A COUNCIL has been accused of “gross mismanagement” over proposals which could see the pay of some teaching assistants cut by up to £5,000 a year.

Durham County Council has been under pressure to reconsider its plans to pay its 2,500 teaching assistants term time only.

A consultation over the proposals ended in December and it is thought council chiefs are preparing a fresh offer to appease furious staff and trade unions to be revealed in a letter which is being sent to those affected being sent over the next few days.

The Northern Echo:
CONSULTATION: Helen Metcalf, a regional organiser with Unison

The original proposals would remove the current “enhanced” 52 week pay structure which the council said would bring their salaries in line with other school and council support employees in order to ensure fairness and equality.

Liberal Democrat councillor Owen Temple, who had a motion to withdraw the plans rejected at a full council meeting last month, said the council’s leadership had been taken by surprise by the vehemence of the opposition they faced.

Cllr Temple said: “It is gross mismanagement to have allowed this situation to arise in the first place and to then find yourself on the back foot.

“I applaud the teaching assistants for not taking this lying down. It has been a major rebellion.

“When there is opposition in just one area they [the council] can absorb that, but when it is the whole county that rings alarm bells with them.”

The council has already offered those affected a one-off lump sum to help them cope with the changes and encouraged schools to offer teaching assistants extra hours where needed.

But this has failed to appease critics of the plans which Unison general secretary Dave Prentis described as “disgraceful”.

The majority of councils in the North-East have already moved to the model which has been proposed, while newly qualified teaching assistants joining Durham County Council are paid term-time only.

Back in 2005 the Labour-led authority struck what was described at the time as a “landmark deal” for its teaching assistants who, after three years of negotiations with unions, received higher wages in recognition of extra responsibilities they had taken on.

Helen Metcalf, a regional organiser with Unison, said it was awaiting the council’s response to views collected from its members and teaching staff during the consultation period.