Headteachers’ leaders have dubbed it “bizarre” and “disappointing” that schools are still waiting on details about how to apply for the government’s £40 million hardship fund, announced as part of the teacher pay deal.
The criticism comes at the beginning of the 2023 to 2024 academic year, as the 6.5 per cent pay rise for teachers in England comes into effect.
While the Department for Education (DfE) has published a placeholder titled “Additional support for schools in financial difficulty in 2023 to 2024”, which it says will provide information about the extra funding available to support schools in financial difficulty this year, the information is yet to be published.
School leaders have been told only that the guidance will be published “in due course”.
Julia Harnden, funding specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, told Tes: “It is a bit bizarre that the government has actually been sending out a link to this guidance to school leaders but without the actual guidance being available.
“This is disappointing. We would have expected it to be in a position to clarify the arrangements before now.”
Teacher pay deal
The extra £40 million, to help schools struggling financially, was first announced by the education secretary Gillian Keegan in July.
In a statement, Ms Keegan said she recognised that the additional funding “will not mean that no school will face financial challenges”.
The announcement came after the government decided to accept the independent School Teachers’ Review Body’s (STRB) recommendation of a 6.5 per cent pay rise for teachers in England from September this year.
This was a bigger pay rise than the DfE had originally proposed in February (3.5 per cent) but, for the second year, it is less than the “fully funded, inflation-plus pay increase” demanded by teaching unions.
The DfE has been contacted for comment.
