HC Deb 26 October 2001 vol 373 c469W
Mr. Damian Green

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many extra full-time qualified teachers have been recruited into the profession since 1997. [8899]

Mr. Timms

[holding answer 19 October 2001]: The number of full-time qualified regular teachers in the maintained schools sector in England increased by 3,650 between January 1997 and January 2001. Full-time and part-time qualified regular teachers rose by 8,310 (fte) during the same period.

Chris Grayling

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if the Government will provide additional financial support to Surrey county council to help it to tackle teacher shortages. [8833]

Mr. Timms

The Government have put in place a £33 million recruitment and retention fund to help schools to put in place local recruitment and retention initiatives. In 2000–01, Surrey received £650,000 from the recruitment and retention fund. We are currently working on the allocation of funding for 2002–03 and will make an announcement in due course.