HC Deb 30 April 2003 vol 404 cc420-3W
Jon Trickett

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many supply teachers are working in(a) the Hemsworth constituency and (b) England; [109862]

(2) what percentage supply teachers represent of the total number of teachers in (a) the Hemsworth constituency and (b) England. [109863]

Mr. Miliband

The information is not available at constituency level.

Occasional teacher numbers (teachers on contracts of less than a month who were in service for the whole of the survey date) in the maintained schools sector in England are shown in table 17 of the January 2002 edition of Statistics of Education: School Workforce in England. This table shows data for January 2002, the most recent available. A copy of this volume has been placed in the Library. The table is also available on the statistics section of the DfES website at: www.dfes.gov.uk/statistics/DB/VOL/v0380/456-t17.htm.

The following table shows occasional teachers as a percentage of the full-time equivalent number of teachers in the maintained sector at January 20021. The table shows figures for Wakefield local education authority because constituency level figures are not available.

1 January 2002 is the most recent information currently available.
Wakefield England
Regular teachers1 2,750 419,620
Occasional teachers2 50 17,470
All teachers 2,800 437,100
Occasional teachers as percentage of all teachers 1.8 4.0
1 All teachers (FTE) on contracts of a month or more in service on the survey date (17 January 2002).
2 Teachers on contracts of less than one month in service for the whole of the day on the survey date.

Note:

Teacher numbers are rounded to the nearest 10.

Source:

DfES annual 618G survey.

Mr. Willis

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many supply teachers were provided each month, broken down by(a) LEA and (b) teacher supply agency in (i) 2000–01, (ii) 2001–02 and (iii) 2002 to present. [110055]

Mr. Miliband

This information is not collected centrally.

Occasional teacher numbers (teachers on contracts of less than a month who were in service for the whole of the survey date) in the maintained schools sector in England are shown in table 17 of the January 2002 edition of Statistics of Education: School Workforce in England. This table shows data for January 2002, the most recent available. A copy of this volume has been placed in the Library. The table is also available on the statistics section of the DfES website at: www.dfes.gov.uk/statistics/DBA/OL/v0380/456-t17.htm.

Mr. Damian Green

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of teachers in England employed in(a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools are (i) under and including the age of 35 and (ii) over the age of 35 years. [110128]

Mr. Miliband

The proportion of full time teachers in the maintained sector by age1 and phase at March 20011 are given in the following table.

Percentage of teachers by age
Phase 34 and under 35 and over
Nursery and primary 34 66
Secondary 30 70
1 Age as at 31 March.

Notes:

1.Figures are rounded.

2. Data are provisional. 2001 is the most recent year for which these data are available.

Mr. Paul Marsden

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers were subjected to(a) verbal and (b) physical attacks in schools in Shrewsbury and Atcham in the last year. [109673]

Mr. Stephen Twigg

The Department does not collect this information. Recording of such incidents will depend on local reporting procedures.

Mr. Damian Green

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers have been attacked by(a) pupils and (b) parents, broken down by education authority, in each academic year since 1997. [110123]

Mr. Stephen Twigg

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 23 October 2002,Official Report, column 385W.

Mr. Damian Green

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teachers have been dismissed from their posts since June 2001. [110126]

Mr. Miliband

This information is not collected centrally.

Mr. Damian Green

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many(a) head teachers, (b) deputy head teachers, (c) teachers and (d) classroom assistants have been suspended for misconduct from (i) primary, (ii) secondary, (iii) special and (iv) all schools in each year since 1997, broken down by local education authority. [110120]

Mr. Miliband

The Department does not collect this information.

Mr. Damian Green

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what estimate his Department has made of the amount of time spent by(a) deputy head teachers and (b) classroom assistants (i) reading and (ii) acting on circulars issued by his Department in each year since 1997; [110115]

(2) what estimate he has made of the amount of time spent by head teachers dealing with (a) Government-produced circulars and (b) other work, expressed as a proportion of total time worked by head teachers, in each year since 1997: [110116]

(3) what estimate he has made of the amount of time spent by classroom assistants dealing with (a) Government-produced circulars and (b) other work, expressed as a proportion of total time worked by classroom assistants, in each year since 1997; [110117]

(4) what estimate he has made of the amount of time spent by teachers dealing with (a) Government-produced circulars and (b) other work, expressed as a proportion of total time worked by teachers, in each year since 1997; [110118]

(5) what estimate he has made of the amount of time spent by deputy head teachers dealing with (a) Government-produced circulars and (b) other work, expressed as a proportion of total time worked by deputy head teachers, in each year since 1997. [110119]

Mr. Miliband

My Department does not hold the information requested.

The National Agreement on workload and standards, which was signed in January 2003, was a landmark event in terms of tackling teachers' and head teachers' workload; and enabling them to focus on the core professional activities that make the most impact in raising standards in schools. The signatories to the Agreement, including unions and employers, are now ensuring that it becomes a reality in schools. From this September, for example, a range of administrative activities that have routinely been undertaken by teachers will be transferred to support staff and information and communications technology. Resources are being made available to enable schools to recruit at least an additional 50,000 full-time equivalent support staff over the lifetime of this Parliament.

We are committed to streamlining the flow of information to schools. We have put in place rigorous controls on the number of documents automatically sent to all schools and have achieved significant reductions. We plan to cut mailings by a further 50 per cent. in the 2002–03 academic year.

In addition, we recently announced the establishment of an Implementation Review Unit. Made up of front line practitioners—the great majority serving head teachers—the Unit will review the workload implications of Government policies, and seek to remove any unnecessary paperwork and bureaucratic burdens.