§ Mrs. BrowningTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans she has to address the difference in pay between teachers in secondary schools and lecturers in further education colleges. [36011]
§ Margaret Hodge[holding answer 13 February 2002]: We are aware of the differences between salaries in general further education colleges, sixth form colleges and schools and this issue is being considered as part of the current spending review.
As independent organisations, it is for each college to agree annual pay rises and conditions of employment with its staff in the context of the overall resources available to them. This year alone, an additional £527 million is available for FE, a 12 per cent. real terms increase on last year. Funding will increase again next year by a further three per cent. This compares with the period between 1993–94 and 1996–97 when FE funding per FTE student fell by 12 per cent. in real terms. As part of the planned increases, we are investing more than £300 million in the Teaching Pay Initiative between 2001 and 2004 to allow colleges, including sixth form colleges, to reward high quality teaching. This is separate to any general pay rise a teacher may receive.