Dozens of schools in Cumbria are set to be closed or partially closed as the National Education Union (NEU) announced a fresh bout of strike action to begin next month.

The action is planned on Wednesday, July 5 and Friday, July 7 and is the latest in a series of industrial action by the union in their long running dispute with the government over pay.

Previous strikes by teachers in Cumbria have led to widespread disruption across the county with schools being shut and strike rallies being held in Carlisle and Penrith.

Commenting on the latest strike days, Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretaries of the National Education Union, said: “Time and again the National Education Union, alongside its sister unions, have called for the Education Secretary to get around the negotiation table to settle this dispute for a fully funded teacher pay increase. Time and again our calls have fallen on stony ground. 

“Unlike her counterparts in Scotland and Wales where the pay disputes have been settled, this Education Secretary has wilfully turned her back on teachers in England.

“No one wants to take strike action but when faced with an Education Secretary who clearly has no interest in settling this dispute, teachers are left with no option."

These strike days are covered by an existing ballot of members, which closed in January.

Legislation requires that after six months; the ballot is renewed. The NEU's re-ballot for strike action opened on May 15 and will close on July 28.

50 per cent of members must vote for strike action in order for the ballot to be renewed and 50 per cent of members in each county must also vote for strike action in order to go on strike.

As of June 14, the threshold in Cumbria had not been met for further strike action with the NEU Cumbria calling on members to vote for strike action on social media.

The group said: “As we move towards the end of term, we need to keep up the pressure on the Government to offer us a fully funded pay rise.

Our sister Unions are all balloting, our support staff are going to ballot. We need to cross that threshold AGAIN.

“I know it seems like a pain, but we have committed so much and made so many sacrifices that we can't stop now. We need about 300 more votes to pass the 50% threshold. Let’s smash this.

“We can do this again Cumbria. 300 more votes by July 1. Is that possible. I'm sure it is.”

The government has offered a 4.3 per cent pay rise for most teachers for 2023-24 which The Department for Education described as a "fair and reasonable offer"