Policy, Grassroots Action and System Leadership: Unleashing the Power of MAT & LA Supply Pools in Education

Key points (TL;DR):

• The temporary staffing sector in English education is unregulated and dysfunctional
• Publicly-run Supply Pools, as seen in other UK countries, offer a solution.
• Benefits of Supply Pools include lower costs, improved staff availability, and consistent education
• Workers in Supply Pools receive better pay, standardised conditions, and potential access to the Teachers' Pension Scheme
• Policymakers should review the market and consider adopting Supply Pools
• Grassroots involvement by Supply Teachers and Support Staff can and does bring about change

Temporary staff play a pivotal role in ensuring uninterrupted learning for pupils. As staff absence days soar, and permanent staff leave the sector in ever-increasing numbers, schools are relying more and more on supply teachers and temporary support staff.?

But in England, the unregulated, agency-dominated approach to the sector is becoming increasingly dysfunctional. Misaligned incentives between schools, supply staff and agencies is fostering a pervasive environment of mistrust and instability. It’s seriously affecting pupils’ education — for example, more and more pupils are being taught by unqualified, outsourced staff.

It is high time we reassess our core strategy in this area and pursue a solution for long-term stability and equity. As seen in Scotland, Northern Ireland and now Wales, implementing public sector run Supply Pools — whether that be local Multi Academy Trust or Local Authority Supply Pools, or even an overarching National Supply Pool — is a modern, strategic option well worth considering.

By embracing publicly-run Supply Pools for the sector, we can bring about lower costs, enhanced benefits for schools and workers, an overall improvement in the availability of high quality staff, and a corresponding improvement in the consistency of education.

Benefits for Schools: A Win-Win Proposition

The unregulated and fragmented status quo (there are estimated to be well over 350 supply/recruitment agencies serving schools in England alone), is ostensibly driven by 'market forces'. The real-world effect of having allowed this private sector approach to become dominant in public sector education, however, is that school leaders are now routinely slapped with exorbitant margins and fees by commercial staffing suppliers and are burdened with a complex web of contracts, eating into already-tight budgets and draining leaders’ time and energy.?

By transitioning to high scale publicly-run Supply Pools, we bid farewell to these excessive costs and admin burdens and quickly realise economies of scale, allowing schools to redirect funds and resources towards what truly matters – the education of their pupils and personalised, targeted support to keep great staff in the classroom.?

With the elimination of daily margin fees, temp-to-perm fees, finder's fees, and placement fees — not to mention the management overhead of dealing with multiple staffing suppliers’ terms and conditions — schools gain the freedom to invest in enriching curriculum programs, bolstering infrastructure, and fostering an environment conducive to learning.

Benefits for Workers: Empowering the Educational Workforce

It is no secret that temporary workers in education face challenging working conditions and lacklustre wages. It's been the case for a long time. But by embracing the publicly-run Supply Pool model, we have the opportunity to standardise employment conditions and uplift supply teacher and support staff pay by up to 25%. This stability and financial uplift makes an enormous difference, particularly in the context of a cost of living crisis, to the attractiveness of the profession to potential recruits.

Furthermore, qualified supply teachers employed via a publicly-run Supply Pool may be able to gain access to the Teachers' Pension Scheme, ensuring a secure future for those who devote their expertise to shaping young minds.?

Finally, the enhanced flexibility that Multi Academy Trusts and LAs can offer local supply staff by adopting the Supply Pool model empowers the local workforce to engage with education work on their own terms. This shift not only attracts new highly qualified professionals to the sector (graduates, career changers) but also fosters a motivated and content workforce, bolstering retention and ultimately enhancing the quality of education.

Benefits for the Wider Sector: Envisioning a Brighter Future

Adopting publicly-run Supply Pools empowers the education sector with a larger and more flexible workforce — a result of better attraction (more flexible opportunities, better pay) and more bespoke retention methods (stay engaged in the sector on your own terms). This, in turn, ensures that schools can promptly and efficiently fill temporary staffing gaps, guaranteeing uninterrupted learning for pupils.?

Moreover, the centralisation of workforce data through the Supply Pool model?— both locally and national — equips policymakers with the insights necessary to make informed decisions and develop targeted policies that address the unique needs of the sector. No longer need the line be "we don’t know what’s happening in the supply market". It is a pivotal step towards achieving a well-functioning and future-ready education system.

Calling on Policymakers to Review the Market

With the evident shortcomings of the market-driven approach to supply/temporary staffing in England, it is imperative that policymakers conduct a formal review. The benefits witnessed in Northern Ireland, Wales, and Scotland through publicly-run Supply Pools (well-resourced staff pools, happy supply staff, consistency for pupils to name but a few) can no longer be overlooked. Policymakers must at least analyse and evaluate this alternative model, one that prioritises the well-being of the workforce.

I urge interested individuals to get involved at a grassroots level. For example, there is a petition calling for change at https://www.change.org/p/end-profiteering-from-our-children-s-futures-take-supply-back-in-house. Together, let us put an end to the waste of resources proliferated by the ‘market-driven’ approach and champion a system that empowers schools, supports supply staff, and enables reinvestment in the education of our pupils.

The time has come for a paradigm shift in the temporary staffing sector in education. The model of publicly-run Supply Pools holds immense potential for revolutionising the way we approach staffing in schools. By adopting this model, we unlock a host of benefits for schools, workers, and the wider education sector. Let us seize this transformative opportunity.?