The Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) Pay Claim 2024-2025
The SNCT Teachers’ Side pay claim for 2024-2025 was submitted in January. The claim for 6.5% for all SNCT grades from August 2024 was acknowledged by the employers at the SNCT meeting in February. COSLA stated at the meeting that it was in discussions with the Scottish Government regarding local authority funding and public sector pay. It was also waiting for the Westminster Budget on 6 March to see if there would be any additional money for Scotland. To date no further response to the SNCT pay claim has been received. Unfortunately, this does not bode well for a pay settlement to be in place by August 2024.
SSTA General Treasurer Election
The SSTA General Treasurer Elaine Henderson (Aberdeenshire) is stepping down at the end of the SSTA Congress in May 2024 and following the required nomination period John Guidi (East Renfrewshire) has been elected. John was nominated by several SSTA Districts and was elected unopposed. John will replace Elaine at the end of Congress in May and hold the position until the close of Congress 2027. The Association would like to thank John for putting himself forward and wish him well in taking forward this important position in the Association.
International Women’s Day (STUC Event) Open invitation
In celebrating International Women’s Day, the STUC Women’s Committee will be hosting an event on Thursday 14 March at the STUC, Margaret Irwin Centre, Glasgow from 6:00 – 7:30 pm.
International Women’s Day is celebrated worldwide, marking women’s progress and achievements. The STUC Women’s Committee, is proud to stand alongside all those women internationally fighting for justice and equality. Every day, women are contributing to and making history, yet their achievements, stories and successes are often overlooked. The Herstory Project, developed by the STUC Women’s Committee, aims to engage, encourage, and empower trade union women with the confidence, courage, and skills to share a story of their own, and to equip them with the tools to support other trade union women to do the same.
To register your attendance please click here: STUC Women’s Committee IWD Event
SQA N5 and Higher English – consultation on Scottish set text refresh
The SSTA was contacted by the SQA to share information of a consultation on the Scottish Set Text list for N5 and Higher English. The link to the SQA English homepage contains information about the consultation. – https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/47410.html
Teacher Pension Applications and 2015 Remedy
The SPPA has advised that the implementation of the 2015 Remedy is progressing well. The SPPA’s purpose is to pay pensions accurately and on time but members’ retirement applications need to be received in time.
Retirement application forms need to be submitted to the SPPA at least four months before the retirement date. This is to allow the additional calculations needed for the 2015 Remedy. This requirement applies to all members and not just those affected by Remedy. SPPA do not have the ability to fast track late applications. Payments will be affected if retirement applications are submitted later than four months before retirement.
Online Retirement Workshop – Monday 18 March @ 5.30pm
Following on from the in-person retirement workshops which took place in recent weeks, an online workshop will now take place via Teams on Monday 18 March at 5.30pm.
This is one of the most important years to look at various options that you have available regarding your retirement. With the changes that have been brought about following the Sergeant and McCloud ruling you need to understand the impact these will have on your pension and your retirement.
The workshop is designed to take you through these options and help you understand what your retirement can look like. We will be exploring the actions you can take both before and after retirement to give you a secure financial future. We will run through various examples looking at cashflows to help identify how you can structure your retirement incomes, as well as your savings and investments to give you the retirement you desire.
The Workshop will last approx. 1 hour 30 minutes and will explore the following topics:
- Introductions
- The Teachers’ Pension Schemes
- Sargeant & McCloud – The impact
- Phased Retirement & what has happened to Winding Down
- Cashflow in Retirement
- Using your Savings and Investments
- Where can you get help.