Teachers (Independent Pay Review) (Scotland) (Hansard, 19 December 1984)

§ Mr. Archy Kirkwood (Roxburgh and Berwickshire)
I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to establish an independent pay review body with powers to fix the annual rates of pay for teachers, their conditions of service and related matters in Scotland. The Houghton committee of inquiry reported its findings on the pay of non-university teachers to the Secretary of State for Scotland in December 1974. The committee recommended salary increases of 30.5 per cent. for Scottish day school teachers with effect from May 1974. [Interruption.] The committee concluded that further independent examination of teachers' pay would be necessary. [Interruption.] I should like to quote from paragraph 274 of the Houghton committee report.

§ Mr. Dennis Canavan (Falkirk, West)
On a point of order, Mr. Speaker. I cannot hear what the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire (Mr. Kirkwood) is saying, because Tory Members, who have no interest in Scottish education, are talking so loudly.

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. I think that the whole House wishes to hear what the hon. Gentleman has to say.

§ Mr. Kirkwood
I am grateful for your protection, Mr. Speaker. The Houghton committee said: However good the information, and whatever the improvements in negotiating machinery, there are bound to be occasions when a further independent examination of teachers' pay is needed. We recommend that there should be periodic reviews on the lines of this Inquiry perhaps every seven years. Such inquiries would have as their task the total re-examination of the levels of pay and salary structures in the teaching profession, assessing not only the validity of current internal differentials but also adjustments to salary levels in the light of social and educational circumstances at the time. Lord Houghton later opined that seven years was inappropriate and that there should be quinquennial reviews. From July 1974 to July 1979, the index of retail prices increased by 109 per cent., whereas the salaries of Scottish teachers rose by only 72 per cent. Inevitably, in July 1979 the salaries of Scottish teachers were remitted to the Standing Commission on Pay Comparability—the Clegg commission. That commission reported in March 1980 and awarded increases totalling 18.2 per cent. in two phases, the first from 1 January 1980 and the second from 1 September 1980.
Since September 1980, the erosion that followed Houghton has inexorably followed Clegg. The index of retail prices at September 1980 stood at 270.2 and at September 1984 at 355.5—an increase of 31.6 per cent. Teachers' salaries have increased by only 23.2 per cent. over the same period, a drop of 8.4 per cent., or about £821 in an average teacher's salary. Teachers' pay has fared worse in relation to average earnings. While those in work increased their earnings by about 39 per cent. between August 1980 and August 1984, teachers' pay rose by 23.2 per cent. — a differential of 16.2 per cent., which is the equivalent of £1,584 in average teachers' salaries.
Obviously, a teacher has no more right than anyone else to an immutable salary relativity, but movement up or down must be related to changes in the nature of the job —[Interruption.]

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. I ask the House to give the hon. Gentleman consideration; it is difficult to hear him at this end of the Chamber.

§ Mr. Kirkwood
The Scottish joint negotiating committee has just produced a report which confirms that, within the last five years, the workload of Scottish teachers has increased substantially. That report was compiled by a joint teacher-management working party, and was accepted unanimously by the full Scottish joint negotiating committee, which includes representatives of the Secretary of State for Scotland. That report covers changes in the curriculum, the nature of teaching, discipline and administration. In particular it focuses attention on increased teacher workload in and out of school and on the greater stress and pressure so prevalent in our classrooms today.
That report concluded that, unless pay, conditions, staffing and resources are improved, the morale of teachers will continue to decline and the education service will deteriorate. In that atmosphere, educational development will surely perish.
The current salaries negotiating machinery is incapable of producing fair results, as the arbitration report in 1982 pointed out. That report admitted that teachers were due an increase of about 11 per cent., but notwithstanding that, the arbiters accepted the "ability to pay" argument and awarded only 6 per cent. rather than the 11 per cent. they considered due. In so doing, they proved that neither negotiation nor arbitration can provide for teachers a means of securing a fair evaluation of their skills and efforts.
It is nevertheless necessary that salary negotiations continue, because only the management and the teachers' sides are sensitive to the changing needs of the service. The negotiating machinery cannot withstand the pressure of financial restraint imposed annually by Government for reasons unconnected with the value of teachers' work. Teachers cannot be regarded as a rearguard as inflation rises and as a vanguard—setting the good example—as inflation falls. An independent review body established every five years would guarantee a limit to the extent to which teachers could fall behind other similarly qualified professions and would give an opportunity for fair adjustment. That is all that teachers ask. How much more effective teachers would be if they could channel all their energies into the classroom and leave the streets to others and other causes!
Question put and agreed to.
Bill ordered to be brought in by Mr. Archy Kirkwood, Mr. Malcolm Bruce, Mr. Tam Dalyell, Mr. Roy Jenkins, Mr. Russell Johnston, Mr. Charles Kennedy, Mr. John Maxton, Mr. Robert Maclennan, Mr. David Steel, Mr. Gordon Wilson and Mr. James Wallace.