§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what she estimates would be the cost to the Exchequer if teachers' remuneration was approximately the same as that paid in the Federal Republic and France.
§ Mrs. ThatcherComparisons of this kind involve all kinds of difficulties, of comparability and of method, but, using the comparisons and salaries in the recent report "The Schoolmaster in the EEC", sponsored by the National Association of Schoolmasters, which relates to secondary school teachers only, it is estimated that the 1972–73 salary bill for all full-time primary and secondary school teachers in maintained schools of £792 million would be increased by about £580 million on Federal Republic rates and about £300 million on French rates. The figures do not take account of the differential cost of living or social security benefits. The Exchequer would bear about 60 per cent. through rate support grants.