HC Deb 18 November 2003 vol 413 cc778-9W
David Davis

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the pay rates are for(a) primary school teachers, (b) secondary school teachers and (c) teaching assistants in the East Riding of Yorkshire in 2003–04. [136471]

Mr. Miliband

Classroom teachers in the East Riding of Yorkshire are paid on the national pay scales for teachers in England and Wales. Apart from the London area, these national rates do not distinguish between geographic locations or between primary and secondary schools. The national pay rates for classroom teachers in England and Wales for 2003/04 are as follows:

£ pa
M1 18,105
M2 19,536
M3 21,108
M4 22,734
M5 24,525
M6 26,460
U1 28,668

£ pa
U2 29,730
U3 30,831
U4 31,968
U5 33,150

Newly qualified teachers normally start at point M1 and move up a point a year, subject to satisfactory service, until they reach point M6. They can then apply to be assessed against national standards and, if successful, move to point U1 with the possibility of further moves based on performance.

Schools have discretion to give classroom teachers extra allowances worth up to £10,572 pa for taking on management responsibilities, up to £3,312 pa for teaching special educational needs pupils, and up to £5,415 pa for recruitment and retention purposes.

The Government considers that pay and contractual arrangements for teaching assistants are best determined at local level and detailed information on these matters is not held centrally. Many local authorities are now reviewing support staff pay in the light of the agreement—commonly known as the Single Status Agreement—made in 1997 by the National Joint Council for Local Government Services (NJC). A guidance document on the employment and grading of school support staff was published by the NJC in October. Links between potential roles and the pay of support staff will remain a matter for local determination, but the National Agreement on Raising Standards and Tackling Workload, signed on 15 January 2003 by the government, local authority employers and school workforce unions, makes clear that we expect support staff remuneration to reflect their level of training, skills and responsibilities.