§ Mr. JackTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether the costs for every local education authority's performance-related pay expenditure for 2004–05 will be funded in full by government grant, including the on-going costs arising from performance awards in earlier years. [136889]
§ Mr. MilibandThe threshold performance payments made by schools are refunded in full by the Department, including for on-costs. In 2003–04 we are also contributing a further £205 million towards other performance-related payments to teachers, principally to help meet the costs of the upper pay scale. This will be sufficient to meet all schools' continuing commitments arising from the performance-related pay grant provided in 2002–03 and will support the costs of similar progress along the Upper Pay Scale for those teachers becoming eligible for performance points in September 2003.
For 2004–05, the £205 million we have allocated this year will be uprated at least in line with the headline pay settlement. And if proper arrangements for point 3 of the upper pay scale can be settled with the stakeholders, additional resources will be allocated from September 2004.