§ Mr. WattsTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what action the Government are taking to improve the level of retention of academic staff in community colleges. [62254]
§ Margaret HodgeOver £310 million is available to the further education sector over the period 2001–04 for the teaching pay initiative, specifically to recruit, retain and reward high quality teachers and lecturers. This is separate to any general pay increase a teacher or lecturer may receive. We have also introduced training bursaries, and from this autumn we will be introducing golden hellos and (subject to the approval of Parliament) the repayment of teacher loans. All are recruitment and retention initiatives which offer significant financial rewards both to students training to be teachers and lecturers, as well as to those taking up teaching posts in FE shortage subject areas.