TORY ministers can no longer hide behind the school teachers’ pay review body (STRB), England’s education unions stressed today, following reports that it has recommended a higher pay offer than the government’s latest proposal.

According to a leak in the Sunday Times, the supposedly independent body has called for a 6.5 per cent wage increase, significantly above the Department for Education’s (DfE) 4.3 per cent offer.

Unions in several sectors have repeatedly accused the government of using the pay review bodies it appoints to justify enacting yet more austerity on vital public services.