§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teacher vacancies there were in Buckingham on the latest date for which figures are available; and what steps he is taking to reduce them. [161317]
§ Mr. MilibandThe information is not available in the form requested. In January 2003, there were 47 vacancies for full-time teachers in maintained schools in the Buckinghamshire Local Education Authority (LEA) area, which includes Buckingham.
Like other areas, since 1997 Buckingham 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 the former Buckinghamshire LEA area has risen by 770, from 5,370 to 6,140 in 2003. Over the same period, the number of full-time equivalent school support staff in the area has grown by 1,270, from 1,880 to 3,150.