§ Mr. BradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, pursuant to his oral answer to the hon. Member for Ashford on 9 December 2002,Official Report, column 28, whether all schools will be fully funded in respect of the cost of payments to teachers on the upper spine of performance related pay. [87200]
§ Mr. MilibandThreshold payments constitute point 1 of the upper pay scale and the threshold is fully funded. £90 million has been ring-fenced this year for performance pay, including the progression from upper pay scale 1 to upper pay scale 2. Sixty per cent. of the cost of a performance point grant for heads, deputies and assistant heads will be funded through a dedicated performance pay grant. Next year, at least £150 million580W will be ring-fenced for performance pay. Schools can also use their general budgets to award performance pay if they wish to. Education standard spending has increased by £1.3 billion this year, and is continuing to increase over the next three years.