§ Mr. EvennettTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) what information is available to his Department concerning the numbers of incentive allowances paid to teachers in primary, secondary and special schools in or shortly after October 1988, including in particular the numbers of allowances paid on discretionary grounds; whether the numbers of each type of allowance paid in 1987–88 closely matched the numbers advised by his Department as being available to be paid; and if he will make a statement;
(2) if he will publish a table showing, for each type of incentive allowance payable to teachers in primary, secondary and special schools in September 1988, the total number of allowances available to be paid by employers as advised by his Department and the proportion of these which were available to be paid on discretionary grounds; if he will distinguish between allowances already allocated to individuals and those newly available to be paid on discretionary grounds; and if he will make a statement;
(3) if he will publish a table showing the required minimum payments of incentive allowances to teachers in primary, secondary and special schools in October 1987 according to type, value and number of the allowances payable (a) by reason of a teacher's transfer to the new main salary scale, (b) by reason of the minimum requirements for rate A and B allowances in larger schools and special schools, and (c) by reason of other requirements; and if he will make a statement;
(4) if he will publish a table showing, for each type of incentive allowance payable to teachers in primary, secondary and special schools in October 1987, the total number of allowances available to be paid by employers as advised by his Department and the proportion of these which were available to be paid on discretionary grounds; and if he will make a statement;
(5) what information is available to his Department concerning the numbers of incentive allowances paid to teachers in primary, secondary and special schools in or shortly after September 1988, including the numbers of allowances paid on discretionary grounds; whether the numbers of each type of allowance paid in 1988–89 closely matched the numbers advised by his Department as being available to be paid; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. RumboldCirculars 8/87 and 3/88 set out the approximate number of incentive allowances the Government wished to see awarded in October 1987 and September 1990 respectively. These were as follows:
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October 19871 Primary Secondary A 14,000 11,000 B 216,000 253,000 C — — D — 28,5002
Primary Secondary E — 6,5002 Total 30,000 99,000 September 1988 A 24,000 19,000 B 16,300 43,300 C 1,300 8,000 D — 27,000 E — 8,000 Total 41,600 105,300 1 All main-scale teachers in special schools received at least a B allowance from October 1987. 2 These allowances were awarded automatically to teachers on scale 3, scale 4 or the senior teacher scale at 30 September 1987. The overall limits on the number of incentive allowances to be awarded in schools of a particular size in October 1987 were set out in annex A to the school teachers' pay and conditions document 1987, a copy of which is in the Library. A minimum of 2 per cent. of teachers were to receive A allowances in schools of group size 6 or above, and a minimum of 12 per cent. were normally to receive B allowances in schools of group size 7 or above.
Circular 8/87 envisaged that by September 1990 there would be 55,000 allowance holders in primary schools and 110,000 in secondary schools. Following the recommendations of the first report of the interim advisory committee on school teachers' pay and conditions the planned introduction of A allowances was accelerated. Circular 3/88 envisaged that there would be an extra 6,000 A allowances above previous plans in September 1988.
LEAs have the discretion to pay incentive allowances, within certain limits, to any teacher being paid on the main scale who satisfies one or more the criteria laid down in the school teachers' pay and conditions document. They do so in the light of local needs and priorities. It is unlikely that the numbers of teachers holding incentive allowances at any one time will coincide precisely with the Government's plans.
The only information presently available is contained in a survey undertaken by the local authority conditions of service advisory board in September 1988. This showed that 61 LEAs had together awarded about 77,000 allowances to full-time and part-time regular teachers. 'The distribution among the 61 LEAs was as follows:
Primary Secondary Special September 1988 A 6,878 6,343 — B 9,922 30,305 7,504 C 318 2,772 960 D 148 16,152 149 E 19 3,939 55 Total 17,285 59,511 8,668