§ Mr. Greenwayasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how much he is proposing to spend on lunch-time supervision in schools during the current year; how this compares with sums spent for comparative purposes in each year since 1955; what he is proposing to spend in 1986–87; and if he will make a statement.
§ Sir Keith JosephSome nine out of 10 teachers are now refusing to supervise at midday, a duty which they deem to be voluntary, and very few schools are unaffected by the disruption. That disruption hits directly at parents and their children and is virtually cost-free to teachers. I have previously made clear to the House the Government's willingness to set aside extra money from within the envelope of £1,250 million conditionally available for a new pay structure to help the employers with the cost of supervising pupils at midday. The Government have now decided that resources should be made available to support expenditure of up to £10 million in this financial year and £40 million in 1986–87 on new arrangements for midday supervision in England and Wales. Our purpose in making this new money available is to put local education authorities in a position to secure and pay for effective supervision at midday. It will also remove a long-standing grievance of the teachers.
To that end my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and I intend to lay before the House amending regulations which will enable us to use our powers under the Education (Grants and Awards) Act 1984 to pay education support grants (ESGs) in respect of approved expenditure by local education authorities on provision for the supervision of school pupils at midday. My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for the Environment and for Wales will be willing to consider sympathetically representations from authorities seeking disregards of such expenditure in 1985–86 approved for ESG for the purposes of calculating the abatement of block grant.
The 1984 Act provides that expenditure approved for ESG should not exceed 0.5 per cent. of total planned expenditure on education by local authorities. In 1985–86 expenditure already approved for ESG and planned support for midday supervision will not exceed that figure, but the addition of £40 million to the programmes already approved for 1986–87 would cause it to be exceeded next year. The Government therefore intend to introduce a Bill to raise the limit to 1 per cent. We also intend however, pending the outcome of the present review of local government finance, to keep expenditure approved for ESG in respect of activities other than midday supervision within 0.5 per cent. of the planned total.
We shall consult with representatives of the local education authorities as a matter of urgency on the details 10W of the new arrangements. I hope that they will be willing to take acton swiftly in the interests of pupils and their parents.
Figures for comparable expenditure in earlier years are not available.