Children Services

Children Services

Wat Tyler West

Swindon, SN1 2JH

Tel: 01793 445500

Dear Headteacher

Equal Pay information as at July 2013

I am writing to advise you that further equal pay claims have been settled by the LA in respect of your employees which will have financial implications for the school budget. You may recall that previous guidance issued by the LA advised schools academies that there were still a number of unsettled claims although exact details could not be provided at that time. Schools may therefore have made provision in their school budgets to manage this risk.

In line with the principles agreed by the Schools Forum in July 2010 the cost of these claims has been incorporated into your 20 year loan agreements which commenced in 2011 to spread charges to the school budget over the longer term. Schools may however choose to settle their liability in full but regardless of the chosen payment terms, 50% of the loan or lump sum repayment will be met by the LA from the retained DSG budget.

Charges for this year based on existing commitments have recently been levied and a further additional charge will also be due. Attachment A (which will be sent as a hard copy for confidentiality reasons) provides details of all additional payments made since 2010 listed by employee and shows the additional charge to the school as both a lump sum and additional annual loan instalment. In line with most existing agreements the LA is assuming that you will wish to take advantage of the loan arrangement.

At the 9th July 2013 Schools Forum meeting the LA provided an update on recent developments with Equal pay legislation with particular reference to the “DumfriesGalloway case” where a Supreme Court decision was not in favour of the respondent council’s case to decline a claim. Following this decision the LA informed Schools Forumthat it is now likely that the majority of outstanding school based claims will need to be settled whereas previous legal advice was that many cases could successfully be defended. The LA is currently arranging meetings with union representatives to review the legal issues relating to each case and updates will be provided to individual schools in due course. Please note however that no further payments will be requested from schools or academies this academic year in respect of any outstanding claims.

To give schools an opportunity to review the new details and decide on their repayment method the additional charges will not be put through until 15th October. Revised loan agreements are attached which schools are asked to sign and return to the LA by 27th September. The LA will accept returns electronically providing the email is from the head teacher or chair of governors. For those Schools/ Academies who wish to settle their Equal Pay liability in full please contact me direct to arrange payment and agree the final settlement.

Previous letters and generic correspondence relating to Equal pay explaining how the charges have been calculated are available on schoolsonline. Please forward any further specific enquiries to by 27th September 2013. Please ensure the query is appropriately referenced with your school name.

Yours sincerely,

Sarah McCombe

Sarah McCombe

Finance Manager – Education & Innovation

Attachments

• A- Hard copy confidential statement showing individual payments and school contributions (this will be sent to schools/ academies via external post)

• B –NewLoan application to be returned to the LAeither electronically or as a hard copy by 27th September at the latest

Children and young people deserve the best start in life

John Gilbert

Group Director, Children