Northern Ireland teacher pay: No extra money for rise, says department

A teacher pay rise in England will not mean any extra money for teachers' pay in Northern Ireland, the Department of Education (DE) has confirmed.

Typically, the devolved administrations get additional money when a spending decision is made for England.

The calculation is known as the Barnett formula and the additional spending is known as Barnett consequentials.

But a 6.5% rise for teachers in England for 2023/24 was funded from existing Westminster budgets, the DE said.

Therefore there is no additional money for Stormont to help end the long-running stalemate over teachers' pay.

Separate official figures published on Wednesday suggest that a typical full-time public sector worker in Northern Ireland saw their real pay fall by more than 7% in the last year.

Teachers in Northern Ireland have not had a pay increase for nearly three years.

Many teachers in England, Scotland and Wales now earn thousands of pounds more than their counterparts in Northern Ireland at the same grade.

For example, from September, new teachers in England earn £30,000 a year, probation-year teachers in Scotland more than £32,000 and new teachers in Wales just under £31,000.

That compares to just over £24,000 a year for newly-qualified teachers in Northern Ireland.

Teaching unions in Northern Ireland held a one-day strike in April over pay and workload and are also engaged in action short of strike.

Some unions that represent non-teaching staff like school bus drivers, classroom assistants and catering staff are also taking industrial action.

BBC News NI understands teaching unions have continued to meet education management bodies like DE and the Education Authority (EA) to negotiate a pay rise.

But the department has previously said it is "simply unaffordable" to give teachers a pay rise within 2023/24 education budget, which was cut from the previous year.

The department was asked by BBC News NI if the 6.5% pay increase in Northern Ireland would lead to a Barnett consequential of extra funding for Northern Ireland.

A spokesperson said in a statement: "Following the agreement by teaching unions in England to accept the offer of a 6.5% increase, the government confirmed that 3.5% of this rise would have to be covered by existing budgets allocated to schools."

They added that the remaining funding would be "covered by savings and efficiencies" to be made elsewhere in the department's budget.

"No additional government funding was provided, and there was therefore no Barnett consequential allocation to the Northern Ireland Executive to fund any potential pay deal for teachers in Northern Ireland."