My Lords, I thank the Minister for that response; the tone she adopted was helpful. There are some points I would like to pick up, if I may. I think the Minister and I are the only contributors to this debate who were not previously schoolteachers, so the contributions of those who were carry particular weight. I would not disagree with anything that the noble Lord, Lord Storey, and my noble friends Lady Blower and Lord Coaker said, with one exception. The noble Lord, Lord Storey, said that the pay cut affects teachers in maintained schools but in fact, the impact is wider than that. As the Explanatory Notes say, most academies and free schools have the same pay and conditions, so the effect on teachers is quite widely felt.
My noble friend Lady Blower talked about respect and gratitude for our teachers, and the Minister and my noble friend Lord Coaker echoed that. That is almost a given, which raises the question of why the gargantuan efforts made by teachers to keep education going when children were unable to go to school are not reflected in the pay and conditions review of this year.
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The Minister said that the pay pause, as the official government terminology goes, was driven by the need not to disturb the balance of pay levels between the public and private sectors. I can understand that on one level; well, I cannot understand why it would be an issue, but I can understand why it would be an argument. However, most public sector workers continued working during lockdown—I am generalising—and most private sector workers were furloughed. There was no equality there, and I do not think that that would necessarily mean that rewarding public sector workers, who continued to do their jobs in extremely difficult circumstances—and they were often jobs that could not be done from home, almost by definition—would not be justified.
The Minister also said that a £30,000 starting salary was competitive with other professional salaries and was the result of consultation. Yes, it is not uncompetitive for a starting salary, but where is it? As I said, the general election was two years ago this month and it was in the manifesto, but it has not started yet. It is not competitive until it starts to take effect and that is not happening.
On the timing, I am pleased that the Minister will take a lead within her department on changing the date, as I requested, not necessarily putting other pay
awards out of kilter, but just moving the date, so that the summer is not in the middle of it. That is positive and we await the result.
This has been a useful airing of a number of issues that are deeply and seriously felt by teachers. The teachers I talk to do not feel sufficiently valued. My noble friend Lord Coaker talked about morale and this obviously eats away at morale, which is not good for the children, who the teachers are there to educate.
I would like to test the opinion of the House. I said that just to see the ashen faces of the Whips on both sides, because I am not going to. I think we would probably win it 6:4 if it went to a vote. But I think it is important that the huge contribution that teachers make is properly acknowledged and rewarded, and many teachers do not feel that that is the case just now. Having aired those issues and heard the Minister’s response, I beg leave to withdraw my Motion.