§ Dr. Julian LewisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps she is taking to encourage entry into the teaching profession in areas where the cost of living is high. [52574]
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§ Mr. TimmsThe Government have introduced a number of measures, including training bursaries and "golden hellos", to boost teacher recruitment nationally. These are already having an effect, and there are nearly 10.000 more teachers in post now compared to January 2001—the largest increase in a single year since the 1970s.
We have also reformed the teachers' pay system to ensure that those teachers who perform well are well rewarded. The introduction of the threshold for experienced teachers, leading to the upper pay scale, has provided a career structure which will allow our best classroom teachers, in time, to earn over £32,000 at today's rates, excluding additional allowances. And we have implemented cost of living pay rises at above inflation rates for all teachers in each of the last four years.
All teachers working in the London area are paid mandatory London allowances on top of their basic salary. These allowances were increased last year by 30 per cent. and are currently inner—£3,105; outer—£2,043; and fringe—£792. In addition, schools are able to pay recruitment and retention allowances to individual teachers of up to £5,262 per annum. Schools can decide to pay this as a lump sum covering up to three years.
It is open to local authorities to help teachers with housing, relocation and travel costs through the Recruitment and Retention Fund established by my Department. We have made £77 million available to 2003 for this purpose. And we have made £250 million available to 2004 to help key public sector workers, particularly nurses, teachers and police, to buy homes in or near the communities they serve through our starter home initiative scheme.