Unison Cymru Wales has welcomed a decision by Caerphilly County Borough Council to cover the cost of a new registration fee for education support staff.
From April 2016, all learning support workers in Wales will be required to be registered with the Education Workforce Council (EWC). The registration fee is an annual payment of £15 per person.
As the union for school support staff, Unison has been campaigning for local authorities to pay the registration fee for all learning support workers in Wales.
Gary Enright, Unison Caerphilly Branch Secretary said: “This is fantastic news and we are so pleased the council has been persuaded by the strength of Unison’s argument.
“In a landmark agreement, councillors have committed to making an ongoing payment for teaching assistant fees, not only for the first year. Teaching assistants do such a fabulous job and schools simply wouldn’t be as successful without them. This was the right decision to back low-paid workers by agreeing to pay their fees.”
In deciding to pay the fee, Caerphilly has become the ninth local authority to do so.
Jess Turner Unison Cymru Wales Lead Organiser for Schools, added: “Yet another council has recognised the need to pay the fees for its learning support workers, following similar decisions by Cardiff, Bridgend, Swansea, Torfaen County, the Vale of Glamorgan, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Neath Port Talbot and Gwynedd.
“Unison will continue our campaigning efforts to ensure learning support workers get the fair recognition they deserve with decent training, a uniform career structure and fair pay.”