Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether (a) ancillary staff and (b) teaching assistants will receive the same level of pay increase as has been awarded to teachers from September 2023.

Schools have the autonomy to make their own decisions about budgets. For most staff, including Teaching Assistants (TAs), schools have the ability to recruit according to their own circumstances and set pay and conditions.

Many schools pay TAs according to Local Government pay scales. These are set through negotiations between the Local Government Association, which represents the employer, and Local Government trade unions (UNISON, Unite, and the GMB), which represent the employee. Central Government does not have any formal role in these matters.

Local Government employees covered by the National Joint Council for Local Government Services pay and conditions, including most school support staff, have been offered a flat cash uplift of £1,925 from 1 April 2023. This is the same cash uplift as was agreed for the 2022/23 pay deal, which equated to 10.5% at the bottom of the pay range, to 4% at the top. The 2023/24 offer is currently under negotiation.