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Teachers (Upper Salary Scale)
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimates his Department has made of the number of teachers who would qualify to transfer to the upper salary scale proposed in his recent Green Paper,"Teachers: Meeting the Challenge of Change". [68529]
Ms Estelle Morris: In order to pass the new performance threshold proposed in the Green Paper "Teachers: Meeting the Challenge of Change" (Cm 4164), teachers would have to demonstrate that they had consistently achieved national standards centred on strong classroom performance. The number of teachers transferring to the upper salary spine will depend on the outcomes of individual assessments against these national standards. The Government expect that, over time, a majority of teachers will be of a standard to pass the threshold if they wish to do so.
Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment whether supply teachers will be eligible to apply for the performance assessment for transfer to the upper salary scale proposed in his recent Green Paper; and who would be responsible for carrying out such an assessment. [68526]
Ms Estelle Morris: The Technical Consultation Document on Pay and Performance Management following up the Green Paper "Teachers: Meeting the Challenge of Change" was published today. In it we confirm that unattached teachers and supply teachers employed by the local education authority will be able to apply for threshold assessment provided that they have reached spine point 9 for qualifications and experience and if they can demonstrate that they meet the national threshold standards. Normally, their applications would be assessed by the relevant head, teacher in charge or senior manager with appropriate line management responsibility, and validated by an external assessor. In exceptional circumstances, the teacher may need to apply direct to the external assessor through the local education authority.
Mrs. May:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate his Department has made of the additional cost to the teachers' salary bill of (a) 25 per cent., (b) 50 per cent. and (c) 75 per cent. of teachers progressing to the upper salary scale proposed in his recent Green Paper. [68528]
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Ms Estelle Morris:
The Green Paper "Teachers: Meeting the Challenge of Change" proposes that teachers successful at the new performance threshold could receive a salary increase of up to 10 per cent. It would be for governing bodies to decide, on the advice of the head, where on the upper pay spine to place teachers who had passed the threshold assessment, assigned on a combination of excellent performance and extra responsibility. This decision will determine the exact salary level for each teacher.
As estimated 220,000 full-time equivalent teachers in England will have reached spine point nine for qualifications and experience by September 1999 and will therefore be eligible to apply for assessment at the performance threshold to the new upper pay spine.
For every £1,000 of average salary increase, the annual paybill cost of 25 per cent. or 50 per cent. or 75 per cent. passing would be some £65 million or £125 million or £190 million respectively.
Mrs. May:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what role he proposes for the School Teachers' Review Body in determining salaries for teachers on the upper salary scale proposed in his recent Green Paper. [68527]
Ms Estelle Morris:
Following the outcome of the consultation on the Green Paper "Teachers: Meeting the Challenge of Change", the Secretary of State will be asking the School Teachers' Review Body to make recommendations which would also cover the values of pay points on the proposed upper salary spine.
Mr. Don Foster:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will introduce regulations to prevent local authorities from funding the cost of any redundancies amongst local authority staff, arising from reduced use of local authority services by schools under the Government's Fair Funding proposals, from the Individual Schools Budget; and if he will make a statement. [68219]
Ms Estelle Morris:
The statutory guidance on school financing schemes recently issued by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State does not envisage that redundancy costs should be met from schools' budget shares where the staff in question were not school-based. There would therefore seem to be no reason why local education authorities should wish to include provision for such costs in their Individual Schools Budgets. The Financing of Maintained Schools Regulations 1999 permit the central retention by LEAs of funds to meet redundancy costs which are not properly chargeable to individual schools.
Mrs. May:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what consultation he has undertaken with and what representations he has received from (a) the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, (b) the teacher trade unions, (c) examination boards, (d) employers' organisations and (e) further and higher education institutions, on the principle of the establishment of digital broadcasting services to support the GCSE curriculum. [68214]
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Mr. Charles Clarke:
The potential role of digital broadcasting services was raised in consultation on the National Grid for Learning, launched in October 1997. As well as being publicly available, the consultation document ("Connecting the Learning Society") was widely distributed, including to the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), teacher organisations, further and higher education institutions and examination boards, and employer organisations. DfEE received almost 1,000 responses to the consultation. The outcomes of consultation were published in 'The Grid--Your Views', and are available on the Internet at http://www.vtc.ngfl.gov.uk/vtc/library/pub.html.
Mrs. May:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment from which budgetary head funds will be made available for the provision of specific digital broadcasting services to support the GCSE curriculum. [68217]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
Funds for any educational broadcasting service to support the GCSE curriculum will be paid from programme expenditure within DfEE's expenditure limit.
Mrs. May:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many schools currently have facilities to enable the reception of digital broadcasting services; and what is his estimate of how many will have such facilities by the end of (a) 2000, (b) 2001 and (c) 2002. [68216]
Mr. Charles Clarke:
Such equipment is only now becoming available and schools may deploy resources within the National Grid for Learning Standards Fund Grant to make appropriate purchases. Take-up will be assessed in the 1999 DfEE survey of information and communications technology (ICT) in schools.
Mrs. May:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to his answer of 3 December 1998, Official Report, column 244, if he will make a statement on the appointment of adjudicators as provided under the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. [68531]
Ms Estelle Morris:
I refer to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Employment on Thursday 28 January 1999, Official Report, column 480.
Mr. Swayne:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement about the role of the Advisory Committee members of the Equal Opportunities Commission; and what remuneration members of the Committee receive. [68521]
Ms Hodge:
The Equal Opportunities Commission is an executive non-Departmental public body established under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 with a statutory remit to work towards the elimination of discrimination, to promote equality of opportunity between men and women, and to keep under review the workings of the Sex Discrimination Act and the Equal Pay Act 1970. It is not
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an Advisory Committee. The Commission comprises up to 15 Commissioners. The Chair's salary for 1998-99 was set at £48,930. The two Deputy Chairs receive a daily fee of £237. Other Commissioners receive a daily fee of £123.
Mr. Fallon:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on how many occasions he has made use of Chevening House; and how many of these occasions have included (a) official Government business and (b) the reception of official visitors. [66006]
Mr. Robin Cook:
The running costs of Chevening House and Estate are borne not by the Government but by the Chevening Trust. I meet the costs of food, drink and laundry for myself, my family and private guests.
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