HC Deb 30 March 2001 vol 365 cc833-4W
Mr. Andrew George

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many vacancies for teachers there were in the St. Ives constituency in(a) 1992, (b) 1997 and (c) 2001. [155741]

Ms Estelle Morris

The information requested is not held centrally. The number of vacancies at January each year and the vacancy rate for the local authorities Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, in which the constituency of St. Ives lies, are given in the table.

Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
Year Number of vacancies Vacancy rate (Percentage)
1992 3 0.1
1997 10 0.3
2000 11 0.3

The number of regular teachers (excluding short-term supply) in the maintained schools sector in England at January 2000 was 404,600, the highest for 10 years and 6,900 higher than January 1998.

There was a growth of 2,300 in the number of people recruited to train as teachers between 1999–2000 and 2000–01, the first such increase since 1992–93.

From April 2001 new graduate recruits can expect to earn £17,000 a year (up 6 per cent. from the previous year) and starting salaries in Inner London will rise to £20,000 (up 9 per cent. from the previous year).

Mr. Andrew George

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what percentage of full time students stayed in education in the St. Ives constituency after the age of(a) 16 and (b) 18 in (i) 1992, (ii) 1997 and (iii) 2001. [155743]

Mr. Wicks

At the heart of our drive to improve participation and attainment is the new Connexions Service which we will be phasing in from April this year. The service will provide information, advice, support and access to personal development opportunities for all 13–19 year olds, whatever their needs and circumstances, to keep them learning. Latest figures show that the numbers of 16 to 18 year olds not in education, employment or training in England fell by 28,000 from 185,000 in 1998 to 157,000 1999.

Data on the percentage of students continuing in post-compulsory education at age 16 are not calculated for areas smaller than LEAs, and participation rates by LEA are only available for 16 and 17 year olds.

The percentage of 16 year olds in full-time education for Cornwall LEA, which includes the constituency of St. Ives, was 78 per cent. in 1992–93, 75 per cent. in 1997–98 and 76 per cent. in 1998–99, the latest year for which figures are available.