§ Mr. PickthallTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps she is taking to control the increase in administration costs in respect of teacher education allocations; and what is her estimate of the increase in those costs in 1996–97. [2243]
§ Mr. Forth[holding answer 5 November 1996]: The Teacher Training Agency has reformed the allocations methodology in order to reward quality and increase the value for money obtained from its annual investment of over £160 million in initial teacher training. The agency's total running costs, which also cover the promotion of teaching as a career, the development of national standards and training for headteachers and teachers, and work on the new national curriculum for initial teacher training, are planned to increase by some £0.6 million in 508W 1996–97. This reflects increased activity in pursuit of the agency's statutory objectives of raising the standards of teaching and improving the quality and efficiency of training.