HC Deb 12 December 2000 vol 359 c81W
Mr. Brady

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what steps he is taking to ensure that head teachers of maintained schools agree performance targets with their governing bodies by 31 December. [142459]

Ms Estelle Morris

The published regulations on performance management—The Education (School Teacher Appraisal) (England) Regulations 2000—require the appointed governors responsible for the head's review to meet the head and a trained external adviser to discuss objectives by 31 December. In order to allow governing bodies some flexibility for this first round, the Secretary of State has proposed to amend the regulations to extend the deadline to 6 April 2001.

Mr. Brady

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many head teachers in maintained schools he estimates will have agreed performance targets with their governors by 31 December; and what percentage this constitutes of all heads of maintained schools. [142460]

Ms Estelle Morris

As of 11 December 2000, 6,762 head teachers had agreed their performance targets with their appointed governors with the assistance of an accredited external adviser. It is estimated that a further 2,076 will have done so by 31 December 2000.

This represents 42 per cent. of heads maintained schools. In order to provide flexibility in the first year of operation, the Secretary of State has proposed to extend the 31 December 2000 deadline until 6 April 2001.