§ Mr. Ginsburgasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what provisions are being made to help local education authorities to deal with the staffing problems caused by falling school rolls.
§ Mrs. Shirley WilliamsI recognise that the maintenance of standards within the schools requires a larger total teaching force than would be required if the number of teachers were reduced pro rata with the fall in the school population. There are widespread problems asso-756W ciated with falling school rolls. In particular, there are practical limitations on the scope for redeploying teaching staff, and the speed with which this can be done. In secondary schools, there are problems in maintaining an acceptable curriculum balance.
To help authorities meet these specific requirements, the Government are making financial provision for an increased margin of 8,500 teachers in England and Wales in 1979–80, rising to about 15,000 by 1982–83. This compares with an earlier provision—in Cmnd. 7049—of an additional 7,600 teachers in each year up to 1981–82. These teachers are additional to the numbers needed to maintain existing pupil teacher ratios and those provided to help meet other needs.