The SSSNB will be reinstated through the Employment Rights Bill, which was introduced in Parliament on Thursday, October 10 – part of the government’s much-touted “Plan to Make Work Pay”.
The Bill needs to pass through the usual legislative process. As part of this the government has said that it will consult on the detail of the legislation, including “the right definition of support staff”.
The Department for Education said that the SSSNB’s revival was in “recognition of the vital role support staff play in the workforce and young people’s education”.
Support staff make up more than half the school workforce and include roles such as teaching and learning support assistants, administrative staff, catering staff, and care-takers.
The SSSNB will be made up of representatives of employers, unions and will have an independent chairperson. It will be tasked with ensuring support staff are “paid fairly and have access to training and career progression opportunities”. Its recommendations will apply to support staff in both local authority maintained schools and academies.
Making the annoucnement, education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “Support staff make up over half the workforce and our schools would grind to a halt without our brilliant teaching assistants, catering staff, care-takers and many more vital roles.
“They make a huge contribution to children’s education and the smooth running of our schools. By reinstating the SSSNB we will make sure they are properly valued and respected as the professionals they are.”
The SSSNB was axed in 2010 by the then education secretary Michael Gove. Commenting on the decision to reinstate it, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said: "A negotiating body for support staff is long overdue. Support staff – predominantly female and already the lowest paid members of the school workforce – have experienced real-terms cuts in pay since 2010 and have faced growing workload pressures.
“Collective bargaining via a new negotiating body can help to resolve these issues. This is why we believe teacher pay and conditions should also be determined via collective bargaining, not the discredited School Teachers’ Review Body.”