Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the level of skills that teaching assistants require in supporting people with SEND; and what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the remuneration of teaching assistants on recruiting and retaining people with the necessary skills to support children and young people with SEND.

The Department published the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Alternative Provision (AP) Green Paper which proposed setting out clear guidance on the effective use and deployment of Teaching Assistants (TA) to support children and young people with SEND. The Department confirmed in the SEND and AP Improvement Plan, that there will be a development of a longer-term approach for TAs to ensure their impact is consistent across the system and the different responsibilities they take on. The Department encourages TAs to be well-trained and to be able to develop specific expertise. The Department will commission a research project to develop its evidence, based on current school approaches, demand and best practice.

The Department plans to introduce new guidelines that will set out evidence-based best practice in meeting individual needs, and as part of this will cover guidance on the effective use and deployment of TAs.

Many schools pay TAs according to Local Government pay scales. These are set through negotiations between the Local Government Association (LGA), which represents the employer, and Local Government trade unions (UNISON, Unite, and the GMB), which represent the employee.

Local Government employees covered by the National Joint Council for Local Government Services pay and conditions, including most school support staff, have been offered a flat cash uplift of £1,925 from 1 April 2023. This is the same cash uplift as was agreed for the 2022/23 pay deal, which equated to 10.5% at the bottom of the pay range, to 4% at the top. The 2023/24 offer is currently under negotiation.