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The BBC's Ken Maconald assesses the committee's role
"The McCrone Committee has been given a fairly free hand"
 real 28k

Education correspondent Ken Macdonald reports
"The committee is determined that it is independent"
 real 28k

Wednesday, 1 December, 1999, 15:04 GMT
Teachers' pay body starts work
Committee Professor McCrone launches the committee's work

An independent team appointed to establish a new pay and conditions framework for Scotland's teachers is beginning its work.

The McCrone Inquiry - headed by retired civil servant Professor Gavin McCrone - will produce a consultation document and will hear a wide range of views before making its recommendations.

It was set up by the Scottish Executive after teachers and their local authority employers, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla), failed to agree on changes to pay and conditions.

McCrone documents The committee will hear from interested parties
The consultation document will set out key areas for discussion, among them working conditions, workload, promotion and the thorny issue of pay.

There will be a mid-February deadline for written submissions and then the inquiry will take to the road to talk to teachers, parents and pupils.

Its members will work on similar lines to the Cubie Inquiry into student finance which is due to report later this month.

New mechanism

The need to find a new mechanism came about after a long and protracted set of negotiations over teachers' pay and conditions for 1999.

The discussions, which stretched for more than nine months, produced row after row and almost erupted in strike action.

Pupil writing A classroom strike was called off
Teachers voted overwhelmingly to hold a ballot on the subject of industrial action.

However, that was called off when a last minute 3.6% pay rise - financed by extra cash from the Scottish Executive - was offered and accepted.

The negotiations were finalised by the Scottish Joint Negotiating Committee.

Alternative framework

A slowness in settling the 1999 pay deal led Scotland's education minister Sam Galbraith to declare that the SJNC would be abolished.

The McCrone inquiry team was appointed by Mr Galbraith to come up with an alternative framework and consists of eight experts - none of whom are classroom teachers.

It will report by May next year in order for its conclusions to influence pay talks in 2000.

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See also:
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Independent inquiry into teachers' pay
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Teachers throw out pay offer
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Teachers urged to reject pay offer
17 Sep 99 |  Scotland
EIS poised to reject pay deal

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