Phil Revell’s article “Short of Cash? Just Wait...” missed a few points. There has never been any doubt that the LEAs are the respondents on equal pay cases. the source of confusion, and difficulty, is the delegation of powers to schools. The template for delegation used by the DfES has always assumed that individual schools should be able to make decisions without considering any issues that extend beyond the school’s boundary. Try a search of the DfES website for “equal pay” and you will see the limited interest on an issue where comparisons can be made between any jobs with the same employer.

The review of delegation powers provides an opportunity to recognise that equal pay issues need to be dealt with. That would be an interesting area for Phil Revell to research.

John Slater’s article “Unions threaten to block solo assistants” was disturbing but missed the point that the revised regulations that he referred to are intended to deal with any concerns on the legality of the role of classroom assistants in the classroom. I do not think there has been any doubt that legislation is needed for duties related only to supervision of pupils.
Mike Walker
Director
National Employers Organisation for School Teachersnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;