Guide to the Main Changes

2014 SCHOOL TEACHERS’ PAY CONDITIONSDOCUMENT (STPCD)

GUIDE TO THE MAIN CHANGES

INTRODUCTION

The DfE has published the final version of the 2014 School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) which will have statutory effect from 1 September 2014.

The2014 STPCD contains various changes to the teachers’ pay structure consequential on the February 2014 and May 2014 reports of the School Teachers' Review Body (STRB), including significant changes to leadership pay arrangements.

The DfE has also republished and updated its Departmental advice on implementing schools approach to pay and has published three additional guidance documents on aspects of pay progression agreed with the teacher unions.

These documents can be found by going to the following section of the NUT website which includes NUT advice on pay policies and pay structure issues as well as links to the above documents:

SUMMARY AND EXPLANATION OF MAIN CHANGES

Set out below is a summary and explanation of the main changes to sections 2 and 3 (guidance) of the 2014 STPCD.

There are five main sets of proposed changes to the 2014 STPCD to the following:

Pay scales – Removal of the pay reference points that had previously been in Appendix 5 of the 2013 STPCD. As the vast majority of schools and academies have retained the pay scales for teachers on the Main and Upper Pay Ranges, the removal of that Annex is extremely unhelpful.(Note: The DfE has however included uprated non-statutory pay reference points within its updated and amalgamated Departmental Advice Implementing your school’s approach to pay – Departmental advice for maintained schools and local authorities (Sept 2014) for MPR, UPR and leadership group pay).
Leadership - Changes to leadership group pay provisions including the removal of the previous 43-point leadership pay spine;its replacement by a leadership pay range with minimum and maximum levels only; and 8 broad pay bands for head teachers also with minimum and maximum levels.
Safeguarding – Previous paragraphs on safeguarding have been brought together into a single section and relocated.
TLRs – The abolition of the previous £1,500 differential between different levels of TLRs.

Conditions of Service - The removal of the specific list of 21 administrative/ clerical tasks and the removal of the non-statutory Section 4 guidance.

In respect of school leadership teachers, it is important to note that the new provisions will apply when new appointments are made. They only apply to existing post holders if the school restructures or appoints new leaders on different pay terms. There is absolutely no requirement to reassess the pay of existing school leaders. Schools do not have to undertake a restructuring exercise purely because the leadership group pay system has changed for new appointments. Advice on this can be found at para 4.1 of Section 2 of the interim 2014 STPCD and also at para 8 in Section 3 Statutory Guidance.

INTERIM 2014 STPCD – SECTION BY SECTION

SECTION 2- THE STATUTORY PROVISIONS

PART 1 – PAY GENERAL

The main change here is that the provisions on ‘Teachers paid a safeguarded sum, paras 4.1 - 4.6 have been removed and relocated in a new Part 5 ‘Safeguarding’ which appears in Section 2.

PART 2 - LEADERSHIP GROUP PAY

The changes to the STPCD reflect the acceptance of the STRB recommendations to provide much greater flexibility in setting Leadership group pay.

The new framework introduces more "flexibility" in setting individual pay ranges. The 43-point leadership pay spine has been removed from the STPCD and replaced by a leadership "pay range" with the minimum and maximum expected to be in line with the current minimum and maximum points of the pay spine, uprated in line with the 1% national pay award for September 2014 (Part 2, para 4.4 of 2014 STPCD).

The main changes are:

The pay spine for the leadership group has been replaced by new provisions in para 4.1-4.4 in the 2014 STPCD.The previous 43 point pay spine has been replaced by a pay range consisting of minimum and maximum pay points only and there are 8 broad pay bands for head teachers with minimum and maximum points (see the ‘box’ on p8 of the 2014 STPCD).The DfE has however included uprated non-statutory pay reference points within updated and amalgamated Departmental Advice Implementing your school’s approach to pay – Departmental advice for maintained schools and local authorities, Sept 2014.

Pay ranges can be of any length the governing body deems appropriate, and may or may not include fixed scale points. Heads' pay will still be broadly linked to pupil numbers and ages, but individual pay ranges for all school leadership posts will be set by governing bodies according to the level of responsibilities of the post (again, see paras 9.1 to 9.4).

In the section on unit totals and headteacher groups in both ordinary and special schools, new paragraphs have been added that makes provision for a headteacher appointed to more than one school on a permanent basis (para’s 6.6 and 7.9 of 2014 STPCD).
The provisions relating to ‘Determination of discretionary payments’ at paras 10.1 to 10.4 in the new 2014 STPCD have been redrafted in respect of the corresponding provisions in the previous 2013 STPCD.
The pay progression provisions in the previous 2013 STPCD have been replaced by ‘Pay progression for leadership group’ in the new 2014 STPCD at paras 11.1 to 11.2. From 1 September 2014, governing bodies will determine the criteria for pay progression. While decisions must be related to performance, the former statutory criteria no longer apply. Instead, the school pay policy should set out the precise criteria for pay progression for leadership teachers subject to an expectation that “sustained high quality of performance … should give the individual an expectation of progression up the pay range” (para 11.2(e).

Advice on the STRB recommendation that governing bodies should adopt a three-stage process in setting leadership group pay, can be found in paras 9.1 to 9.4 of the 2014 STPCD and also in para 7 of Section 3 Statutory Guidance and see also the DfE Departmental advice reviewing and revising your school’s approach to teachers’ pay (August 2013).
Separate allowances for school leaders have been restricted but head teachers can still be paid additional allowances in specified circumstances (see para 10.1) and, in exceptional circumstances, governing bodies will be able to disregard any limits in setting heads' pay (see paras 9.3 and 10.2).

The 2014 STPCD does not include the following:

Any guidance on leadership pay decisions for September 2014 similar to that in the ‘box’ in the 2013 STPCD (ie that pay progression decisions should be taken on the basis of the 2013 STPCD criteria and that any pay increases given should be equal to the value of an additional pay point on the 2013 pay spine uprated in line with the 2014 pay increase).
An uprated leadership spine for pay ‘reference’ purposes similar to that in Annex 5 of the previous 2013 STPCD.
Clear criteria on pay progression for leadership group teachers. As with classroom teachers, the precise criteria for progression for Leadership group teachers will be set by the governing body.

PART 3 – OTHER TEACHERS’ PAY RANGES FROM 1 SEPT 2014

The main changes are:

The standalone ‘box’ in the previous 2013 STPCD about the Sept 2013 pay award has been updated to address the application of the Sept 2014 1 per cent pay award and its interpretation for teachers not on the minimum or maxima of their pay ranges. Although the STRB said in its 24th Report that pay reference points should be increased by the general pay award, it also recommended that for all teachers who were paid other than on the minima and maxima of their pay ranges, school themselves should determine locally how to take account of the pay uplift. That means that not all teachers would necessarily automatically receive the 1 per cent pay increase unless pay reference points were re-adopted by schools (see para 1.8 of 2014 STPCD). Annex 5 in last year’s STPCD which set out the pay “reference points” has been removed.The DfE has however included uprated non-statutory pay reference points within updated and amalgamated Departmental Advice ‘Implementing your school’s approach to pay – Departmental advice for maintained schools and local authorities’ Sept 2014).
In para 17.2 of the previous 2013 STPCD (re when governing bodies must pay teachers on the UPR)sub paras (b) and (e) have been deleted in the new 2014 STPCD at para 14.2 (a) to (c). Similarly, para 17.4 in the previous 2013 STPCD, when governing bodies may pay teachers on the UPR, has been shortened at new para 14.14 in the 2014 STPCD.
The paras in the 2013 STPCD on Chartered London Teachers (CLTs) have all been deleted following the deletion of that designation. The CLT programme has now been closed and a proposed two-year transition period has been put in place. Fortransitional purposes, provisions appear in Part 4 (see the ‘box’ at top of p26 and para’s 30.1 to 30.6).

PART 4 – ALLOWANCES AND OTHER PAYMENTS

Part 4 (now titled “Allowances and other payments”) contains a change to the TLR payment system.

The main changes are:

The previous reference to the £1,500 differential between TLR payments (at old para 24.2 (c) in the previous 2013 STPCD) has been deleted following its removal. The 2014 STPCD does not however advise that relevant bodies should not automatically undertake any restructuring of TLR payments purely as a result of the removal of the differential.

The provisions on safeguarding of TLRs (2013 STPCD paras 25.1 to 25.7) can now be found in Part 5 ‘Safeguarding’ of the 2014 STPCD paras 32.1 (b), 32.3, 34.1(f) and 36.2).
The provisions in the previous on safeguarding of unqualified teachers’ allowances (2013 STPCD 28.1 to 28.6) can be found in Part 5 ‘Safeguarding’.
The provision on ‘performance payments to seconded teachers’ (para 30.1 of the 2013 STPCD) has been slightly amended in relation to the payment of a lump sum.
A brief para on payment to teachers for residential duties has been included at para 25.1
Paragraphs on additional payments (para 26.1); recruitment and retention incentives and benefits (27.1 to 27.3); GTC Wales fee (28.1 to 28.4); and salary sacrifice arrangements (29.1 to 29.3) now all appear in Part 4 of the new 2014 STPCD and not in Part 5 as in the previous 2013 STPCD.
A section of Chartered London Teachers, making the point that the scheme is to be abolished, now appears in Part 4 of the 2014 STPCD in the ‘box’ at the top of p26 and at paras 30.1 to 30.6.
The removal of advice to heads that they should be aware that some teachers may not wish or be able to attend training courses in the evening, weekends or in the holidays.

PART 5 - SAFEGUARDING

All statutory provisions relating to pay safeguarding now appear in Part 5 - Safeguarding, para’s 31.1 to 39.10.

ANNEX 3

The specific list of ‘Admin and Clerical Tasks’ in the 2013 STPCD has been deleted from the new 2014 STPCD - but the general provision about not undertaking unnecessary bureaucratic work remains (see para 53.8 in Part 7 of 2014 STPCD).

ANNEX 5

This Annex in the 2013 STPCD which was on p73 of the 2013 STPCD and which set out pay ‘reference’ points has been deleted from the 2014 STPCD. As the vast majority of schools and academies have retained the pay scales for teachers on the Main and Upper Pay Ranges, the removal of that Annex is extremely unhelpful.

SECTION 3 - THE STATUTORY GUIDANCE

The main 2014 STPCD Section 3 Statutory Guidance changes are:

The previous paras on teachers paid a safeguarded sum (2013 STPCD paras 7 to 10) have been moved in the new 2014 STPCD (now at paras 73 onwards).
The previous provisions on individual school ranges (2013 STPCD paras 12 to 13) have been replaced by redrafted paras 8 and 9 in the 2014 STPCD referring to pay ranges.
Guidance on ‘Extended services’ now appear as paras 23 to 24.
Para 29 ‘Pay of deputy/assistant heads’ in the 2013 STPCD has been deleted from the 2014 STPCD.
Guidance on teachers’ paid on the pay range for leading practitioners’ (para 33); ‘additional payments’ (para 28); and ‘fixed-term contracts’ (para 25) all appear in this section.

DFE ADVICE

In addition to the 2014 STPCD (which sets out changes to leadership group pay including guidance on the 3 stage process for setting pay, pay progression, TLR payments and the abolition of the Chartered London Teachers designation) and the DfE model pay policy (which remains unchanged), the DfE has also issued Implementing your school’s approach to pay – Departmental advice for maintained schools and local authorities (Sept 2014). This document is a consolidated version of the previous DfE ‘toolkit’ which incorporates the following three documents:

Equalities consideration as part of the appraisal and pay determination process (June 2014);
The use of evidence in appraisal and pay decisions (June 2014); and
Managing appeals against pay determination (June 2014).

National Union of Teachers

August 2014

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