Ofsted workers announce twelve-day strike

The strike action – from Monday to Wednesday every week in March – is expected to affect the processing of applications for new childminders and early nurseries, as well handling calls and emails from the public and limiting the support available to inspectors in the field.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “Our hard-working members at Ofsted provide important backup to inspectors so our strike action is likely to affect their ability to hit government targets.

“Our members are fed up with being taken for granted by a government that’s imposed a 2% pay rise at a time when inflation is running at 10%. Until ministers come to the table with some money, our strikes will continue to escalate.”

The strike, the latest escalation of the union’s national campaign over pay, pensions, redundancy terms and job security, comes as driving examiners announced a ten-day strike.

And on the day the government announced it made a £5.4bn surplus last month, Mark Serwotka said: "The government says it cannot afford to give our members a pay rise, but today's news shows ministers have no excuse for not putting some money on the table."

This week PCS members are on strike at  the Animal and Plant Health Agency in Bristol and Carlisle,  DVLA in Swansea and Birmingham and at the DWP in Liverpool and Toxteth.

It follow this weekend’s action by Border Force officials in Dover, Calais, Coquelles and Dunkirk that caused six-hour delays for travellers.

Workers at the Land Registry next week (February 27) begin a five-day strike, and on March 15 100,000 civil servants will take strike action.