Q: I am a Business Manager in an academy, which is about to form a MAT. I will be assuming a role across all the academies in the MAT and the trust has said that it would like to award me a pay increase and conditions of service from the school teachers’ pay and conditions document (STPCD), which will still be used by the MAT. My colleague from a maintained school has told me that this is not permitted. Who is right?
A: As it stands, the STPCD only applies to teachers, so your colleague is correct. Despite ASCL’s long and continuing fight to allow school business managers who are members of SLT exactly the same pay, terms and conditions as teaching members of SLT, this has not yet been achieved.
In maintained schools, business managers’ pay and conditions are based on the pay scale determined by local authorities. In an academy or MAT, however, the trust can determine the pay and conditions of business managers or indeed of any other senior support staff.
In many academies, business managers will have been Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) transferred with their local authority pay and conditions, but this can be renegotiated in line with the academy or MAT’s own pay policy after the transfer. There are national pay scales available as a guide (National Joint Council (NJC) or other local support staff pay ranges). An academy can award its business manager a salary range that equates to another SLT role that has parity of responsibility, such as that of a deputy principal/assistant principal, which would have the effect of aligning the pay scale with the STPCD. Whatever is decided, this should be recorded and the academy’s pay policy should be updated to include when and how frequently pay reviews will take place.
The Green Book is the national agreement on pay and conditions of service for local government services, which applies to school support staff in the maintained sector or those TUPE transferred across into academies.
ASCL has published a guidance paper supporting the evaluation and decision-making about pay for school business leaders and school business managers, and other school leaders who carry out business related functions. Access the guidance here.