Dear Alex,
I am writing to you regarding the dispute concerning the pay of Merton’s school support staff. I understand that the GMB is balloting your members on strike action concerning the differential between school support staff and teaching staff within Merton schools with regard to Outer and Inner London Weighting. Your local representatives have been meeting on a bi-monthly basis with our Executive Director of Children, Lifelong Learning, and Families on this matter for the past year, which I hope shows our commitment to this staff group and to resolving this issue.
Firstly, I want to reiterate our appreciation for the contribution of our school support staff to the lives and learning of Merton children. We regret that you are taking this action, and I know that your members will take very seriously any decision that could impact on the education and wellbeing of children in their care. Therefore, I believe it is imperative that we work together to reach a solution through conciliation or mediation.
As you know, in relation to the schools where the Council is the employer, the Council pays staff in accordance with the NJC Agreement, a collective agreement that was agreed with, the GMB Union and others. Part 3 of that collective agreement includes Pay and Grading, and the Agreement sets out a route to modifications to terms and conditions, including Pay and Grading, and also a course of action where agreement is not possible. Part 3 is set out below:
PART 3: Other national provisions which may be modified by local negotiation. The party proposing change must state in writing what changes are sought and why and the parties must then seek to reach agreement, normally within three months. Where agreement is not possible, either party may refer the failure to agree to the provincial joint secretaries (or other mutually agreed persons) for conciliation. If the provincial conciliation is unsuccessful, the provincial secretaries may recommend further procedures for resolution of the difference, including external conciliation, mediation or binding ACAS arbitration. The above procedures should if possible be completed normally within a further three months.
Secondly, I would like to note, in the light of assertions from the GMB that Merton Council could cover the increased costs of schools staff salaries from the Council’s General Fund, that the law states very clearly that councils are not permitted to subsidise schools budgets (paid from the Dedicated Schools Grant) from the Council’s General Fund, which covers the cost of the other services that residents receive. Were we to do so, we would be in breach of the law.
I would also like to note that the issues raised by the GMB are of wider application beyond the Council’s area and are thus more properly dealt with as part of the negotiation of the next version of the National Agreement. There are several local authorities in London who are affected by the same issue, and any decision we make in this case would have impacts on other boroughs.
Merton Council hugely appreciates the work done by school support staff and appreciates the significant contribution they make to the learning and well-being of Merton children. We also appreciate that there are long-standing discrepancies between the terms and conditions of teaching and non-teaching staff in schools, which need to be resolved at a national level. This is why we welcome the establishment of the Schools Staff Negotiating Body in the Employment Rights Act, which received Royal Assent on December 18th 2025. The Government anticipates that school support staff will continue to be covered by their existing arrangements in the 2026 to 2027 financial year, and that the first outcomes from the SSSNB will arise in the 2027 to 2028 financial year at the earliest.
We appreciate that all school support staff, not just those in Merton, would like an earlier resolution, but that resolving this locally is not in the gift of the council. However, we feel that mediation and conciliation are the best way forward for your members, and for Merton children, and would urge you to work with us to reach a solution.
This letter has been shared with school support staff in Merton, along with a letter to them from the Leader of the Council, which I enclose.
Yours sincerely,
Hannah Doody
Chief Executive
