§ Mr. CatonTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the effect the pay and conditions of service of further education lecturers has on her strategy for raising standards in the further education sector. [65076]
§ Margaret HodgeAs independent organisations it is for further education (FE) colleges to agree the pay and the terms and conditions of their staff within the context of the overall resources available to them.
Extra resources have been made available to FE colleges to support improvements in pay and conditions and to help raise standards in colleges. The total funding for FE has increased by over £1.1 billion between 1997–98 and 2002–03, a 20 per cent. real terms increase. In 2002–03, the Learning and Skills Council has increased colleges' participation funding rates by 2.5 per cent. in cash terms, compared to a 1.5 per cent. increase in 2001–02. We planned to increase total spend on FE by over £300 million in 2003–04. However, the Chancellor's statement of 15 July giving additional resources for education, including a 1 per cent. per annum real terms increase for FE in the unit of core funding, will mean more money in 2003–04 than originally planned, and further real terms increases in future years. We also expect to announce in due course substantial additional resources to take forward elements of the "Success for All" strategy for reforming further education and training.
771WAs part of the overall funding allocation, we are investing more than £300 million in the Teaching Pay Initiative (TPI) to help modernise FE pay arrangements and to recruit, reward and retain teachers and lecturers as part of our drive to improve teaching and learning. We want to see all staff in the sector have a more attractive career structure, increased rewards for their efforts, and support for continuing professional training and development. Developing excellence in teaching and leadership is a key goal in our strategy for reforming the FE sector.