§ 14. Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will publish the latest unemployment statistics for the teaching profession; and if he will make a statement on projected levels of teacher employment in the next 12 months.
§ 20. Miss Fookesasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many newly-qualified teachers are unemployed at the latest convenient date.
§ Mr. MulleyIn September 1975,3,237 unemployed school teachers in a profession of about 500,000 were recorded at employment offices in England and Wales. The Department of Employment records do not distinguish between newly qualified and other teachers. The number of teachers likely to be employed next year will depend partly on the rate support grant for 1976–77 still to be negotiated with the local authority associations.
§ Mr. FreudI appreciate the Secretary of State's reply, but does he realise the serious damage to morale in the teaching profession that is caused by any unemployment? Is he aware that teacher resources are currently being wasted? In view of the announcement that Strathclyde needs hundreds of teachers and that many vacancies cannot be filled, what steps is the right hon. Gentleman taking to permit unemployed teachers in England to apply for teaching posts in Scotland?
§ Mr. MulleyI think that the hon. Gentleman's Scottish point is mainly a question for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland. I think it is the case that whereas Scottish-trained teachers are able to obtain jobs in England and Wales, the reverse is not so. If the hon. Gentleman has a word with his Scottish National friends, it might assist the change that he has in mind. I accept completely what he says. We hate the waste of resources involved in unemployment in any sector but, equally, it is no help to the morale of the teaching profession when grossly exaggerated claims are made. I know that the hon. Gentleman does not make them, but they are made 1122 from time to time. Although an increase of a quarter of 1 per cent. of teachers unemployed as between this September and last September is a matter that we do not like, it is not anything like the massive unemployment that we sometimes hear spoken about.
§ Miss FookesAs good teachers are more important than any educational system, is it not a curious sense of priorities that enables £25 million to spent on comprehensive reorganisation rather than on paying salaries to teachers of children?
§ Mr. MulleyIf that were factually the case I would have some sympathy with the hon. Lady, whom we welcome to the Opposition Front Bench. In the rate support grant for the current year there were sufficient resources to employ all the teachers available. Many local authorities, including, I think, the hon. Lady's, have decided that for their own reasons they will not employ their full quota of teachers. That is the nature of the problem.
§ Mr. MolloyDoes my right hon. Friend agree that the principle of comprehensive education is to ensure that ultimately we have efficient equality at the starting point so that the real priority becomes the children of our nation rather than buildings or teachers?
§ Mr. MulleyAs long as I hold my present office my principal priority in education will be the children. Buildings and teachers are important in providing education for the children, but it is the welfare of children with which we have to be concerned.