Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to reports that some academies have chosen not to pay the 2018-19 teacher pay award despite receiving the Teacher's Pay Grant for that year, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that academies in receipt of the pay grant deliver the pay award to their teachers.

Schools are autonomous institutions and therefore it is for schools to determine by how much an individual teacher’s pay should rise if they are considered eligible for progression.

With the above in mind, it is for schools to decide how best to spend the funds allocated under the teachers’ pay grant. The Department has, however, made clear that this additional money is to fully fund an increase in pay for teachers and the Department would therefore expect schools to put it towards pay.