Does the Welsh Government have pricing guidelines for schools on the cost of teaching assistants?
Supply teachers employed through local authorities or directly by schools are subject to the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions (Wales) Document 2023 (STPC(W)D), including the main pay scale within it. Those employed via an agency on the Welsh Government Supply Agency Framework are required to be paid a minimum daily pay rate for supply teachers, to match the latest published STPC(W)D.
School support staff pay, and conditions are currently a matter for individual employers, whether this is the school or the local authority. Local authority employed school support staff, including teaching assistants, along with that for all other local government staff, is part of the wider pay and conditions negotiations for local authorities. These are negotiated directly between unions and local authorities in Wales and on an all Wales and England basis by agreement through the National Joint Council (NJC). The Welsh Government has no role in these negotiations.
As part of the social partnership a subgroup of the school social partnership group (a tripartite group comprising Welsh Government, local authority employers and Education workforce unions) is looking into a variety of issues relating to teaching assistants. This includes standardisation of roles; consistency in deployment; a move towards common pay scales across Wales; and better access to professional development.