2024-06-15 01:03:07 +0100
To: Secretary of State for Education, The Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson MP
Stop the agency rip-off in education
Keep public money in Education by getting rid of expensive recruitment agencies.
We call on the Secretary of State for Education to justify the loss of millions of pounds of public money that was ring-fenced for education into the hands of recruitment agencies who provide supply teachers and temporary staff. They charge schools high and pay teachers low.
The situation urgently needs to be reviewed.
We call on the Secretary of State for Education to justify the loss of millions of pounds of public money that was ring-fenced for education into the hands of recruitment agencies who provide supply teachers and temporary staff. They charge schools high and pay teachers low.
The situation urgently needs to be reviewed.
Why is this important?
All schools in the UK need qualified teachers to fill in for short and long term staff absence in order to provide the best education and a seamless handover for children in the classroom. In England, the provision of substitute/supply teachers is now administered by private employment agencies.
Some agencies take up to 100% mark up on charges to schools for supply teachers. Supply teachers are paid significantly less than their full time colleagues for doing the same job and yet schools are being made to pay more for their services per day because of the expense of the middle man.
This money was ring-fenced for education, but it is ending up in the hands of the corporate shareholders of recruitment companies.
Millions of pounds of public money is being lost to private, profit-making companies. It is not being used to pay for teachers, special needs support staff, classroom equipment, books, computers, children's' services or staff training. Schools are responsible for their financial prudence. Agencies do not have to account for how they deploy the money they receive. There is little or no inward reinvestment from the agencies; they take but they do not give back. That money is gone for good; money that tax-payers were assured was specifically for education not the sales agents and investors and shareholders of the recruitment agency market.
Schools are being asked to cut spending, and yet most schools have no choice but to source supply teachers from agencies who now control over 70% of the temporary and supply teacher market in England and Wales. As teacher numbers dwindle, the need for substitute and short term cover increases. Agencies are cashing in on this. But why should they? They are not publicly accountable and there is no statutory regulator to oversee their business activities. They are not recognised by the Department for Education as approved education service providers, so their candidates, although qualified as teachers, are not eligible for the Teachers' Pension Scheme or included in the remit of the pay review body, the STRB.
By contrast, in other parts of the UK, namely in Northern Ireland and Scotland, there are no agencies. Schools do not pay a middleman to source their substitute teachers. They source their temporary staff directly from a publicly accountable central register. Teachers are paid to scale, tax revenue from their pay goes back into public services. No one profits out of schools. The Welsh Government has also recently set up a teacher booking system, leaving England as the only part of the UK that still undervalues and rips off teachers, when there is a national recruitment and retention crisis.
To add insult to injury, many agencies insist that supply teachers are paid via umbrella payroll companies. This results in a significant loss of tax revenue, causing further cuts to public services. It is a ludicrous situation that could be reversed immediately if a publicly accountable central register of substitute teachers were in place as it is in Northern Ireland and Scotland.
Most supply teachers would prefer to be paid directly by schools and local authorities. They resent agencies charging high fees to schools for their services. What agencies do, does not justify their fees. The teachers do the work in increasingly challenging schools. It's a rip-off.
Can the Secretary of State for Education investigate profiteering out of the Education system? Nearly 5000 signatories believe it is time to stop the rip-off.
There is no benefit to children, parents, schools or communities. In a cost of living crisis, we cannot afford their services.
Stop the rip-off in our schools.
Get rid of the agencies and ensure that your money is spent directly on our children.
Some agencies take up to 100% mark up on charges to schools for supply teachers. Supply teachers are paid significantly less than their full time colleagues for doing the same job and yet schools are being made to pay more for their services per day because of the expense of the middle man.
This money was ring-fenced for education, but it is ending up in the hands of the corporate shareholders of recruitment companies.
Millions of pounds of public money is being lost to private, profit-making companies. It is not being used to pay for teachers, special needs support staff, classroom equipment, books, computers, children's' services or staff training. Schools are responsible for their financial prudence. Agencies do not have to account for how they deploy the money they receive. There is little or no inward reinvestment from the agencies; they take but they do not give back. That money is gone for good; money that tax-payers were assured was specifically for education not the sales agents and investors and shareholders of the recruitment agency market.
Schools are being asked to cut spending, and yet most schools have no choice but to source supply teachers from agencies who now control over 70% of the temporary and supply teacher market in England and Wales. As teacher numbers dwindle, the need for substitute and short term cover increases. Agencies are cashing in on this. But why should they? They are not publicly accountable and there is no statutory regulator to oversee their business activities. They are not recognised by the Department for Education as approved education service providers, so their candidates, although qualified as teachers, are not eligible for the Teachers' Pension Scheme or included in the remit of the pay review body, the STRB.
By contrast, in other parts of the UK, namely in Northern Ireland and Scotland, there are no agencies. Schools do not pay a middleman to source their substitute teachers. They source their temporary staff directly from a publicly accountable central register. Teachers are paid to scale, tax revenue from their pay goes back into public services. No one profits out of schools. The Welsh Government has also recently set up a teacher booking system, leaving England as the only part of the UK that still undervalues and rips off teachers, when there is a national recruitment and retention crisis.
To add insult to injury, many agencies insist that supply teachers are paid via umbrella payroll companies. This results in a significant loss of tax revenue, causing further cuts to public services. It is a ludicrous situation that could be reversed immediately if a publicly accountable central register of substitute teachers were in place as it is in Northern Ireland and Scotland.
Most supply teachers would prefer to be paid directly by schools and local authorities. They resent agencies charging high fees to schools for their services. What agencies do, does not justify their fees. The teachers do the work in increasingly challenging schools. It's a rip-off.
Can the Secretary of State for Education investigate profiteering out of the Education system? Nearly 5000 signatories believe it is time to stop the rip-off.
There is no benefit to children, parents, schools or communities. In a cost of living crisis, we cannot afford their services.
Stop the rip-off in our schools.
Get rid of the agencies and ensure that your money is spent directly on our children.
