§ 17. Sir Teddy TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the teacher shortage in Essex. [152566]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisI congratulate Essex heads and teachers on maintaining normal timetables in their schools, despite recruitment difficulties in some areas. Latest figures (January 2000) show the Essex teacher vacancy rate as 1.7 per cent. We announced in the Budget that a further £200 million would be spent on teacher recruitment and retention.
§ 34. Mr. WilkinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many representations he has received from local education authorities in outer London about shortages of teachers in the last twelve months. [152584]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisMy right hon. Friend receives frequent representations from outer London local education authorities on a wide range of issues.
On 16 January, I met representatives of inner and outer London boroughs specifically to discuss teacher recruitment. Since that meeting my right hon. Friend has published his proposals for teachers' pay in 2001–02. These take particular account of the need to help local education authorities recruit and retain teachers, and include a proposal to increase the outer London weighting allowance by 30 per cent. He has also published a Green Paper, "Schools: building on success", containing proposals that will help recruit and retain teachers generally.