Education Secretary Estelle Morris has the power to avert widespread planned strike action within the FE sector if her department provides extra funding for pay and recruitment, according to latest reports.
According to the Times Educational Supplement this week, the Assocation of Colleges (AoC) has called upon Morris to release an extra £110 million to fund pay awards worth 3.5 per cent, an increase of 1.2 per cent on the current final pay offer on the table.
The AoC conducted a survey last year which, the paper says, showed 6,000 vacancies within the FE sector remained unfilled. It adds that five out of six unions representing lecturing and support staff are due to call strike action on 5 November over the current pay offer.
