Mr. Andy Pike:

If it is a school-based provision and you bring in people on different rates of pay, you will have a difficulty that need not arise. If schools are going to recruit staff, we would say there should be common conditions of service. There will be a difference in rates between teachers and SNAs but that is according to established norms. If other staff are to be eligible to work on school-based programmes, the consultation should have started on that a good while ago. If that is being suggested as a solution, we will be down to the last minute again. If our members see other staff coming into their schools to work on summer provision alongside them on higher rates of pay, that will just be a disaster. What could be done in early years settings outside of schools is a different question. We would have no objection to the Government exploring that but if you are going to bring other people in to work alongside SNAs, you have to have a common rate of pay. Otherwise it will become a row that nobody needs.