§ Mr. DrewTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on funding arrangements for staff in FE, with special reference to pay and enhanced training. [8580]
§ Margaret HodgeThe total funding allocated for further education this year is just over £4 billion, rising to £4.3 billion in 2002–03. Colleges make their own arrangements for staff pay and conditions within the funding available to them from the Learning and Skills Council and other sources.
We are investing £300 million in the Teaching Pay Initiative (TPI) over the next three years to allow colleges to reward high-quality teaching. An additional £5 million is available for TPI in 2002–03 to support modernising pay arrangements. Payments under TPI are separate from any general pay rise a teacher may receive.
£80 million is available to colleges (including sixth form colleges) this year from the Standards Fund, and £90 million next year, to support the professional development of existing staff and for the initial training of unqualified new entrants to the profession.
§ Mr. Alan SimpsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what(a) number and (b) proportion of further education colleges employ lecturing staff on banded pay scales that prevent progress to the top of the main grade lecturer scale. [6669]
§ John HealeyThe Department does not collect this information.
FE sector colleges are run by independent corporations established under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 and there is no national pay structure in place. Colleges are free to establish banded pay scales where these meet their needs and can be agreed with their staff. We continue to encourage employers and unions to work together to offer further education staff reasonable pay within the substantial extra funding that has been made available for the FE sector.