Will teaching assistants get a pay rise? Are TAs set for increase as part of Budget 2021 public sector plans

Chancellor Rishi Sunak will announce the Budget on Wednesday (27 October).

As part of the announcements to be made in the Budget 2021, the Government confirmed that millions of public sector workers are set to see their wages rise next year and the pay freeze lifted.

But will teaching assistants get a pay rise?

Here’s what you need to know.

Will teaching assistants get a pay rise?

Chancellor Rishi Sunak will use his Budget to announce public sector workers, including nurses, teachers, teaching assistants and members of the armed forces will benefit from a pay rise.

In an announcement on Monday (25 October), the Treasury said the chancellor would use his forthcoming Budget to say "the solid economic recovery and encouraging signs in the labour market" mean the "pay pause" can be lifted.

In a statement, Mr Sunak said: "The economic impact and uncertainty of the virus meant we had to take the difficult decision to pause public sector pay.

"And now, with the economy firmly back on track, it’s right that nurses, teachers and all the other public sector workers who played their part during the pandemic see their wages rise."

This comes after a "temporary pause" in salary progression was introduced last November as a response to the Covid pandemic.

The public sector pay freeze was part of the Government’s response to what it described as the "economic emergency" caused by Covid, with only the lowest-paid excluded from this.

Who are public sector workers?

Around 5.68 million people are employed in the public sector, according to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

There are more than 300 different occupations within the public sector, ranging from business and administration roles, to emergency services, social care and armed forces personnel.

Although there is a huge range of public sector jobs, most workers are clustered into a small number of areas, with almost half in occupations related to health, education, government, police and domestic services, according to the ONS.

Job roles within the public sector include the following:

• Healthcare - this includes doctors, nurses, care workers, ambulance staff, dental nurses, dental practitioners, midwives, paramedics, physiotherapists, among others. The NHS is the healthcare sector’s biggest employer.
• Law enforcement and security - this includes police officers, armed forces personnel and fire service officers.
• Social care - this includes social workers, carers and probation officers.
• Education - this includes nursery, primary, secondary and higher education teachers, educational support assistants, school secretaries, education advisors and school inspectors.
• The civil service -  this includes more than 170 government departments working across employment, pensions, healthcare, education and security.