Education Law Speed Read – 27/11/17
27th November, 2017
This week's we look at the impact of the Budget on the education sector and why the Government has now rolled out its reimbursement scheme in full.
Maths at centre of Autumn Budget
Last week the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, announced within the Autumn Budget various educational policies, many of which were aimed at improving mathematical education within schools.
The key announcements included:
- For every additional pupil who takes A-Level or core maths, schools will receive a sum of £600. The Government has confirmed that over 80 million pounds will be made available initially, and there will be no cap on numbers.
- 18 million pounds will fund an annual £350,000 payment which will be given to every specialist maths school that is set up across the country.
- 27 million will be used to expand the Teaching for Mastery maths programme to 3,000 more schools.
- An £8.5m pilot will be launched to improve GCSE maths resit outcomes.
- £40m will be used to establish Further Education Centres of Excellence to train maths teachers.
The Government also announced that it aims to train 8,000 computer science teachers by the end of the current Parliament to ensure that every secondary school pupil has the opportunity to study computing.
Government rolls out fee refund scheme in full
The case
Following the case of R (on the application of Unison) v Lord Chancellor, where the Supreme Court held that Employment Tribunal (ET) and Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) fees were unlawful, the Government has now rolled out its reimbursement scheme in full.
Initially the Government only invited around 1,000 parties to apply for refunds, as part of a phased implementation. On 15 November 2017, the Government announced that it was opening applications to all those who believed they were eligible for a refund and encouraged them to apply via the Government’s website.
What it means for you
Under the scheme, anyone who paid fees to the ET and/or the EAT between 29 July 2013 and 26 July 2017 are eligible to apply.
Those eligible for a refund include those who paid the fees to enable someone else to make a claim (for example a trade union) and employers who were ordered to pay the Claimants fees by a Tribunal. However, employers who entered into settlement agreements with claimants which included a sum to compensate them for the fees they had incurred will not be eligible for a refund under the scheme.
Claimants are only barred from obtaining a refund where the ET or EAT ordered that the Respondent pay their fees. Therefore, it appears that Claimants who entered into settlement agreements which compensated them for fees, may still be eligible to apply for a refund under the scheme.
Those who obtain a refund will also receive interest at a rate of 0.5%, which will be calculated from the date of the initial payment of the fees until the refund date.
The Government has estimated that the total amount of refunds will amount to approximately £33m.
If you have any queries on the above and how it will affect you, please do not hesitate to contact a member of our education team.
Please note that this briefing is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.
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