Latest updates about support staff pay negotiations
July 2019
The recognised unions have submitted the following pay claim for 2020/21, to be payable from April 1st 2020:
- A 10% increase in pay
- A one day increase to the minimum paid annual leave entitlement
- A two hour reduction in the standard working week
- A comprehensive joint national review of the workplace causes of stress and mental health throughout local authorities
The Local Government Association (LGA) will be consulting Councils during September and October, and will respond to the Union claim after that.
April 2018
- Agreement has now been finalised on a two year pay deal for employees covered by the Local Government bargaining arrangements, which includes maintained and (most) academy school support staff.
- The agreement is for a two-year pay increase, payable from 1 April 2018. The majority of employees - those on Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) salaries starting at £19,430 per annum - will receive an uplift of 2 per cent on 1 April 2018 and a further 2 per cent on 1 April 2019, with those on lower salaries receiving higher increases.
Maintained sector
Most LA schools use the local government pay rates to pay their support staff in conjunction with National Joint Council (NJC) terms and conditions.
However, this can vary between local authorities, which means it is not possible to be prescriptive about the rate of pay support staff will receive. An employee's contract should state their rate of pay, the point on the local government pay scale that refers to, and how the rate will increase on an incremental basis to a certain point.
Academies and Free Schools
Whilst academies have the freedom to establish their own policies for pay and conditions, nearly all stand-alone academies and all Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) have maintained the link to the Local Government pay arrangements, which means that they adhere to the pay agreements reached periodically, and also use the Local Government pay spine and the National Agreement on Pay and Conditions of Service – otherwise known as the Green Book.
Free schools have the ability to set their own pay, terms and conditions, without reference to the maintained sector.
Independent schools
Support staff in most independent schools are employed on a range of terms and conditions that are determined by their individual contracts Details of support staff pay should be included in a written school pay policy, and school policies on employment-related matters should be published in a staff handbook or on the school’s intranet.
In more than 100 independent schools, the NEU is recognised by the employer for collective bargaining purposes, and in most instances, the Recognition Agreement covers teachers and support staff. This means that NEU members at the school negotiate with management on their pay, hours, holidays and other matters.
NJC Support Staff Salary Spine - 1 September 2018
Per Annum Pay Point Per Annum
13 Deleted 34 27,481
14 16,000 35 28,371
15 16,500 36 29,256
16 Deleted 37 30,062
17 17,000 38 30,869
18 17,350 39 31,678
19 17,700 40 32,485
20 18,000 41 33,291
21 18,400 42 34,101
22 18,780 43 34,907
23 19,381 44 35,796
24 20,070 45 36,685
25 20,765 46 37,571
26 21,451 47 38,459
27 22,142 48 39,430
28 22,828 49 40,316
29 23,496 50 41,283
30 24,162 51 42,252
31 24,947 52 43,223
32 25,725 53 44,192
33 26,593 54 45,161
Inner London 3,859 Outer London 2,571 Fringe 1,019
Support Staff Standards Payment 320 p.a.
Local government pay scale for support staff
| New spine point | April 19 - National | April 19- Outer London | April 19 - Inner London |
| 1 | £17,364 | £20,103 | £21,231 |
| 2 | £17,711 | £20,466 | £21,612 |
| 3 | £18,065 | £20,835 | £22,002 |
| 4 | £18,426 | £21,210 | £22,398 |
| 5 | £18,795 | £21,591 | £22,800 |
| 6 | £19,171 | £21,981 | £23,211 |
| 7 | £19,554 | £22,377 | £23,628 |
| 8 | £19,945 | £22,779 | £24,054 |
| 9 | £20,344 | £23,187 | £24,486 |
| 10 | £20,751 | £23,607 | £24,927 |
| 11 | £21,166 | £24,030 | £25,377 |
| 12 | £21,589 | £24,462 | £25,833 |
| 13 | £22,021 | £24,903 | £26,298 |
| 14 | £22,462 | £25,353 | £26,772 |
| 15 | £22,911 | £25,809 | £27,255 |
| 16 | £23,369 | £26,274 | £27,744 |
| 17 | £23,836 | £26,745 | £28,245 |
| 18 | £24,313 | £27,228 | £28,752 |
| 19 | £24,799 | £27,717 | £29,271 |
| 20 | £25,295 | £28,215 | £29,796 |
| 21 | £25,801 | £28,725 | £30,333 |
| 22 | £26,317 | £29,241 | £30,879 |
| 23 | £26,999 | £29,766 | £31,434 |
| 24 | £27,905 | £30,213 | £32,001 |
| 25 | £28,785 | £30,708 | £32,577 |
| 26 | £29,636 | £31,548 | £33,162 |
| 27 | £30,507 | £32,430 | £33,759 |
| 28 | £31,371 | £33,291 | £34,128 |
| 29 | £32,029 | £33,945 | £34,986 |
| 30 | £32,878 | £34,794 | £35,637 |
| 31 | £33,799 | £35,724 | £36,486 |
| 32 | £34,788 | £36,711 | £37,413 |
| 33 | £35,934 | £37,842 | £38,403 |
| 34 | £36,876 | £38,799 | £39,543 |
| 35 | £36,876 | £39,774 | £40,491 |
| 36 | £36,876 | £40,728 | £41,466 |
| 37 | £36,876 | £41,706 | £42,432 |
| 38 | £36,876 | £42,681 | £43,404 |
| 39 | £41,675 | £43,590 | £44,373 |
| 40 | £42,683 | £44,607 | £45,288 |
| 41 | £42,683 | £45,585 | £46,293 |
| 42 | £44,632 | £46,560 | £47,274 |
| 43 | £45,591 | £47,511 | £48,252 |
Special educational needs
| April 2017 | April 2018 | April 2019 |
| £1,239 | £1264 | £1289 |
