Executive NEUs June 10th

The Joint General Secretaries reported on the following items:

Bargaining for Professionalism (working title)

Building on the outline of the B4P campaign at the May meeting, the Executive received a report on a draft multi-year programme of activities to support the campaign and discussed the following issues:

· Developing the model of rep and branch-based campaigning that had operated so successfully during the pandemic

· Evidence based approach – citing international comparators such as TALIS to highlight the excessive scrutiny and lack of professional autonomy under which educational professionals operate

· Celebrate successes such as recent dispute resolutions including at Leaways School (Hackney), North Huddersfield Trust (Kirklees), Nottingham Academy (Nottingham), Victoria Education Centre (Poole), Rye College (East Sussex), Harris Academy (Haringey), Beal (Redbridge), John Roan (Greenwich), City and Islington 6th form college (Islington). This is not an exhaustive list

The Union’s open letter to councillors on Kevan Collins’ resignation over the Government’s wholly inadequate response to his proposals on education recovery had so far attracted over 200 signatures and reflected widespread condemnation on the £1.4bn offer – a stark contrast to Collins’ call for £15bn expenditure over 5 years. The Union’s independent Commission for Assessment had been launched earlier in the week with partners including the CBI and the Edge Foundation. The Commission’s findings will position the Union in the emerging split amongst members of the Government between those calling for the abolition of GCSEs and the introduction of a baccalaureate-style qualification at 18 (Halpern) and Gibb’s knowledge-rich curriculum.

The ‘no child left behind’ pledge had launched successfully on 19 May with helpful coverage from the Daily Mirror – Executive members were asked to encourage members to sign the pledge.

The Executive noted:

· Two decisions of the Officers of the Sub Committee of SC: MD in relation to legal support;

· The variance report with an estimated positive variance over the whole year of around £2million in terms of membership income, with much of the surplus driven by under-spend as a result of the pandemic.

· Draft budget – some revisions to be made, in particular, the levy payment to the Certification Officer recently announced and there will be some adjustments down in relation to the Campaigns and Region/Wales budgets. GPC asked for more detailed narrative in relation to

various budget heads for the final budget that will be presented at the July meeting for final sign off.

· the report about outstanding annual returns from local structures with a slow improvement to the previous position (12 returns are missing from 2019, compared to 13 reported in May 2021; 15 returns are missing from 2020, compared to 16 reported in May 2021); agreed that letters of instruction sent by the President/ Joint General Secretaries are appropriate in some circumstances and agreed to review the protocol at the July meeting.

The Executive agreed:

· that Excalibur are selected as preferred supplier for providing mobile phones to local officers wishing to take advantage of the offer (which was not mandatory in anyway);

· the CARE scheme rules for the NEU Staff Pension Scheme

· agreement is reached with Regus in relation to the third and fourth floors of Hamilton House in accordance with the Heads of Terms (circulated under confidential cover)

· Funding – donations of £20,000 to LM:HR for the float at Notting Hill carnival and the marquee at the Barking & Dagenham Beaconsfield 100 festival and £7,500 to IER for their post-pandemic projects;

The Executive received an updated Equalities Analysis and welcomed those findings where the activists mirrored the member demographic (LGBT+) and where more engagement with equality strands was needed. Executive comments were noted and would be reconsidered by OSG before returning to the Executive.

SUPPLY MEMBERS (BNC) – the Executive agreed to develop advice & support for branches on seeking to negotiate with agencies, including on the roles of supply member officers and cross-branch working; agreed that the Union should review progress with the Alternatives to Agencies toolkit and with the programme of training for lay officers on AWR rights; and noted progress in developing an online tool for members on AWR rights (in accordance with the Conference resolution).

The Executive agreed the following topics be submitted as motions or amendments to TUC Congress with final text to be signed off at the July meeting:

· Palestine

· Assessment and Qualifications (to be rewritten to include high stakes statutory assessment in early years and primary)

· Education Recovery and Restructuring

· Sexism in Schools as a further possible motion or amendment.

Conflict in the Middle East – In the light of the recent letter from Gavin Williamson to heads and school leaders ‘Antisemitic incidents within schools’ (28 May 2021) the Executive agreed that the Union should issue a public response to the letter and to responses by schools to expressions of solidarity with Palestine by pupils. The framework for the response was agreed. Following the Executive, the International Committee met and agreed that two recent EI statements on the conflict be circulated to the Executive – here and https://www.ei-ie.org/en/item/24921:palestine-and-israel-education-international-condemns-all-acts-of-violence-against-children-and-civilians

Following the damning OFSTED report on sexism in schools, the President reminded the Executive of the Union’s excellent 2019 joint publication with UK feminista ‘It’s everywhere’ – one of the NEU’s first publications pre-empting OFSTED by several years and highlighting the importance of the issue