Scotland teacher strikes: New pay offer to be put to teachers within days, says Scottish Government

A new pay offer will be put to teachers within days in a bid to avoid further strike action, as the Scottish Government makes a renewed pitch to end the long-running deadlock with unions.

The Scottish Government and local authority body Cosla have been locked in discussions, with council leaders on “standby” to approve a revised deal.

However, unions have said any new offer would need to be a significant improvement.

A pay offer of between 5 per cent and 6.85 per cent for the majority of teachers has previously been rejected, with unions demanding a 10 per cent increase.

Teachers across Scotland have been taking part in industrial action.

Schools have been disrupted by teacher walk-outs frequently since November, with further strikes due to take place on February 28 and March 1. The EIS teaching union plans 20 further days of rolling strikes across all local authority areas from March 13 until April 21.

Education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “We have been working very closely with Cosla, as the employers, and we hope that a new fair and affordable offer can be made to teachers within the next few days.

“If we can get this offer on the table, I hope trades union colleagues will take it back to their members so this dispute can be resolved without further disruption to children and young people’s education.

“I would repeat my call to the unions to suspend industrial action while discussions are continuing.”

John Swinney, the Deputy First Minister and acting finance secretary, earlier refused to confirm whether a new offer would be put on the table.

When asked if councils would be allocated additional funds to facilitate an improved offer, he told the BBC: “There will be discussions with local government in the course of the day about these issues.

“We’ve been talking on an ongoing basis about how to resolve the teacher dispute because, as has been obvious from a whole range of industrial negotiations that have been going on, the Government has been very actively involved in trying to resolve these issues.”

However, Mr Swinney said the Scottish Government was operating under “very difficult financial circumstances” and had already allocated an extra £570 million for council budgets in the 2023/24 Budget.

He added: “Now, I don’t for a moment understate the scale of financial difficulty that faces all public organisations today as a consequence of the raging inflation with which we are all wrestling.”

The EIS is planning targeted strikes at schools in the constituencies of high-profile ministers, including the Glasgow seat of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

Cosla’s resource spokeswoman Katie Hagmann had said there “were no expectations” from Monday’s meeting around additional money for teachers.

But Inverclyde Council leader Stephen McCabe said: “My understanding is there are discussions going on within Government at the moment and I am certainly on standby, as are my 31 council leader colleagues, to be called to a special meeting of leaders tomorrow to approve a revised offer.

“What that offer will look like I don’t know, as I am not privy to the discussions which are taking place in Government.

“I would hope that we could find a way to at least suspend the strikes, maybe pending further discussions around a two-year deal but, at this point in time, I really don’t know what the Government is going to come up with.”

Mr McCabe went on to accuse Mr Swinney of being “deliberately misleading” over the figure of £570m for councils, as the vast majority was earmarked for Scottish Government policy priorities, including pay and free school meals, leaving about £71m for local authorities to use.

Cosla has warned council services will be at “absolute breaking point” as a result of the Scottish Budget, adding some “may have to stop altogether”.

The Scottish Government previously moved to prevent councils making any cuts to teacher numbers, warning it would "withhold or recoup" funding earmarked for teachers and support staff it it was spent in other areas.

Glasgow City Council is among local authorities facing tough decisions over its coming budget. The council, which is due to set its budget on Thursday, needs to find around £68m in savings.

Glasgow had considered an option to axe 800 teachers and close primary schools early on Fridays, but the plans had been among those to trigger the Scottish Government intervention on ring-fencing education funding.

Mr Swinney stressed council cuts should not affect teacher numbers.