§ Mrs. MahonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science if there are any plans to introduce a polytechnic premature early retirement compensation scheme in March 1989 or at any time prior to vesting day, after the September premature early retirement compensation scheme now in existence.
Mr. JacksonSubject to the relevant statutory provisions, the offer of premature retirement terms will be for individual polytechnics to decide, under the provisions of the Education Reform Bill now before Parliament, once they assume responsibility for running their own affairs. The Government will consult the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council and other interested bodies in due course about whether it would be desirable to establish collective arrangements for sharing the costs of premature retirement compensation within the new polytechnics and colleges sector.