Education secretary tells NEU to check facts on pay offer
The Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has written to the National Education Union, saying they should seek clarity from the statistics watchdog, Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) about its claim the government has failed to provide adequate information on funding for teacher pay.
The NEU had complained to the OSR about DfE claims about the offer, saying there was inadequate information on funding to school leaders.
But the OSR said that where the DfE said that the teacher pay increase would be fully-funded on a national level is backed up by evidence. However, it has called on the DfE to consider including its definition of fully funded in future analysis of school costs to enhance transparency.
The letter from the education secretary to NEU leaders Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, said: "The OSR considered the Department’s explanations in line with its regulatory guidance on statements about public funding, and concluded that the “Department for Education has evidenced its claim that the offer is fully funded”, in line with the definition used in the evidence that the Department provided to the School Teachers’ Review Body, and in the Schools’ Costs Technical Note, both published in February. The OSR notes that those documents are clear that the Department’s approach focuses on averages across all schools in England."
The letter continues: "The NEU’s main contention related to the Department’s definition of a “fully funded” pay offer. In its response, the OSR is again clear: that “the Department has evidenced its claim that the offer is fully funded in line with its definition and that it has been open in saying that each school will be affected differently by the pay offer.
"The OSR judgement appears to contradict several statements on your website, including “DfE failed to provide the adequate information on funding to school leaders.” I am sure you will endeavour to seek clarity from the OSR, as I have done, and correct those statements if
necessary."
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