The STRB has been asked by Ms Greening to make recommendations on the teachers’ pay award for 2017/18.
In a letter to STRB chair Dr Patricia Rice, the education secretary said that she wants to see pay recommendations from the STRB in line with the government policy of limiting public sector pay awards to one per cent.
The STRB is an independent advisory body that makes recommendations on the pay, professional duties and working time of school teachers in England and Wales.
Ms Greening says in her letter that she intends to submit evidence to the STRB arguing the case for continued pay restraint.
She writes: “You will want to consider how the pay award should be applied and, in doing so, may wish to consider ... on recruitment and retention issues and the continued need for pay restraint.
“I intend to submit for your consideration written evidence that there remains a strong case for continued pay restraint in the public sector.”
In her letter last month, Ms Greening continued: “My evidence will provide a detailed account of the teacher labour market based on the latest recruitment and retention data and will contend that the recent pay reforms mean that schools are now best placed to decide how pay awards can be targeted to meet their specific local recruitment and retention needs.”
However, at the same time, Ms Greening has asked the STRB to also consider what adjustments can be made to classroom teachers’ pay in order to encourage better retention rates – but that any recommendations must be made “within the one per cent limit for pay awards for public sector workers”.
The STRB has been asked to report their recommendations by early April 2017.