HC Deb 29 April 2004 vol 420 c1275W
Mr. Benton

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teacher vacancies there were in Bootle on the latest date for which figures are available; and what steps he is taking to reduce them. [169179]

Mr. Miliband

Information on teacher vacancies is not available by constituency as it is collected at local education authority level. In January 2003, the latest information available, there were 10 full-time teacher vacancies in Sefton local education authority.

Like other areas, since 1997 Sefton has benefited from the initiatives that the Government have put in place to recruit and retain teachers and to increase the number of staff supporting them in schools. Since 1997, the number of full-time equivalent regular teachers in maintained schools in Sefton LEA has risen by 120, from 2,540 to 2,660 in 2003. Over the same period, the number of full-time equivalent school support staff in the area has grown by 540 from 780 to 1,320 in 2003.

Mr. Collins

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teacher vacancies there were in each subject in(a) primary, (b) secondary, (c) special and (d) all schools in each year since 1997, broken down by local education authority; and if he will express these figures as percentages of all teachers. [167569]

Mr. Miliband

The information requested has been placed in the Libraries.