‘Minimum service levels’ to be introduced in schools and colleges during strikes

Published

11 months ago

October 20, 2023

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Minimum service levels are set to be introduced in schools and colleges during strike action – but it will be based on voluntary agreement with trade unions.

The government has announced the measures following 10 days of strike action this year that forced some schools to close and resulted in 25 million lost days.

However, the proposals will only be put into action if unions agree.

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If a voluntary agreement cannot be reached, the government says it will use powers introduced under Liz Truss to bring about a consultation before any minimum service levels are implemented.

The laws will require a proportion of union members to continue working to retain a “minimum level” of service and strikes could be deemed illegal if unions refuse to provide this.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has written to union leaders inviting them to discuss the plans on a voluntary basis.

“Last year’s school strikes were some of the most disruptive on record for children, and their parents,” she said.

“We cannot afford a repeat of that disruption – particularly as schools and teachers continue to work so hard to help children recover from the pandemic.

“I am asking the teaching unions to engage with us and agree to put children and young people’s education first – and above and beyond any dispute.”

The plans to introduce minimum service levels in schools and colleges follows a similar announcement for universities, where students have also been affected by the ongoing dispute over pay and working conditions.

Earlier this year, the government announced it was bringing forward new strike laws to “maintain a basic function and deliver minimum safety levels” in the public sector during industrial action.

The government said it would “always protect the ability to strike”, but added: “It must be balanced with the public’s right to life and livelihoods.”

It follows a series of strikes across the public sector, including in schools, the NHS and on the railways.

The government settled its dispute with teachers in July after every major teaching union accepted an offer of a 6.5% pay rise to end the strikes.

Minimum service levels are one of the few surviving emblems of the Truss era and have been opposed by trade unions and the Labour Party, which sees them as an attack on the right to strike.

Ms Truss published the plans last October, shortly before she resigned following the backlash to her mini-budget.

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Lisa Nandy says Sir Keir Starmer ‘very sensible’ to accept football tickets worth thousands

Published

13 hours ago

September 21, 2024

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Lisa Nandy says Sir Keir Starmer 'very sensible' to accept football tickets worth thousands

Lisa Nandy has said Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to accept thousands of pounds worth of football tickets was “very sensible”.

The minister for culture, media and sport also said she had never accepted free clothes from a donor.

Speaking to Sky News at the start of the Labour Party conference today, the MP for Wigan said: “The problem that has arisen since [Sir Keir] became leader of the opposition and then prime minister is that for him to sit in the stands would require a huge security detail, would be disruptive for other people and it would cost the taxpayer a lot of money.

“So I think he’s taken a very sensible decision that’s not the right and appropriate thing to do, and it’s right to accept that he has to go and sit in a different area.

“But I know that he’d much rather be sitting in the stands cheering people on with the usual crowd that he’s been going to the football with for years.”

Ms Nandy also said while she has not accepted free clothes – joking “I think you can probably see that I choose my own clothes sadly” – she doesn’t “make any judgements about what other members of parliament do”.

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She said: “The only judgement I would make is if they’re breaking the rules, so they’re trying to hide what they’re doing. That’s when problems arise.

“Because the point of being open and transparent is that people can see where the relationships are, and they can then judge for themselves whether there’s been any undue influence.”

She asserted there had not been an undue influence in gifts accepted by senior Labour figures, adding: “We don’t want the news and the commentary to be dominated by conversations about clothes.

“We rightly have a system, I think, where the taxpayer doesn’t fund these things. We don’t claim on expenses for them. And so MPs will always take donations, will always take gifts in kind.

“MPs of all political parties have historically done that and that is the system that we have.”

She added: “I don’t think there’s any suggestion here that Keir Starmer has broken any rules. I don’t think there’s any suggestion that he’s done anything wrong.

“We expect our politicians to be well turned out, we expect them to be people who go out and represent us at different events and represent the country at different events and are clothed appropriately.

“But the point is that when we accept donations for that or for anything else, that we declare them and we’re open and transparent about them.”

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Sir Keir, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves said yesterday they will no longer accept donations in the future to pay for clothes.

The announcement followed criticism of Sir Keir’s gifts from donors, which included clothing worth £16,200 and multiple pairs of glasses worth £2,485, according to the MPs’ register of interests.

The register shows Ms Rayner has accepted clothing donations to the value of £2,230.

Sky News also revealed the scale of Sir Keir’s donations this week as part of our Westminster Accounts investigation.

Sir Keir was found to have received substantially more gifts and freebies than any other MP – his total in gifts, benefits, and hospitality topped £100,000 since December 2019.