A ‘provisional agreement’ has been reached in a pay dispute involving staff at a Southampton primary school who were planning a mass walk out.

The National Education Union (NEU) and the Inspire Learning Partnership (ILP) reached the agreement at a recent meeting regarding the dispute at Kanes Hill Primary School in Thornhill.

The NEU had accused the ILP of not adhering to its own pay policy and failing to backdate pay increases for support staff to April 1, 2024.

In response, the ILP refuted the claims, stating that staff will receive two cost-of-living pay rises this year.

The agreement will now be put to a vote by union members at Kanes Hill Primary School, with a further statement to be released revealing the ballot results.

NEU's support staff at the school agreed to postpone the industrial action that was originally due to take place on March 12.

However, there are still a number of strikes planned later in the month that could take place if the provisional agreement is not finalised with the ILP.

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NEU regional secretary Phil Clarke previously said: "Support staff in schools are critical to the provision of quality education for pupils yet so often they are undervalued by employers.

"Taking industrial action is always a last resort for our members, however, in this case they have been left no choice given the apparent breach of the trust’s own pay policy and their own unreasonable behaviour in short-changing members."

A spokesperson for the ILP claimed that the trust receives funding for the financial year, which is from September to September, and has not withheld any monies from staff.

The spokesperson added: "Indeed, this year support staff will receive two cost-of-living pay increases, instead of the usual one, as a result of us changing our policy."