§ Mrs. Winifred Ewingasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science, in view of the current surplus of teachers and the threatened surplus of doctors, if she will publish a White Paper showing what went wrong with forecasts of requirements; what action can be taken to improve forecasts for the future; and what the latest estimates are for requirments in each of the professions.
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsThe steady decline in the birth rate in recent years, contrary to earlier forecasts, has made it necessary to reduce intakes to the colleges of education, and in the future size of the training plant. However, the main reasons for the current surplus of teachers are constraints on public expenditure, and the marked decline in wastage from the profession in the last two years. Projected teacher numbers in schools in Great Britain are given in the table on page 71 of Volume II of Cmnd 6721.
737WQuestions about the supply of teachers in Scotland, and about the supply of doctors, are for my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Secretary of State for Social Services respectively.