§ Mr. ParryTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science how he intends to tackle the problem of the shortage of teachers and resources, particularly in certain areas and subjects, in order to implement the Education Act 1988.
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§ Mr. Alan HowarthThe Department has a vigorous action programme, costing £50 million so far, to improve teacher supply. The programme includes bursaries for trainee teachers in maths, physics, design and technology and chemistry; national advertising and publicity, spearheaded by the Teaching as a Career unit; taster courses to enable those seeking a career change to obtain some experience of teaching; new initial and in-service training courses; and support for local initiatives to attract mature new entrants and former serving teachers.
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment announced on 6 November the proposed local authority grant settlement for 1990–91. That allows for £14,988 million to be spent on education next year, an increase of 9.6 per cent. over the comparable total for 1989–90. Given effective management, I am confident that this will be sufficient to allow good progress to be made in implementing the education reforms.