§ Mr. Paul Deanasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether she will make a statement about the terms and conditions of the voluntary early retirement scheme for teachers which she referred to in Brighton on 13th July.
§ Miss Margaret JacksonThe scheme announced by my right hon. Friend will not provide for voluntary retirement. It will allow accrued superannuation benefits to become payable to a teacher aged 50 or over, with at least five years' reckonable service, whose employment is terminated by reason of redundancy or in the interest of the efficient exercise of the employer's functions. At the discretion of the employer, those benefits may be supplemented by the addition of notional years of service which will be limited in number according to the age530W and length of service of the teacher but will in no case exceed 10 years. The cost of any supplementation will fall on the employing or compensating authority, not on the Teachers' Superannuation Fund. My right hon. Friend expects to lay the necessary regulations before Parliament in the autumn.