HC Deb 09 February 1981 vol 998 cc294-5W
Mrs. Rentée Short

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many teachers are employed in (a) the Wolverhampton area and (b) the West Midlands; how this compares with each of the previous three years; and if he will publish the numbers of qualified teachers unemployed in (a) and (b).

Dr. Boyson

The latest available figures of teachers employed are for September 1980. The figures given below cover teachers in maintained nursery, primary, secondary and special schools (including unattached special units for handicapped children) and qualified teachers providing education otherwise than at school under Section 56 of the Education Act 1944. Part-time teachers are included on the basis of their full-time equivalence.

The most recently recorded teacher unemployment figures are for December 1980. The number of people registering with the Department of Employment in the West Midlands standard region as unemployed and seeking teaching posts in schools was 1,047. Figures for the West Midlands metropolitan county or the Wolverhampton area are not available.