Listerdale school strike talks hit a stalemate

Following five days of strikes, a Christmas truce appeared to have been forged after NUT officials announced that three days of industrial action this week would not be going ahead.

But talks between the union and members of the school’s ruling Children’s Academy Trust broke up on Tuesday with no resolution to the dispute over the suspension of head teacher Craig Roberts.

The NUT said in a statement that talks had broken up “when the employer refused to talk about matters proposed by the NUT for discussion”.

The Children’s Academy Trust “also rejected proposals that would provide for the ongoing disciplinary investigation to be concluded”.

The union added: “Given these circumstances there are no plans at present for the talks to be resumed, although the NUT will continue with talking to ACAS with a view to exploring how to break the apparent deadlock.

“The NUT have been making every effort to resolve this dispute and we can assure parents that there are no matters which we are refusing to discuss which would prevent progress towards reaching a resolution.”

A statement from the school said: “We are making progress towards completing the investigation following the suspension of the head teacher as a neutral act.

“During discussions with ACAS the trust has put forward proposals to resolve the dispute but the NUT remain insistent that the head teacher is reinstated, and because of the serious nature of the concerns the trust is not in a position to do this.

“The trust remains open to further discussions via ACAS at any point in order to resolve the dispute with the NUT and was of the understanding that these discussions would continue in the New Year.”