2016
BRIGHTON
CONFERENCE MOTIONS
Dear Colleague
NATIONAL UNION OF TEACHERS ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2016 - PRIORITY VOTING – FOR INFORMATION AND ACTION
Please find attached a complete set of Conference Motions submitted by constituent Associations, Divisions and the Executive as arranged, classified and approved by the Conference Business Committee for Conference 2016, which will take place in Brighton.
The order of Associations/Divisions submitting each motion does not, at this stage, necessarily indicate movers and seconders. The Conference motions have been circulated directly to all school representatives. Copies have also been forwarded to local association secretaries for action, and to Division secretaries for information.
In accordance with Union Rules, each constituent association may select the six motions it considers to be the most important for debate at Conference. The Conference Business Committee will then, having regard to the number of votes counted for each motion in the voting on priority, arrange for a maximum of 10 motions receiving the highest number of votes within each section to be printed in the Agenda for Conference under the appropriate section.
Members are encouraged to attend meetings of their local association in order to select the six motions that they consider to be the most important regardless of the section in which they appear. Motions in the Equality Conference Section are prioritised differently. Constituent Associations are invited to select the motion that they would like taken first. The appropriate form for the submission of priority voting details (Form 110) has been sent to local secretaries and should be returned to Hamilton House by 31January 2016.
Local Associations/Divisions are reminded that priority voting must be approved by a quorate General Meeting.
Please circulate information about Annual Conference to as many NUT members as possible and encourage participation in the priority voting ballot.
Yours sincerely
CHRISTINE BLOWERKEVIN COURTNEY DAVID HEMINGTON
General SecretaryDeputy General SecretaryDirector Business Services
Conference Motions 2016
The motions listed have been submitted by constituent Associations, Divisions and the Executive and have been composited, arranged, classified and approved by the Conference Business Committee.
Constituent Associations are invited to select six motions that they consider to be the most important, regardless of the section or order in which they appear.
Motions in the Equality Conferences Section are prioritised differently. Constituent Associations are invited to select the motion that they would like taken first.
The Conference Business Committee will, having regard to the number of votes cast for each motion in the voting on priority, arrange for a maximum of ten motions receiving the highest number of votes within each section to be printed in the Agenda for the 2016 Annual Conference (Brighton) under the appropriate section (subject to the provision that the motion receiving the highest number of votes in each section shall be printed).
Where motions have been composited this is marked “COMPOSITE”.
The sections under which the motions are listed are based on, but not identical to, the Committee Sections in the Report of the Executive.
The other sections are as follows:
Employment Conditions and Rights
Strategy, Finance and Communications
Strategy, Finance and Communications – Wales/Cymru Section
Education: Early Years/Primary
Education: General
Education: Secondary
Education: Special EducationalNeedsand Disability
Equality Conferences
Equality
International
Organising and Membership
Salaries, Superannuation and Education Economics
Resource Management
No motions were received for the following sections:
Education: Privitisation Section
The voting form for the prioritisation of motions (Form 110) has been circulated to secretaries of Associations and should be returned to Hamilton House by 31January 2016.
SUPPLY
MOTION 1 (COMPOSITE)
Conference reaffirms its support for the continuation of the NUT Teachers Supply Network.
Conference notes:
1.That supply teachers are on the receiving end of relentless poor publicity and negative judgement from the national media;
2.That the majority of supply teachers are employed by private agencies and are paid well below the Teachers' Pay Scale and are not allowed into the Teachers' Pension Scheme;
3.That supply teachers are increasingly employed on long term contracts with no access to sick pay, maternity pay, holiday pay, and subject to dismissal without notice. Constituting a hidden privatised layer of teachers in our schools;
4.That supply teachers have less chance of being employed full time due to prohibitive agency transfer fees. These exorbitant ‘finders’ or introduction fees are charged by agencies, amounting to four or five figures, create a barrier to finding permanent or long term employment;
5.That agency staff are often required to pay for CPD themselves out of their already unacceptably low pay;
6.That many NQTs work for up to five years as a supply teacher. If they are unable to find a post suitable for induction, they are forced to leave the teaching profession;
7.That there is confusion in some local authorities over the eligibility of agency supply teachers to undertake NQT induction on a long term cover assignment;
8.The change in agency worker regulations that allow agency workers to break strikes; and
9.The lobby of teacher supply agencies organised on Oct 28 by the Teacher Supply Network and the NUT.
Conference believes:
i.That the NUT should campaign with local authorities to establish a central supply register publically accountable, non-profit making, paying to scale, accessing TPS so that schools can hire supply teachers directly, based on the Northern Ireland model;
ii.This should be a key campaign for the NUT; and
iii.That divisions and local associations should elect a supply teacher representative.
Conference instructs the executive to:
a.Campaign for a central supply register;
b.Support members in organising further action around supply such as national and local lobbies of supply agencies;
c.Ensure the NUT provides regular training for supply reps and activists;
d.Organise an annual weekend event at Stoke Rochford for supply reps in addition to the Supply Teachers' Conference;
e.Collect, monitor and analyse statistics relating to the number of NQTs registered as supply teachers who leave the profession;
f.Campaign against the excessive introduction fees charged by agencies;
g.Seek clarification at a national level over the position, and entitlement to induction, of supply NQTs employed on long term cover through agencies;
h.Offer training to caseworkers and supply teacher officers/reps in supporting NQTs working as supply teachers;
i.Encourage local associations to make contact with newly qualified supply teachers to evaluate what support they may need; and
j.Offer and promote training to support NQTs who are working as supply teachers.
Islington, Cambridgeshire, Wakefield and District, Birmingham, Ipswich, Lambeth, Brighton and Hove, Medway, Nottinghamshire, North Somerset, Tameside, West Sussex, Lewes, Eastbourne and Wealden, Liverpool
SUPPLY TEACHERS
MOTION 2 (COMPOSITE)
Conference notes that supply teachers are on the receiving end of relentless poor publicity and negative judgement.
Conference welcomes the fact that an NUT Supply Teacher Network has been established and welcomes Executive support for this initiative.
Conference also welcomes support given by the Executive including national resources and participation in the successful lobby of two London Agencies on 28 October and is heartened by the significant involvement of supply teacher members from across the Union.
Conference urges Divisions and Associations to create the post of supply teacher representative on their committees.
Conference deplores the fact that the majority of supply teachers are employed by private agencies and are paid well below the Teachers' Pay Scale and are not allowed into the Teachers' Pension Scheme.
Conference notes that supply teachers are increasingly employed on long term contracts with no access to sick pay, maternity pay, holiday pay, and subject to dismissal without notice. They also have less chance of being employed as establishment staff due to prohibitive agency transfer fees.
Conference is deeply concerned that the cost to schools using Teacher Supply Agencies means that increasing amounts of public money is going to agency profits rather than to pay supply teachers a fair wage. According to figures filed at Companies House in 2013/2014 supply teaching agencies and their umbrella companies made gross profits of £20.139 million and £14.281 million respectively.
Conference deplores that agency staff are often required to pay for CPD themselves out of their already unacceptably low pay. We call on the Executive to consider ways of making free CPD available to supply teachers so that they are up to date with new initiatives and thus as employable as their full time colleagues. The Union should also provide regular training for supply reps and activists, we call on the Executive to organise an annual weekend event at Stoke Rochford in addition to the Supply Teachers' Conference.
Conference supports supply members in urging the Union to campaign with local governments to establish a central supply register, publicly accountable, non-profit making, paying to scale, accessing TPS so that schools can hire supply teachers directly based on the Northern Ireland model. We believe this should be a key campaign for the Union.
Conference recognises that supply teaching is often promoted as a useful pathway into teaching, and as a means of gaining experience for newly qualified teachers who have not secured a teaching post suitable for induction. However, the exorbitant ‘finders’ or introduction fees charged by agencies, amounting to four or five figures, create a barrier to finding permanent or long term employment. Many NQTs work for up to five years as a supply teacher. If they are unable to find a post suitable for induction, they are forced to leave the teaching profession.
Conference is concerned that there is confusion in some local authorities over the eligibility of agency supply teachers to undertake induction on a long term cover assignment.
Conference instructs the Executive to:
1.Collect, monitor and analyse statistics relating to the number of NQTs registered as supply teachers who leave the profession;
2.Campaign against the excessive introduction fees charged by agencies;
3.Explore all avenues possible to end the wasting of public funds on private supply teachers agencies’ profits;
4.Seek clarification at a national level over the position, and entitlement to induction, of supply NQTs employed on long term cover through agencies;
5.Offer training to caseworkers and supply teacher officers/reps in supporting NQTs working as supply teachers;
6.Encourage local associations to make contact with newly qualified supply teachers to evaluate what support they may need;
7.Offer and promote training to support NQTs who are working as supply teachers; and
8.Renew its campaign to repeal the restrictions of the Agency workers regulations.
Southend, East Sussex, Oldham, Eastleigh
WORKLOAD CHALLENGE
MOTION 3
Conference believes that the Secretary of State should be judged as ‘inadequate’ following her failure to demonstrate progress, outcomes or impact in relation to the DfE Workload Challenge in 2015.
Conference condemns the Secretary of State for failing to respond to the serious concerns raised by over 40,000 teachers in response to the survey, which clearly identifies a continued and unsustainable increase in working hours alongside too many burdensome, bureaucratic tasks which do not support effective teaching and learning.
Conference considers it wholly unacceptable that teacher recruitment and retention has hit crisis levels and excessive teacher workload is deterring graduates from entering the profession at a time when teacher supply remains below target levels for the third successive year. Conference also notes the figures from the recent YouGov survey, commissioned by the Union, identifies over half of all teachers are considering leaving the profession in the next two years.
Conference therefore instructs the Executive to:
1.Highlight the impact of workload on teachers’ mental health and wellbeing, and ensure those affected have access to support both within their workplace and within The Union;
2.Seek to secure commitments from the Secretary of State to take positive action to reduce teachers’ workload and working hours, including reduced class sizes and the removal of baseline assessments, statutory key stage tests and other burdensome accountability measures;
3.Continue to issue support and advice to teachers, including supply teachers and NQTs, on how to tackle and challenge unacceptable workload; and
4.Support members in schools in taking collective action, up to and including strike action, where workload levels are unacceptable.
Bradford, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire
ASBESTOS
MOTION 4 (COMPOSITE)
Asbestos comes from a fibrous rock used extensively in the last century for various building works. The fibres from asbestos can cause diseases of the lungs such as mesothelioma which is a form of cancer. It might take 40 years or more for exposure to asbestos fibers, as a pupil or teacher, to have an effect on your health. The number of teachers dying from mesothelioma is increasing; 22 teachers died from mesothelioma in 2012 and it is estimated that 200-300 former pupils die each year because they were exposed to asbestos in their schools. The Government does not have a program for removal of asbestos except for where it is damaged.
It is thought that 86% of all schools have asbestos in them. A recent small NUT survey indicated that only 44% of teachers had been told that asbestos was in their school and only 60% of them knew exactly where the asbestos was in their school (roughly one in five teachers).Without this knowledge teachers and their pupils could be inadvertently damaging asbestos containing materials.
Conference notes the recommendation of the All-Party Parliamentary Committee programme for the phased removal of asbestos from all schools, with priority being given to those schools where the asbestos is considered to be in the most dangerous or damaged condition.
Conference congratulates the TUC on its decision in April 2015 to campaign for new legislation requiring the removal of all asbestos from workplaces and public buildings in the UK by 2035. Conference believes that as children are more vulnerable and most at risk, schools should be given a higher priority in this removal.
Conference notes that the identification of unsafe asbestos is based on data from Asbestos registers, surveys and risk assessments.
Conference further notes that the Asbestos Testing and Consultants Association (ATaC) 2010 survey report and Brent Joint Unions’ Report on Asbestos Management in Schools have found that frequently asbestos surveys and risk assessments underestimate the actual risk from the asbestos. This failure to identify the risk is because surveys often omit hidden, inaccessible and presumed asbestos, ignore the impact of building deterioration on asbestos and underestimate the level of asbestos disturbance triggered by normal classroom activities.
This failure has meant that high risk asbestos is often being treated as low risk or even ignored.
In the light of the Government’s recent document on the management of asbestos in schools Conference calls upon the Executive to campaign for the following demands:
1.That every classroom teacher be informed by the school as to where asbestos containing material is, or likely to be in their classroom, adjacent corridor, staffroom, and any office or prep room they may use. Where possible these should have a warning label on them;
2.This information should be given to staff at the start of every school year in September as new staff arrive in the school, and existing staff change rooms;
3.There should be an up to date “non invasive” survey of all schools and the results of this used to produce an asbestos register or book for the school. This book should be available in the school’s reception so that visiting workers can read it and sign that they have done so. The head teacher, senior member of staff responsible for health and safety and the caretaker or site manager should also be aware of the contents of the asbestos register. Ordinary members of staff should not be required to read all of it and should be informed of asbestos as in point 1, although staff should have access to it if they request it;
4.The “duty holder” i.e. local authority, academy trust, governing body and head teacher have a legal responsibility to inform staff of the whereabouts of asbestos and they need to be continuously reminded of this responsibility;
5.Every school Health and Safety Representative is sent a copy of the TUC booklet (published via the All Parliamentary Group on Occupational Health & Safety) on how to negotiate for asbestos-free workplaces;
6.The removal of asbestos from schools is given a high prioritybecause of the evidence that children are more vulnerable to asbestos;
7.That the Government, LAs, other educational employers and trade unions devise a program for the removal of all asbestos in schools; and
8.The phased removal of asbestos is based on:
i.Surveys and risk assessments for all the asbestos (inaccessible, hidden and presumed);
ii.Risk assessments that take into account the high level of disturbance caused by normal classroom activities (See HSE guidance HSG 227 (pages 55-59);
iii.The impact of building deterioration on asbestos condition;
iv.Parents are informed of the presence of asbestos in their school, its existing state, management and any removal plans. This to be done by requiring information to be available on school websites and parents’ attention drawn to it; and
v. That parents of school students have a right to be informed of any potential exposure risks to asbestos so that they may record this information with their General Practitioner.
Conference also urges all members who have worked in an asbestos containing environment, probably the majority of teachers, to record in their medical record when this potential exposure may have occurred.