The leader of the country’s largest teaching union has said that he will be focusing reps on working to ensure new planning, preparation and assessment (PPA) time at home becomes “a reality on the ground”.

The pledge comes after the education secretary Bridget Phillipson said last term that the Department for Education will clarify the position on PPA time to make it clear to schools that teachers can use this time at home.

The general secretary of the NEU teaching union Daniel Kebede also told Tes that it will be up to the union to make the case for “the supposed freedoms of academy trusts [to be] curtailed over the course of this parliament”.

While the clarification around PPA time was received well, leaders warned that a promise of flexibility will not work for all, with some claiming it would be harder to make this work at secondary schools.

Asked by Tes if the ability for staff to take PPA from home was something that the union would be focusing on going forward, Mr Kebede said that a lack of flexibility in education “is in part fuelling the recruitment and retention crisis”.

Union reps to make PPA from home ‘reality on the ground’

“The secretary of state allowing PPA to be taken from home is welcome, however, until we see trusts following nationally agreed terms and conditions, it is not a given,” he added.

Making PPA from home a reality on the ground “will be down to NEU reps with active trade union groups in many academies”.

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“We will be orientating reps to make [PPA from home] a reality on the ground, alongside the removal of PRP [performance-related pay] on the ground, because, you will still have some trusts that will do what they want in the name of ‘freedom’.

“The supposed freedom of trusts must be curtailed over the course of this parliament...I have concerns about the level of top slice and workload in some...Labour, clearly, hasn’t indicated a willingness to do anything on the architecture yet, so it is up to us as a trade union to make that case.”

On PPA, Mr Kebede said, however, that there are some trusts that “go above and beyond on PPA”, suggesting that those who do this could be modelled and replicated across the system.

But he told Tes that many members share his concerns about “excessive CEO pay, top slicing, high workloads and poor retention rates”.

He suggested that Ms Phillipson “could force trusts to adhere to nationally-agreed terms and conditions which would help mitigate against some of the worst practices”.

Union offers to work with government to achieve ‘difficult balance’

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the union agreed that “introducing greater flexibility into teaching has the potential to make the profession more attractive and improve recruitment and retention”.

He added: “It’s something that many trusts are actively looking at and seeing how they could make this work within the constraints of packed timetables, and lack of staffing and funding.”

Mr Di’Iasio also said that ASCL would be keen to work both with government and colleagues in other unions “to see how the sector can be better supported to achieve this difficult balance, as well as to tackle the systemic pressures that drive high levels of workload”.

Steve Rollett, deputy chief executive of the Confederation of School Trusts, said that trusts are “leading the way on offering enhanced flexibility, teacher pay and professional development” and are committed “to building professional environments that promote the recruitment, retention and development of teachers and support staff, and to delivering high-quality education for children”.

The Department for Education has been contacted for comment.