Powers of teacher pay and conditions to be devolved by Welsh Government

Powers over teachers’ pay and conditions are in the process of being devolved to the Welsh Government from Westminster under the Wales Act.

The Welsh Government will take responsibility for this area at the end of this September, with teachers’ pay and conditions being set by the Welsh Government from September 2019.

A consultation will open on the mechanism for deciding teachers’ pay and conditions in Wales, with a model that would see unions, employers and the Welsh Government working together as part of a partnership forum.

This new Partnership Forum would be able to propose changes to a draft remit for pay and conditions and set the agenda for any other issues that needed to be considered.

Following consideration of the Forum’s views, Welsh Ministers would submit a ‘final’ remit for scrutiny and analysis by an independent expert body prior to taking any final decisions.

Running parallel to the consultation is a group set up to review teachers’ pay and conditions, chaired by Professor Mick Waters. The group will consider where and how the current system could be improved and will report to the Cabinet Secretary later this year.

Responsibility for teachers’ pay and conditions forms part of a broader set of measures to strengthen the profession in Wales. These include investment in business managers to reduce the administrative burden on headteachers, addressing classroom bureaucracy, reducing infant class sizes and the introduction of new professional standards.