The education secretary Lucy Powell has said the government will fully funding this year’s teacher pay rise following lobbying by the National Education Union (NEU), the union has reported.

In a letter to the General Secretary of the NEU, Lucy Powell outlined her proposals for funding alongside a willingness to address issues around accountability, workload, and well-being. 

The government announced in the summer that teacher pay would increase by 3.5 per cent from this month, with schools expected to provide about 1.8 per cent of the award.

The NEU were threatening to strike if the pay award was not fully funded.

Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said: "Finally, we have a government that accepts the reality that any teacher pay award must be fully funded. Plugging the £460 million black hole in school budgets signals a welcome return to reality, and a message of hope for the entire school community. 

Daniel continued: "Schools have been running on empty for far too long. Leaders simply could not afford to fund the pay award as set out by the previous education secretary. The new administration has accepted that it is wrong to force schools to make cuts to education just to make ends meet."