IT is “not too late” for the new government to prevent a teacher strike ballot over pay, the National Education Union (NEU) said today.

NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede urged ministers to “change course” on “continuity austerity” after Lucy Powell replaced Bridget Phillipson as education secretary as Andy Burnham began his premiership.

Mr Kebede called on them to reject suggestions that “efficiencies” within school budgets can fund teachers’ salary increases.

The new government “should accept that it was wrong to have ever suggested there are ‘efficiencies’ to be made in school budgets when the education system is on its knees,” he said.

Ms Phillipson “was hampered from the start by a wider government policy of continuity austerity that has alienated voters and stagnated services,” he added.

“Now is the opportunity for a step change that parents, schools, teachers and support staff can recognise as a break with the past.”

Earlier this month, the government accepted the recommendations of the School Teachers’ Review Body for teachers to receive a 3.5 per cent pay rise from September and a 3 per cent increase from the same time in 2027.

But the Department for Education said that schools will have to find the first 1 per cent of each pay award.

The NEU said this would amount to £460 million, and last week reaffirmed its plans to launch a formal ballot in October, having announced its intention to do so earlier this year should the government fail to make a fully funded, above-inflation pay offer.