Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of increasing the teacher starting salary to £30,000.

The Government’s proposal for an increase in teachers’ starting salaries to £30,000 by 2022-23, along with increases elsewhere on the rest of the pay framework, will be affordable for schools within the additional funding announced at the Spending Round. This will see an additional £2.6 billion in core schools funding next year, with increases of £4.8 billion and £7.1 billion in 2021-22 and 2022-23 respectively.

Pay reform is subject to the School Teacher Review Body process and recommendations, but our assessment of affordability will be part of the evidence we provide as part of that process.