§ Mr. HoramTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 6 May 2004,Official Report, column 1760W, on key workers, what evidence he has that (a) school teachers and (b) further education lecturers leave London when they want to start a family. [179762]
§ Mr. MilibandResearch reports commissioned by the ODPM and undertaken by Wilcox and PA Consulting concluded that key worker affordability is at its worst in London and the South East; the areas of the country with the highest house prices. Available evidence suggests that a significant problem for key worker employers is the retention of more experienced/older key workers. Each year, 3,800 teachers (school and FE) leave teaching in London, the South East and East for reasons strongly associated with housing. We therefore determined that our highest priority should be that set of London teachers identified in the London Challenge strategy document as "leaders of the future', who currently leave London teaching in order to afford family homes elsewhere. This group numbers around 500 each year. Second priority is the next group of London teachers (school and FE)—numbering some 1,750, and the third priority is the remaining group of 1,550, largely outside London. We were clear that teachers in our target groups are largely looking for homes to buy, not rent. For our highest priority group, family homes are the issue.