Dan Jarvis – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Dan Jarvis on 2016-03-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will review eligibility arrangements for the teacher’s Pension Scheme to enable supply teachers to participate in that scheme.

Nick Gibb

The Teachers’ Pensions Regulations currently provide for supply teachers to participate in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) where they are employed by a scheme employer. These are local authorities (LAs), academies and further education colleges. This includes supply teachers who are recruited by a supply agency but then employed directly, under a contract of employment, by the scheme employer.

Where supply teachers are self-employed or remain employed by a supply agency and their services are provided under a ‘contract for services’, it is not possible for them to participate in the TPS as there is no organisation to undertake the employer role, including remitting contributions to the scheme.

The Department does not plan to review these arrangements and considers that it is for employers and teachers to determine how supply teachers are employed, which can in turn enable access to the TPS under the current arrangements.