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Private Finance Initiative (Bolton)

Mr. Thurnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what decision has been reached concerning funding by the private finance initiative for the Caste Hill site in Bolton; and if she will make a statement. [19015]

Mr. Robin Squire: Bolton local education authority is assessing the feasibility of using the private finance initiative to take forward a project to build a replacement primary school and community facilities on the Castle Hill site. It is for the authority to decide whether the PFI offers the best value for money for the project.

I am encouraged by the amount of interest that has been shown by local education authorities in the PFI to date. There are currently 15 pathfinder projects across the schools sector, including LEA, grant-maintained and voluntary-aided schools. There is a wide range of projects: examples include replacement secondary and primary schools and grouped projects for catering, information technology equipment and energy management facilities.

Enborne Lodge School

Mr. Rendel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to her answers of 4 March 1997, Official Report, columns 557-58, if the proceeds of the sale of Enborne Lodge school will be divided according to the provisions in force at the time of the decision to sell or those in force at the time of the sale itself. [19952]

Mrs. Gillan: A final decision on the interpretation of legislation would be a matter for the courts. Subject to that, however, my right hon. Friend considers that the provisions which would apply would be those in force at the time of any sale. Proposals by the Association of London Government which would affect the arrangements for sharing the proceeds from disposal of certain former Inner London education authority property are at present under consideration.

Teachers' Pay

Mr. Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the outcome of the consultation on her proposals to accept the School Teachers Review Body's recommendations for a 3.3 per cent. increase for teachers. [20614]

Mrs. Gillian Shephard: I am today confirming that I am accepting the School Teachers Review Body's recommendation to increase teachers' pay by 3.3 per cent. This award will be staged so that teachers will receive 2 per cent. on 1 April 1997 and the remainder on 1 December 1997. I will lay an order before Parliament which will give the values of the new spine points, scale and allowances with effect from 1 April 1997 and 1 December 1997.

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I am writing to the teacher associations, the National Employers Organisation for School Teachers and the head teachers and chairmen of governors of all schools in England and Wales notifying them of my decision. Officials will be writing to other interested parties.

I am announcing my confirmation of the pay award immediately because I want teachers to receive the first stage of their pay increase as soon as possible after 1 April 1997.

I have received a number of representations about the level of the award and the staging of it and considered them carefully. The Government have decided to stage the pay awards for all the review body groups this year. Staging will make it possible to accommodate the costs within spending plans without prejudicing the planned level of service delivery. In addition, staging reflects the Government's view that settlements should be lower this year both generally throughout the public sector and specifically for the pay review body groups. I believe that phasing the increase will make it more manageable for local education authorities and schools.

I have also decided to confirm my other proposals listed, which will come into force from 1 September 1997 by means of revisions to the "School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document":

(i) the STPCD should be amended to make it clear that sick leave should count as a period of service for the purpose of the award of experience points, but that the award of such points for absences from duty other than for holiday periods and maternity leave should be discretionary;


(ii) within one month of the commencement of a period of absence of a head or a deputy the governing body should be required to consider whether payment of an acting allowance would be appropriate to an individual who is called upon to act as the head or deputy;


(iii) the level of an acting allowance should ensure that the individual receives remuneration equivalent to an appropriate point on the pay spine for heads and deputies, not less than the minimum of the normal range for the school group but not necessarily the same as for a substantive postholder whose salary may reflect factors particular to the individual;


(iv) individuals acting as heads or deputies and in receipt of an acting allowance should be regarded during that time as having the conditions of employment of the post for which they are temporarily being paid;


(v) where teachers in charge of Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) are paid as heads they should be subject to the conditions of employment of heads; and


(vi) where other centrally-based teachers are paid as heads or deputies their conditions of employment should be agreed on a separate contractual basis.

I also confirm the following proposals which are not statutory recommendations because they will not in themselves require changes to be made to the STPCD 1996:

(i) that appropriate guidance should be included in the DfEE Circular on the application and management of the obligation of teachers to provide cover for absent colleagues, and the importance of effective management and monitoring of teacher absence;


(ii) guidance should be provided in the DfEE's pay Circular which makes it clear that an acting allowance should be paid from, or backdated to, the time that the individual is called upon to perform functions that require the full authority of the post to be exercised, for example formulating aims and policies or appointing staff;

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(iii) the Circular which accompanies the School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document should include guidance based on the presumption that teachers in charge of PRUs should be paid as headteachers unless local circumstances make clear this is inappropriate, for example where the PRU is particularly small or part of an organisational structure which makes it different from other PRUs.

Finally, on the STRB's recommendation that teacher governors should not be members of committees which determine the individual levels of pay of heads and deputies at their own school, I decided not to take a decision until after consultation. The arguments are balanced; I have now decided that the question will be considered further in the context of the review of the school government regulations. This will leave the matter as one for local discretion for the time being.

Learning Credits

Mr. Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans she has for the implementation of learning credits; and if she will make a statement. [20615]

Mr. Paice: The White Paper "Learning to Compete", Cm 3486, published in December 1996 set out the Government's intention to introduce, progressively from September 1997, a new learning credits entitlement for all young people aged 14 to 21 to career planning and learning opportunities up to level 3. This will clarify and make more coherent young people's entitlement to post-16 learning and career planning, and increase still further their participation, motivation and attainment. Learning credits will be issued nationally from Easter 1998 to all 16-year-olds completing compulsory education.

The consultation document "A Passport to Learning" published alongside the White Paper sought views on how learning credits should be implemented and their scope for further development.

The Government's proposals have been warmly welcomed by respondents across the education and training worlds.

The new learning credits entitlement includes:

an improved entitlement to two weeks' work experience pre-16;

enhanced careers education and guidance from 14;

a new national record of achievement from 14;

access by age 21 to learning opportunities leading, where appropriate, to level 3 qualifications; and

continuing independent advice from the careers service post-16.

The effective delivery of this entitlement will require the active partnership of careers services, training and enterprise councils, the Further Education Funding Council, local education authorities, schools, colleges and training providers.

In taking forward learning credits through local partnerships, the Government believe that careers services should have the central role in delivering the learning credits entitlement. From September 1997 they will be responsible for a range of tasks including:

issuing learning credits to those entering year 11;

preparing young people in years 9 and 10, through group sessions, for learning credits;

informing parents and schools about learning credits; and

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providing extra help to those young people requiring further advice on how to use the learning credit.

I am allocating £5.5 million to careers services for 1997-98 to enable them to fulfil these roles.

The Government have decided that, initially, the learning credit will be in the form of a simple card which will be made available to all young people completing their compulsory education from Easter 1998. The experience of training and enterprise councils in delivering youth credits has shown that such cards can be a very effective mechanism for focusing young people on the range of options open to them.

Learning credits will be made available to all young people. They will build on the best of youth credits arrangements. We intend to consider the potential for developing the card further to form the basis of systems for tracking more effectively how young people progress in post-16 learning. This should lead to improvements in planning, and contribute to evaluation of the effectiveness of learning provision and of the guidance process.

The year 1997-98--the first year of learning credits--will be a transitional year. Careers education and guidance will be targeted, so that young people in their final year of compulsory education are advised how to use their credit effectively. In future years young people will receive this advice and guidance within a structured and coherent careers education, guidance and information package spanning years 10 and 11.

Youth credits will be relevant to the transitional arrangements. Training and enterprise councils will be able, for 1997-98, either to adopt the national learning credits format from the outset or to continue with their current youth credit arrangements for the work-based route.

More detailed guidance covering the implementation of learning credits will be made available to the key partners shortly.

"A Passport to Learning" generated a great deal of interest in the potential for links to be developed between learning credits and the national record of achievement and lifetime learning. The Government will continue to reflect on these ideas.

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