Farron welcomes full review for teaching assisants hit by unfair pay cuts

South Lakes MP, Tim Farron met with senior council officers last week to press them on their promise to review the grades and salaries of teaching assistants who faced pay cuts of up to 30% as a result of the council's single status plans.

Tim has been campaigning for months to prevent the unfair and deeply unpopular move since it was first proposed, meeting with senior Government officials, and now senior County Council officials to stop teaching assistants facing dramatic pay cuts.

Due to the persistent campaigning of teaching assistants and Tim, the County have agreed to protect most salaries for 12 months and to use that 12 months to do a full review of teaching assistant posts. The main proposals are due in mid-February, with wider communication and consultation planned throughout the Spring.

Tim said: "We were all disappointed by the County's decision to press ahead with single status despite the fact that hard working, committed teaching assistants were being forced to accept pay cuts of around 20-30%.

The positive news is that the County has agreed to a re-grading exercise which is now taking place. County officers have assured me that they expect most teaching assistants to get an improved salary at the end of this. The plan is to see these changes implemented by September. After months of anxiety for teaching assistants, this is a welcome step forward, but none of us will rest until our hard working teaching assistants get the outcome that they deserve.

The nature of the new grades and of the salary deals on the table are not yet available, but I will be working very hard to get this information and to ensure that teaching assistants get the best deal possible."