Fax: 0191 386 5287
Tel: 0191 384 9512
Email: enquiries@aep.org.uk
The Association provides a wide range of services to its members in respect of employment and professional matters, including the following:
Information: All members receive a weekly mailing, which includes the Appointments Broadsheet (see below); and Circulars on professional and employment issues. Members are also able to use this mailing, free of charge, to circulate information e.g. about their special interests, courses etc. to all colleagues in the Association. Local Authority Representatives are often provided with supplementary information on major issues of local or national concern.
Job Vacancies: The 'Appointments Broadsheet' is sent to all members in the weekly mailing. It is used by most Local Authorities to advertise their vacancies for Educational Psychologists at all grades. It is well regarded because of its very wide circulation within the whole profession. The Appointments Broadsheet is only available to Members of the AEP.
Legal Assistance: Members who require legal advice and support on matters connected with their employment or their 'professional life' - e.g. in disciplinary procedures or Industrial Tribunals - can obtain this through the Association. In many cases, such advice and support will be via one of the Regional Representatives or the General Secretary. Where appropriate, the Association may instruct solicitors to provide further advice or to act on behalf of a member directly. The same firms of solicitors are also able to provide other personal legal services to members either free of charge or at competitive rates. For example damages, claims or injuries sustained in a motor accident, will and conveyancing .
Local representation: The Association is formally 'recognised' by most Local Authorities in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for the purposes of consultation and negotiation at a local level. The Association's Local Representatives are thus able formally to represent members, both individually and collectively, on matters arising that includes their conditions of employment, health and safety issues etc. Local Representatives are often included in an Authority's formal consultation arrangements, such as Joint Consultative Committees, through which they can communicate their views to the Authority's elected members. When necessary, the Association's Regional Representatives and/or General Secretary also act on behalf of members at a local level.
National representation: The Association is represented in many national organisations, charities via National Executive Committee members or ordinary members of the Association who have been invited to join their committees or governing bodies. The Association maintains contact with the Department for Education, Schools and Families (DESF) on various issues. For example, the training, supply and demand for educational Psychologists. The Association is also invited to submit the views of educational psychologists to House of Commons Committees and to Departmental Working Parties.
Salary negotiation: The Association represents educational psychologists directly on the Soulbury Committee, which negotiates salary and conditions of service for educational psychologists employed by Local Authorities in England and Wales.
Professional Journal: All members receive the Association's journal, "Educational Psychology in Practice" four times a year, free of charge.
Courses:The Association organises occasional short courses and study days for members on matters of topical interest. For example, 'grievance procedure' and 'pensions update'. The major event is the 'Association's Annual Course' usually taking place over a three day period.