Scientia Academy
Mona Road
Burton Upon Trent
DE13 0UF
Telephone: 01283 881110
SCHOOL ACADEMY CONVERSIONS - TUPE FAQ
This document contains questions from staff and unions during Schools
Academy Conversion (Tupe) and REAch2 Academy Trust responses.
How will the Living Wage be implemented for Support Staff? Affected staff
will be placed on the nearest spinal point that meets the Living /London
Living Wage level. The annual Living Wage increase is then applied to the
salary point going forward.
What is the Pay Policy for Support Staff at time of transfer? Current Pay
policies for support staff will transfer over.
Does REAch2 Academy Trust plan to pay support staff on NJC Conditions of
Service in future years? Will this apply to all support staff or merely those who
transferred? Reach2 Academy Trust is a Living wage Employer for support
staff. Our Pay Policies are also mirrored on Nationally Agreed Pay and
Conditions for staff (Green Book) which we intend to continue mirroring. All
support staff will TUPE over on current pay and conditions of service. As
REAch2 does not intend to operate a two tier workforce, all new staff will be
placed on the same terms and conditions as current school staff
Can you confirm that you have applied for admitted body status into the LGPS
Suffolk Scheme? Reach2 is an admitted Scheme Employer for LGPS.
Who will be providing the finance, IT and HR services in the future? The
services will be provided directly by Reach2
Will there be a replacement for SIMS? No, Schools will retain their use of Sims
as present; the only difference is they will buy into Sims directly with Reach2
and not through the LA as previously done. Reach2’s financial system which
will be used in schools is Civica.
Page 1 of 6
REAch2 Academy Trust is a trading name of REAch2 Ltd, Company Number: 8040828, Registered in England
and Wales; Charity Number: 1149000; Registered Address: Scientia Academy,Mona Road, Burton Upon Trent, DE13 0UF; VAT
Number: 167332014
Scientia Academy
Mona Road
Burton Upon Trent
DE13 0UF
Telephone: 01283 881110
Who will be providing Occupational Health Services and where is the company
based? Occupational health services will be available to staff through the
Trust’s current Provider for this service – Medigold. Medigold's service
provision comprehensively covers the whole of the United Kingdom and NI.
Will the academy pay for travel expenses for staff to travel to OH
appointments? Staff will not be paid travel expenses for attending OH
appointments. This is the normal operating standards for most businesses
Will face to face appointments be available locally? Face to face appointments
are arranged as and when required and take place at the closest location to
the school
Will the academy be using EFMSL services in the future? Where REAch2 offer
services centrally, some of the current services provided by third parties and
the Local Authority will no longer be used by the schools. Reach2 and Schools
converting to the Trust will carry out a review of Service Level Agreements
and Third Party Contracts currently in place to ensure Value for Money and
quality of service is maintained and where possible improved. This review
will inform the Trust and school which services will be retained.
Who will be providing the services currently bought in from SCC such as
EOTAS, Wellbeing Service, Education Psychology Service etc.? Reach2 may
provide some of these services. It is delegated to the individual school to
assess which services they wish to continue to purchase from County
Councils.
Who will provide training for support staff? Schools are responsible for
providing training for support staff? REAch2 are currently working with the
NJCC to look at access to IT and possibilities for IT training for support staff in
the future.
Page 2 of 6
REAch2 Academy Trust is a trading name of REAch2 Ltd, Company Number: 8040828, Registered in England
and Wales; Charity Number: 1149000; Registered Address: Scientia Academy,Mona Road, Burton Upon Trent, DE13 0UF; VAT
Number: 167332014
Scientia Academy
Mona Road
Burton Upon Trent
DE13 0UF
Telephone: 01283 881110
Who will be providing payroll services in the future? Payroll services will
continue to be provided by the County Council at present. Reach2’s
intentions are for this to transfer over to the Trust at some point in the
future once our services are moved in-house.
Will the academy continue collecting Trades Union Subscriptions under
DOCAS? Payroll services for schools remain with the LA at present time so
there is no envisaged change to the current system in place for collection of
TU subscriptions.
Will the academy be continuing with the Long Service Award scheme? Non
pension benefits will not transfer over to Reach2 at conversion.
What arrangements are in place for Child Care Vouchers in the future? Reach2
has a service provider called Computer Share in place for this benefit. Staffs
that currently use this scheme through the LA will transfer over to our
provider (Computershare) at conversion.
Will staff be used as shortage covers for other schools in the Trust? Reach2
Academy Trust does not use staff as shortage covers
Will new staff be appointed to specific schools or the academy chain? Schools
carry out staff recruitments according to their needs with the support of the
Trust
Will teachers transfer on the STPCD [Blue Book] and Burgundy Book terms*
and conditions? Yes, as stated in the measures letter, provisions in force at
the time of transfer will transfer with affected employees
How will future terms and conditions for teachers be determined? Reach2
intends to continue to mirror nationally agreed terms and conditions for
teachers. (Burgundy Book and STPCD)
Page 3 of 6
REAch2 Academy Trust is a trading name of REAch2 Ltd, Company Number: 8040828, Registered in England
and Wales; Charity Number: 1149000; Registered Address: Scientia Academy,Mona Road, Burton Upon Trent, DE13 0UF; VAT
Number: 167332014
Scientia Academy
Mona Road
Burton Upon Trent
DE13 0UF
Telephone: 01283 881110
Will support staff transfer on NJC [Green Book] terms and conditions? If so,
what about future changes to NJC conditions? Yes, provisions in force at the
times of transfer will transfer with affected employees. Reach2 intends to
continue to mirror national terms and conditions (Green Book) for support
staff.
Will any different terms and conditions apply to new staff? If so, to whom?
Reach2 does not operate a two tier workforce. All new staff will be
employed on the same terms and conditions of current staffs in schools.
What mechanism for dispute recognition/failure to agree is proposed? Any
such matters will be addressed at the National Joint Consultative Committee
which is Reach2’s established committee of recognised National Unions.
Are there any proposals in place for a Trade union recognition agreement?
Reach2 already has a union recognition agreement in place with national
unions. Please see trade union agreement doc which was issued with the
measures.
Will the academy subscribe to County Council pooled Trade union facility time
arrangement? No, Reach2 has a union facilities time agreement in place.
Please see unions facilities time agreement doc issued with measures letter.
What arrangement for trade union consultation is proposed for academy
issues [e.g. policy development, restructuring]? Reach2 regularly meets with
national unions for consultation purposes at the NJCC meetings. Please see
trade unions recognition agreement doc issued with measures letter.
Who is the Pensions scheme employer [academy or trust]? Reach2 academy
trust is a scheme employer for pension scheme benefits
Will new employees be offered any alternative pension scheme? No, TPS and
LGPS remain the applicable pension schemes used by Reach2
Page 4 of 6
REAch2 Academy Trust is a trading name of REAch2 Ltd, Company Number: 8040828, Registered in England
and Wales; Charity Number: 1149000; Registered Address: Scientia Academy,Mona Road, Burton Upon Trent, DE13 0UF; VAT
Number: 167332014
Scientia Academy
Mona Road
Burton Upon Trent
DE13 0UF
Telephone: 01283 881110
Will the local agreement on adoption leave transfer? Current provisions for
adoption leave will transfer over under Tupe
Are any changes to sick pay intended? No
Are any changes to maternity pay intended? No
Are there plans to change the school day? No
Any plans to alter any current policies or procedures [e.g. HR policies]? Yes, the
Trust intends to have a uniform set of HR policies for all schools in the Trust
family. All policies will be fully consulted on and agreed with National Unions
before they are approved for use in schools.
Any change to payday? No
Who will provide HR services? Reach2
What arrangements are in place to ensure compliance with H and S legislation?
Reach2 will work robustly with schools to ensure H&S legislation is fully
complied with.
Which Suffolk policies will not be TUPED across on conversion but substituted
by a policy from the Trust? This is as stated in the REAch2 Section 13
Measures letter of which copies have been provided to staff, unions and all
other respective parties
The trust states that there is a requirement for staff to work across schools to
enable improvement to all. On average, how much time might this involve for
a member of staff? This is assessed on a needs led basis - I.e. individual’s
developmental needs, school needs, sharing of best practice etc.
Page 5 of 6
REAch2 Academy Trust is a trading name of REAch2 Ltd, Company Number: 8040828, Registered in England
and Wales; Charity Number: 1149000; Registered Address: Scientia Academy,Mona Road, Burton Upon Trent, DE13 0UF; VAT
Number: 167332014
Scientia Academy
Mona Road
Burton Upon Trent
DE13 0UF
Telephone: 01283 881110
While the Trust supports facility time, it does not pay into the county scheme.
How will the trusts facility time scheme work at a regional level? This is still
being worked through with our national union colleagues. We will update as
we reach a final system
Within any ' group' of schools, how is the planning and training organised and
by whom? Trainings are centrally organised – Investment and Development
Courses by our training partners ECM – to be held both centrally and
regionally. All phases of career are catered for and bespoke trainings are
locally organised for teachers by EP’s.
Will any different terms and conditions apply to new staff? Reach2 does not
intend to operate a two tier workforce. New staff will be employed on staffs
and conditions for existing staff apart from those declared on the measures
letter.
Will continuity of service be recognised for new staff recruited from (a) LA
maintained schools (b) other academies? The Trust proposes to honour
service of new employees joining the Trust for the purposes of benefits under
the Burgundy Book namely - Maternity, Paternity and sick pay as part of its
commitments not to operate a two tier workforce. The Trust cannot however
commit other school outside the Trust to follow this approach.
How will parental complaints be dealt with? They will be addressed under the
School’s Complaint Policy as present.
Bukky Oshikoya
Senior HR Advisor
REAch2 Academy Trust
Page 6 of 6
REAch2 Academy Trust is a trading name of REAch2 Ltd, Company Number: 8040828, Registered in England
and Wales; Charity Number: 1149000; Registered Address: Scientia Academy,Mona Road, Burton Upon Trent, DE13 0UF; VAT
Number: 167332014