2026 Autumn Term

The know zone

  • More than a pay award
    The 2026 School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) brings many significant changes, more than we have seen in many years says Louise Hatswell. Here, she highlights what this means for schools. More
  • The road to recognition and equality
    Emma Harrison and Louise Hatswell explore the recent government publication to the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) consultation response. More
  • Leading through change
    The role of the sixth form leader has always been one of the most complex in education and today, says Claire Green, it is becoming even more demanding. More
  • Building sustainable futures
    As financial pressures reshape the independent school sector, collaboration, creativity and a willingness to challenge conventional thinking are becoming essential to building sustainable futures says Neil Smith. More
  • Leading the way
    We invited members to share their hard-earned wisdom for anyone beginning a leadership journey, and here is what they said... More
  • Pens, policy and purpose
    Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Finance Officer (CFO) Jacqueline Straw relishes the opportunities that come with serving on ASCL Council. Here, she shares her passion for Council, leadership and pen making. More
  • Many Happy Returns
    If attendance is now a crisis of pupils simply not wanting to come to school, perhaps all we need is a better incentive. Cake, birthdays and a named minibus could surely do the trick says Carl Smith. More

Emma Harrison and Louise Hatswell explore the recent government publication to the School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB) consultation response.

The road to recognition and equality

History of the SSSNB 

You may recall that the previous Labour government established the last SSSNB. It was to develop a national pay and conditions framework for support staff working in maintained schools in England, only to be abolished in 2010 when the Conservative– Liberal Democrat coalition came into power.

It became a Labour manifesto commitment in 2024 to re-establish the SSSNB. Once Labour was in power, work began to make it happen. Due to contractual links, it was to be introduced via the Employment Rights Act 2025, which received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025.

The SSSNB will be a statutory negotiating body for school support staff. It will negotiate pay and conditions and advise on training and career progression.

The government ran its consultation period last summer, closing before the end of term in July 2025. The government consulted on three things: who should be in scope; a call for evidence on the existing terms and current pay and conditions; and whether agency workers be included. You can read our response at www.ascl.org.uk/SSSNBConsultation

Almost a year later, on 9 July 2026, the government finally published its response to the consultation, which you can read at tinyurl.com/yj47wwvh 

Government response 

It was worth the near year-long wait for the consultation response to be published, which advised that the DfE had changed its original proposals and would “also exclude senior non-teaching staff with strategic responsibilities working in maintained schools and academies”. This was an important line in the recognition path for business leadership roles and the members in them.
It confirmed it would continue to exclude staff covered by national pay bodies other than the National Joint Council (NJC) for Local Government Services and to exclude executive leaders working for academy trusts, such as CEOs, which were in the original proposals.

The government confirmed that it will use regulations in the autumn to establish the SSSNB and will publish non-statutory guidance to support employers with SSSNB outcomes applying from the 2027/28 financial year at the earliest. Please do note the at the earliest. The government also confirmed that it would not at this stage commit to extending the SSSNB to agency workers.

ASCL’s position 

As we said in our consultation response, the educational landscape now is unrecognisable from when the SSSNB was first introduced in 2009. In 2009 there very few academies; presently more than half of the sector consists of academies in single academy trusts (SATs) or multi-academy trusts (MATs). The current situation is not comparable, and some of the proposals contained within the SSSNB and this consultation do not reflect the changes that have taken place over the last 17 years.

Therefore, it is absolutely right that strategic leaders working in schools are excluded from a ‘support staff’ negotiating body. We are delighted that the government has taken on board our recommendations that business leaders are not support staff and should not come under the scope of this negotiating body.

It has been ASCL’s long-held position that business or executive leaders who undertake whole school, college or trust responsibilities are an integral part of the leadership team. ASCL believes that this should be reflected in their status and remuneration by them being brought into the scope of the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) alongside other leadership colleagues.

Next steps 

The government confirmed that secondary legislation will be required to commence and constitute the body.
The SSSNB is expected to be established in autumn 2026.
We’ve continued to engage with the DfE over the summer break and look forward to continuing this into the autumn term. It is important that guidance is available to support leaders with implementation.

ASCL has and will continue to advocate for business leaders to be brought into the STPCD document.

Final thoughts 

Hopefully, this is a new era dawning where we finally understand, recognise and value the business leadership role.

Emma Harrison
ASCL Business Leadership Specialist
@emmajharrisonx.bsky.social

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