year since 2010.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Pay for teachers and leaders in maintained schools is set through an annual statutory process with independent recommendations made by the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) based on a range of evidence, including the real terms value of teacher pay.
While in power, this government has accepted their recommendations in full.
This year’s pay award of 4% exceeds forecasts for inflation and provides a competitive salary for both new and existing teachers. Based on forecasts for inflation across the 2025/26 academic year, this is a real-terms increase of around 1.5%.
The department wants teaching to be an attractive and expert profession, to ensure that our children have the expert teachers they need to achieve and thrive and tackle recruitment and retention issues. That is also why we are committed to delivering the manifesto pledge to recruit 6,500 teachers across secondary and special schools, and in our colleges, over the course of this Parliament and there are already signs that our Plan for Change is working.
The workforce has grown by 2,346 full-time equivalent between 2023/24 and 2024/25, in secondary and special schools over the last year. Additionally, our future school teacher pipeline is growing. As of May 2025, there are 11% more trainees who have accepted offers to train as secondary subjects, including in priority subjects such as physics, where we have seen a 43% increase in acceptances compared to last year.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the level of confidence of workforce unions in the School Teachers Pay Review Body process.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Pay for teachers and leaders in maintained schools is set through an annual statutory process with independent recommendations made by the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB).
In making recommendations, the STRB consider a range of written and oral evidence from statutory consultees, including the department, employer representatives and unions. This year, that process has resulted in the government accepting the STRB‘s recommendation for a 4% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools.
Combined with last year’s 5.5% award, this above-inflation pay award means school teachers will see an increase in their pay of almost 10% over two years.
The department has also brought in changes to encourage flexible working and to more fairly reward part-time teachers for taking on additional responsibilities.
Unions continue to engage positively with, and make valuable contributions towards, the pay round process. Unions involved with the process (including NEU, NASUWT, Community, NAHT, and ASCL) have published statements in response to the announcement, which are available on their websites.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing regularised direct pay negotiations with workforce trades unions on (a) recruitment and (b) retention.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Pay for teachers and leaders in maintained schools is set through an annual statutory process with independent recommendations made by the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB).
In making recommendations, the STRB consider a range of written and oral evidence from statutory consultees, including the department, employer representatives and unions. This year, that process has resulted in the government accepting the STRB‘s recommendation for a 4% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools.
Combined with last year’s 5.5% award, this above-inflation pay award means school teachers will see an increase in their pay of almost 10% over two years.
The department has also brought in changes to encourage flexible working and to more fairly reward part-time teachers for taking on additional responsibilities.
Unions continue to engage positively with, and make valuable contributions towards, the pay round process. Unions involved with the process (including NEU, NASUWT, Community, NAHT, and ASCL) have published statements in response to the announcement, which are available on their websites.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the response of workforce unions to the pay awards set out in her Department's response to the School Teachers Pay Review Body report.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Pay for teachers and leaders in maintained schools is set through an annual statutory process with independent recommendations made by the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB).
In making recommendations, the STRB consider a range of written and oral evidence from statutory consultees, including the department, employer representatives and unions. This year, that process has resulted in the government accepting the STRB‘s recommendation for a 4% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools.
Combined with last year’s 5.5% award, this above-inflation pay award means school teachers will see an increase in their pay of almost 10% over two years.
The department has also brought in changes to encourage flexible working and to more fairly reward part-time teachers for taking on additional responsibilities.
Unions continue to engage positively with, and make valuable contributions towards, the pay round process. Unions involved with the process (including NEU, NASUWT, Community, NAHT, and ASCL) have published statements in response to the announcement, which are available on their websites.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Government's proposed pay award on service provision.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
High-quality teaching is the in-school factor that has the biggest positive impact on a child’s educational outcome. Ensuring there are sufficient, high-quality staff in our schools is therefore critical. This is why the government has pledged to recruit 6,500 additional expert teachers.
On 22 May, we announced this year’s above-inflation pay award of 4% which, combined with the 5.5% pay award last year, will mean school teachers in maintained schools will see an increase in their pay of almost 10% over two years.
The department is also ensuring that further financial incentives are targeted where the need for them is greatest. For example, we are offering targeted retention payments of up to £6,000 per year to teachers of key subjects working in disadvantaged areas in the first 5 years of their careers. We have also announced an initial teacher training financial incentives package for the 2025/26 recruitment cycle worth £233 million, a £37 million increase on the last cycle. This includes a range of measures, including bursaries worth £29,000 tax-free and scholarships worth £31,000 tax-free, to encourage talented trainees to teach key subjects.
We are already seeing positive signs that this investment and approach is starting to deliver. New government data shows there are 2,346 more teachers in secondary and special schools in England compared to last year, an increase of 1,400 and 900 respectively from the year before. Over 2,000 more people are also training to become secondary school teachers this year and over 2,500 more teachers are expected to stay in the profession over the next three years.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of implementing a long-term strategy to improve school teachers’ pay in real terms through the School Teachers' Pay Review Body process.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Pay for teachers and leaders in maintained schools is set through an annual statutory process with independent recommendations made by the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) based on a range of evidence, including the real terms value of teacher pay.
While in power, this government has accepted their recommendations in full.
This year’s pay award of 4% exceeds forecasts for inflation and provides a competitive salary for both new and existing teachers. Based on forecasts for inflation across the 2025/26 academic year, this is a real-terms increase of around 1.5%.
The department wants teaching to be an attractive and expert profession, to ensure that our children have the expert teachers they need to achieve and thrive and tackle recruitment and retention issues. That is also why we are committed to delivering the manifesto pledge to recruit 6,500 teachers across secondary and special schools, and in our colleges, over the course of this Parliament and there are already signs that our Plan for Change is working.
The workforce has grown by 2,346 full-time equivalent between 2023/24 and 2024/25, in secondary and special schools over the last year. Additionally, our future school teacher pipeline is growing. As of May 2025, there are 11% more trainees who have accepted offers to train as secondary subjects, including in priority subjects such as physics, where we have seen a 43% increase in acceptances compared to last year.
Asked by: Andy McDonald (Labour - Middlesbrough and Thornaby East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of reductions in funding for level seven apprenticeships on the availability of Chartered Town Planners in local government.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Middlesbrough and Thornaby to the answer of 20 January 2025 to Question 23140.