§ 13. Andy BurnhamTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement about future resources for the further education sector. [64408]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisBy next year funding for FE will have risen by 26 per cent. in real terms since 1997. The Learning and Skills Council's funding rates for programmes delivered by FE sector colleges are increasing by 2.5 per cent. in cash terms for the 2002–03 academic year, above the current rate of inflation. We are looking to the current spending review to deliver the resources needed to meet the Government's ambitions for further education in 2003–04 and beyond.
§ Mr. BattleTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what her Department's estimate is of the performance-related pay shortfall from the original budgeted announcement for further education staff in the colleges in Leeds. [45370]
§ Margaret HodgeMy Department does not publish data on the numbers of lecturers in individual colleges who are receiving particular payments under the Teaching Pay Initiative (TPI). This is because the distribution of TPI payments to teachers within individual colleges is properly a matter for the management of those colleges and their staff. However, distribution of TPI funds from the Learning and Skills Council to colleges is being monitored, and TPI is being evaluated at a national level. I am able to make the following information available.
For sixth form colleges, the size of TPI payments to individual teachers is prescribed as part of the initiative; the formula is the same as that applying to school teachers. The original announcement stated the Government expected that about two-thirds of teachers in sixth form colleges would qualify for payments of £2,000.
For general further education (FE) colleges, the size of payments to individual teachers is not prescribed as part of the initiative. In the original announcement the Government expected that over two thirds of teachers in general FE colleges would qualify for payments of up to £2,000, with 10 per cent. receiving career structure and initiative payments of up to £4,000. However, the announcement made it clear that colleges would have the flexibility to determine the precise levels of payments.
This is the first year of TPI and we are currently evaluating its impact on colleges. The Sixth Form Colleges' Employers' Forum estimates that, nationally, 84 per cent. of sixth form college teachers have already received payments of £2,000 in 2001–02. For general FE colleges, although no comparable figures are available, indications nationally are that progress has been much more gradual. The first case study evaluation report is due from the Association of Colleges in April.
481WIn Leeds, seven general FE and one sixth form college, have been allocated a total of £1,007,749 TPI support in 2001–02 as follows:
- Leeds College of Art and Design—£83,422
- Leeds College of Music—£49,498
- Joseph Priestley College—£72,539
- Leeds College of Building—£67,693
- Leeds College of Technology—£102,195
- Thomas Danby College—£162,238
- Park lane College—£339,611
- Notre Dame Sixth Form College—£130,553.
In 2002–03 allocations to each college will increase by between 25 per cent. and 50 per cent. Further increases to the TPI budget are planned for 2003–04. These increases will enable colleges to extend TPI payments to teachers who meet the criteria for the first time. The increases should also enable general FE colleges to review the size of payments offered to individual staff and to consolidate these payments where they have not already done so.
§ Mr. PikeTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many post-16 students went on to further education in(a) Burnley and (b) Lancashire in 2001. [65544]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisData on the percentage of students staying on in full-time education are not calculated for areas smaller than LEAs as reliable estimates cannot be made.
The percentage of 16 and 17-year-olds in full-time education in Lancashire LEA, which includes the constituency of Burnley, in 1999–2000, the latest year for which figures are available, is set out in the table:
Lancashire LEA, 1999–2000 Percentage Age Full-time education Part-time education 16 66 8 17 56 10 Participation rates by LEA are published in an annual statistical bulletin, "Participation in Education and Training by Young People Aged 16 and 17 in Each Local Area and Region, England".
§ 23. Ian LucasTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps she is taking to improve recruitment and retention of further education lecturers. [64418]
§ Mr. Ivan LewisWe are investing more than £300 million in the Teaching Pay Initiative (TPI). TPI is an important initiative designed to help modernise further education (FE) pay arrangements and to recruit, reward and retain teachers and lecturers as part of the drive to improve teaching and learning.
Alongside TPI, we are piloting Training Bursaries for students training to be FE teachers. From the autumn of 2002, we will also introduce Golden Hello payments and, subject to the approval of Parliament, a scheme to pay off, over time, the student loans of new teachers in FE shortage subject areas.