HC Deb 09 July 1986 vol 101 cc176-8W
Mr. Greenway

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many mathematics and science teachers are on scale 2 posts and above; and what are the comparable figures for teachers of other subjects.

Mr. Chris Patten

Information derived from a survey of a sample of maintained secondary schools in England carried out by the Department in 1984 is as follows:

Derbyshire

  • South East Derbyshire College

Devon

  • Exeter College
  • North Devon College, Barnstaple

Dorset

  • Weymouth College

Durham

  • Peterlee College

Essex

  • Harlow College

Gloucestershire

  • Royal College of Dean

Hampshire

  • Cricklade College, Andover
  • Alton College
  • Fareham College
  • Brockenhurst College

Lancashire

  • Nelson and Colne College
  • W R Tuson College, Preston
  • Accrington and Rossendale College
  • Runshaw College, Leyland
  • Blackburn College
  • Skelmersdale College

North Yorkshire

  • Selby College

Shropshire

  • Oswestry College

Somerset

  • Bridgwater College
  • Strode College, Street
  • Yeovil College

In addition, New College Swindon operates under further education regulations but is not described as a tertiary college.

A further three tertiary colleges are due to open in September 1986 in South Bristol (Avon), Newcastle-under-Lyme (Staffordshire) and Consett (Durham).

Mr. Ron Davies

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science which education authorities have submitted plans for reorganisation which include tertiary colleges.

Mr. Dunn

Proposals for secondary reorganisation including tertiary colleges from Gateshead, Sheffield, South Tyneside, Sunderland, Essex and Oxfordshire local education authorities are currently before my right hon. Friend. In addition, proposals from Bury and Manchester have been approved and are awaiting implementation.

Mr. Ron Davies

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are his target staff: student ratios for(a) university higher education, (b) public sector higher education, and (c) non-advanced further education in the public sector.

Mr. Walden

My right hon. Friend does not have a target for SSRs in the university sector, but has been pleased to note the improvements achieved in the last few years—to 1: 10: 3 in 1984.

The overall target SSR for the public sector of higher education recommended by the National Advisory Body for Public Sector Higher Education is 1: 12. Good progress is being made towards this: by 1984 the SSR had reached 1 : 10.8, compared with 1 : 8.4 in 1979.

The derivation of a national SSR target for non-advanced further education (NAFE), and the pace of achieving it, are among the subjects under consideration by a joint group of DES, Welsh Office Education Department and local authority representatives, which is conducting a study of efficiency in NAFE.

Mr. Ron Davies

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will list the criteria used for planning the allocation of funding in both sectors of higher education; and if he will make a statement on the educational objectives served by the two systems of allocation of funds.

Mr. Walden

My right hon. Friend is advised on the planning and funding of higher education by the University Grants Committee and the National Advisory Body for Public Sector Higher Education. The UGC described the criteria used in its present planning exercise in letters to universities on 9 May 1985, 19 November 1985 and 20 May 1986. The approach adopted by the NAB was described in a note sent to local education authorities and colleges in December 1985. My right hon. Friend's predecessor wrote to the UGC on 30 January 1985 and to the NAB on 20 December 1985, offering guidance to inform their respective planning exercises. Copies of all these letters are in the Library.

On broader objectives, I refer the hon. Member to the Green Paper "The Development of Higher Education into the 1990s" published in May 1985.