Bridget Phillipson has claimed teachers will not face a pay cut under proposed education reforms branded a “wrecking ball” by the Conservatives.
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill aims to ensure all state schools – academies and those run by councils – follow the same pay and conditions framework.
Academies, which are independent of local authorities, currently have the freedom to set their own pay and conditions for staff, and some academies exceed the national pay scales for teachers.
But the new Bill would ensure all teachers will be part of the same core pay and conditions framework whether they work in a local authority-run school or an academy.
Speaking during the Bill’s second reading debate, Labour MP Jonathan Brash (Hartlepool) asked Education Secretary Ms Phillipson: “She’s spoken about academies and those other forms of schools.
“Can she confirm that there is nothing at all in this Bill that would result in a teacher in any school getting a pay cut?”
Ms Phillipson replied: “He brings a wealth of experience to this House as a teacher and I know that teachers will want to hear what this will mean for their pay.
“So I will reiterate today that the measures in this Bill and the changes that we will bring forward to the schoolteachers’ pay and condition documents in the following remit will not cut teachers’ pay.”
Shadow education secretary Laura Trott could be heard shouting “how?” in response to Ms Phillipson.
Other measures contained in the Bill include requiring all state schools, including academies, to teach the national curriculum.
It will also allow councils to open new schools which are not academies, and it will end the forced academisation of schools run by local authorities which are identified as a concern by Ofsted.
The Government also plans to bolster child protection, with a new register of all home schooled children in England.
The Conservatives want to block the Bill at second reading as they are concerned it “effectively abolishes” academy freedoms and claim the reforms would lead to worse outcomes for pupils.
They also want the Government to establish a national statutory inquiry into child sexual exploitation, focused on grooming gangs.
Ms Phillipson told MPs: “A vote against this Bill today is a vote against the safety of our children, a vote against their childhoods and against their futures.
“Today, Conservative MPs have a choice. They can choose to back measures to protect children or they can choose to chase headlines. They can choose to transform the lives of the most vulnerable young people in this country, or they can choose to sacrifice their safety for political gain.”
Ms Phillipson also said she wants “high and rising standards for every child in every school”, adding: “That is one of the surest ways we can break the link between background and success for millions of children.
“That matters for every child, not just a lucky few. Life should not come down to luck.
“And when governments forget this, it’s not the children of members opposite who lose out, it’s working-class kids across our country, and I know that better than most.”
Bridget Phillipson spoke during a debate on the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill (House of Commons/UK Parliament)
Ms Phillipson said high-quality state education should be the “right of all children” as she noted academies, introduced by Labour and expanded by the Conservatives, have been “instrumental” in raising standards.
She said: “They will continue their record of excellence under this Labour Government.”
Ms Phillipson said Labour inherited a system that was “too fragmented” and that “too often incentivised harmful competition over helpful collaboration”.
She said: “If we believe that every child deserves the best, that every classroom deserves a top teacher, that every state school must be a great school then we can’t have excellence for some children and just fine, just OK for the rest.
“We need all schools working together to deliver a national, high-quality core offer for all children with the flexibility to innovate beyond that.”
Shadow education secretary Laura Trott responded for the opposition (House of Commons/UK Parliament)
Conservative former minister Graham Stuart said the Bill would “bring about kind-of a gross, socialist uniformity” in the education sector.
Tory frontbencher Ms Trott said her party “sees value” in the child protection measures in the Bill, adding the Opposition will seek to table amendments.
She added: “The other half of this Bill is the policy equivalent of a wrecking ball. It is an all-out assault on teachers, the education system and standards.
“It’s nothing less than education vandalism and we will oppose it with every fibre of our beings.”
Ms Trott said: “The very policies that saw our schools rise up the international league tables are being reversed.
“I guarantee you, just as we went up as a result of this Bill, we will come down those very same rankings. And who will be the ones that will suffer? The poorest pupils in society.”
She said moves to ensure academies teach the national curriculum were being brought in as the Government disagreed with headteachers such as Katharine Birbalsingh, who is headteacher at the Michaela Academy in Brent.