The workforce fund for schools facing Covid-related staffing problems has been extended to 18 February, as pupil absence rises by 30,000 in a fortnight and teacher and leader absence by 20 per cent.
The Department for Education initially announced the reinstatement of the workforce fund at the end of last month to provide financial support to schools, but only for the period of 22 November to 31 December.
The extension announcement comes as DfE figures on Tuesday revealed that almost a quarter of a million pupils were off school due to Covid-related reasons on 9 December.
In a bulletin to school leaders, the DfE said the fund was to support schools to “continue to deliver face-to-face, high-quality education to all pupils”.
The criteria for access to the fund remains the same.
The extension was announced as the Office for National Statistics revealed that teachers and school staff were 37 per cent more likely to test positive for Covid.
Criteria for accessing the school workforce fund
The criteria for accessing the workforce fund are set out below:
Mainstream schools:
- A total teacher and leader absence rate at or above 20 per cent on a given day.
- A lower total support staff absence rate at or above 10 per cent but have been experiencing this for 15 or more consecutive school days.
Special schools and alternative provision schools:
- A total support staff absence rate (teaching assistants and other support staff) at or above 15 per cent on a given day.
- A lower total support staff absence rate at or above 10 per cent but have been experiencing this for 15 or more consecutive school days.
Government guidance says schools cannot claim for “training or other incidental staff-related costs”, as well as “increasing pro-rata pay, unless there is a commensurate increase in responsibilities associated with undertaking the work”.
Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi confirmed the extension of the workforce fund in a letter to school and college leaders earlier today and said: “We know that in areas with high absence, a particular issue can be the availability of supply staff.
“We want to make sure that as many supply staff as possible are available to schools and colleges. That is why we are now looking at what steps and measures we can put in place to boost supply capacity.
“We will work with sector leaders and supply agencies over the coming days to offer advice to ex-teachers who want to provide support to schools and colleges.”
Yesterday, Robert Halfon MP, chair of the Commons Education Select Committee, warned of “de facto school closures” and asked why there was no “army of volunteers” for education during the pandemic.
Earlier this term, leaders warned that teacher and pupil absence was “wreaking havoc”.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said ASCL welcomed the extension.
He said: “This is a further step in the right direction as schools and colleges are having to spend huge amounts of money on supply cover for staff absence driven by high Covid rates. The situation is utterly unsustainable.
“However, the eligibility criteria for this financial support involves a maze of conditions which make it inaccessible to many schools and colleges.
“Schools and colleges should be able to access this funding without having to jump through so many hoops. It is essential that the government fully supports them at this challenging time.”
The DfE said it has been clear it planned to keep the fund under review, and extending it until February half-term means it can support with staff attendance during the winter period, which it knows is a challenging time even outside of the pandemic.
