Teachers in Wales to get below inflation pay rise

Teachers in Wales will get a below inflation pay rise this year, the Welsh government has announced.

Salaries will rise by 5% rise in the first year and could go up by 3.5% in the second.

Teaching unions reacted with alarm to the news, and two are expected to ballot members for industrial action.

Education Minister Jeremy Miles said he was limited in how far he could go in raising pay.

Inflation currently stands at 9.4% in the UK and is predicted to reach 11% by the autumn.

Plaid Cymru urged a rethink and said teachers "deserve recognition" for helping children and young people through the pandemic.

There are 26,600 teachers in Wales, with the average classroom pay £39,009.

Accepting the recommendations of an independent pay review body "in principle," Mr Miles agreed that salaries should rise by 5% from September.

That will put starting salaries for new teachers of £28,866. The salaries of more experienced classroom teachers will rise to £44,450.

But the body's call for a 3.5% rise in September 2023 would be used as a "planning assumption" - although it will be subject to review.

Mr Miles said the pay body's recommendation that future pay awards next year need to be kept under review, given "current economic uncertainties and pressures", was sensible.

It had also recommended that from September 2023 starting salaries are increased to at least £30,000.

A similar pay - 5% for most teachers - has been offered in England by the UK government.

NEU Cymru, Wales' largest education union, will hold a preliminary ballot for industrial action in the autumn, "given this very poor pay proposal".

David Evans, the union's Wales secretary, accused the proposal of being a reaction to what is happening in England: "We simply cannot allow these attacks on our members' pay and their standards of living to continue."

He said if there is "no movement come September, we will have no hesitation in recommending that our members take action".

NASUWT has already said it would ballot for industrial action if teachers do not receive a 12% pay award.

The union accused the Welsh government of waiting until schools close for the summer to "deliver another real-terms pay cut for teachers".

"It is scandalous that many experienced teachers and school leaders are already leaving the profession and today's announcement will do little to stop that," the union's general secretary Patrick Roach said.

Meanwhile headteachers group the NAHT said it would consult its members to decide what to do next.

It's understood not to be ruling out future industrial action, something the 125-year old union has never done in Wales.

NAHT Cymru director Laura Doel said 5% was a "pay cut" that does "nothing to address the decade of cuts to salaries".

But a Welsh government source said that the pay award was realistic within the funding settlement.

Mr Miles said the impact of inflation on Welsh government budgets was "extreme" and there was a "limit" to how far he could go.

"The truth is the UK government's funding settlement for Wales is not adequate to meet the pressures in public services or those that work in them."

He defended why the decision was made months after an independent pay body finalised its recommendations in May and right at the end of the school term.

Mr Miles told BBC Wales Today the Welsh government was committed to a principle that teachers "would not suffer a detriment to those teaching" in England.

The UK government's decision for England was announced on Tuesday.

Most Welsh government cash used to fund schools and other services comes from the block grant from the Treasury, with some raised through income tax.

In a previous response to Welsh government criticism, the UK government has said the Welsh government has had more funding than at any time since devolution began.

Plaid Cymru's Heledd Fychan urged the Welsh government "to rethink and at the very least offer public sector pay rises in line with inflation while easing working conditions and workloads for teachers".

"Teachers have been instrumental in supporting thousands of children and young people in Wales throughout one of the most difficult periods in living memory. The very least they deserve is recognition for that."

But Welsh Conservative shadow finance minister Peter Fox called it a "fair settlement".

He said: "While the desire to award our public servants a greater reward while the cost of living is on the increase, we must also be acutely aware of potential inflationary effects of doing so."

The education minister said he would be inviting written comments from "key stakeholders" within the next eight weeks.

A decision on what the Welsh government will pay NHS staff this year is also expected soon.