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Assistant Heads

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate he has made of the number of teachers likely to be appointed to the post of assistant head in the first year of its operation. [131715]

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Ms Estelle Morris: Schools and, for centrally employed staff, LEAs will be free to appoint assistant headteachers as needed within their management structures, and within the resources they have available. Given the widely differing circumstances of individual schools, we have not attempted to estimate the total number likely to be appointed, although it is unlikely that any school will need a leadership group (including headteacher, deputy headteachers and assistant headteachers) of more than seven.

The DfEE will provide a grant of £2,356, comprising £2,000 plus 17.8 per cent. for national insurance and pension contributions, in academic year 2000-01 for all classroom teachers and advanced skills teachers appointed on a permanent basis by 31 December 2000 to assistant head teacher posts.

Agency and Supply Teachers

Mr. Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what his most recent assessment is of the proportion of teaching posts in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools, occupied by agency or supply teachers; and how many were so occupied for each of the last three years. [131719]

Ms Estelle Morris: The numbers of short-term (i.e. contracts of less than four weeks) agency or other supply teachers employed on the third Thursday in January 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 in the maintained nursery, primary and secondary sector in England are as follows:

	Nursery/primary	Secondary
January 1997
Number of agency/supply teachers	8,300	4,400
Percentage of all qualified teachers	4.2	2.3
January 1998
Number of agency/supply teachers	8,300	4,000
Percentage of all qualified teachers	4.2	2.1
January 1999
Number of agency/supply teachers	8,900	4,500
Percentage of all qualified teachers	4.5	2.3
January 2000
Number of agency/supply teachers	10,500	5,300
Percentage of all qualified teachers	5.2	2.7

Note:

Figures are rounded to the nearest 100

The numbers of short-term supply teachers employed will vary because of the effect of seasonal factors. Many local authorities explained that the growth in the January 2000 supply teachers was due to the flu epidemic.

There was a growth of 6,900 full-time equivalent regular teachers in the maintained schools sector between January 1998 and January 2000.

Sure Start

Mr. Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will make a statement on the impact of Sure Start in Waltham Forest. [132375]

Yvette Cooper: I have been asked to reply.

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Waltham Forest Sure Start received a grant of £1,772,200 from February 2000, and has begun to work towards the 12 demanding objectives in the Sure Start Public Service Agreement. The overall aim of the Sure Start programme in Waltham Forest is to give every child the best start in life. The impact of the programme will be assessed in a major evaluation programme which we expect to be under way later this year.

Teaching Costs

Mr. Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what the average cost is per year of employing a school teacher at (a) a primary school and (b) secondary school in the Greater London area. [132634]

Ms Estelle Morris: The estimated cost of employing a full-time school teacher (including heads and deputies) in the maintained nursery, primary and secondary sector in Greater London from 1 April 2000 is shown in the following table.

£

	Nursery/primary	Secondary
Average salary	26,900	28,500
Employer costs(1)	4,000	4,200
Total cost	30,900	£32,800

⁽¹⁾ Includes 7.5 per cent. National Insurance and 7.4 per cent. pension costs.

Note:

Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.

Investors in People

Miss McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment which organisation will be responsible for administering and awarding Investors in People from 1 April 2001. [132684]

Mr. Wicks: From 1 April 2001 the Learning and Skills Council will be responsible for Investors in People services including advice, client support, assessment and recognition services. For advice and support for small and medium sized organisations the LSC will contract with the Small Business Service.

Assessment and recognition services will be provided by Investors in People regional quality centres.

Departmental Staff

Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many unfilled vacancies for permanent staff his Department has; what percentage of staff positions in his Department are vacant; what the monthly cost would be to his Department of employing civil servants in these positions; how many and what percentage of staff his Department employs on a temporary basis through employment agencies; how much his Department paid employment agencies to supply temporary staff in each of the last 12 months; and how much he expects to pay employment agencies to supply temporary staff in each of the next 12 months. [131436]

Mr. Wills [holding answer 25 July 2000]: The Department is recruiting externally to fill 60 vacancies for permanent staff at present, across a range of grades, from administrative assistant to Senior Civil Service Band 2.

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There are also posts which are in the process of being filled by movement of existing staff (for example by promotion or lateral transfer) and which may be temporarily unfilled. The number varies daily but is commonly between 3 and 5 per cent. of total staff numbers.

The monthly cost to the Department of employing staff in the vacant positions currently being advertised is approximately £126,614.

The Department employs approximately 85 agency workers on an average working day, this figure is approximately 2 per cent. of the overall number of people employed by the Department.

The Department paid employment agencies approximately £104,166 each month in the last 12 months to supply temporary staff. The Department expects to pay employment agencies approximately £112,500 each month in the next 12 months to supply temporary staff.

Joint Venture Company (Leeds)

Mr. Gunnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment under what circumstances the services to be operated by the proposed joint venture company in Leeds will be returned to the sole control of the LEA. [132513]

Ms Estelle Morris [holding answer 25 July 2000]: Leeds City Council, the local education authority, will be responsible for ensuring that services to schools, pupils and parents in Leeds are delivered on its behalf to an agreed specification under the contractual arrangement with the proposed joint venture company. The joint venture company will take day-to-day responsibility for delivery, and will have the power to take the necessary operational decisions. The contract will be for a fixed period, not yet determined. Towards the end of the contract, the Secretary of State and Leeds City Council will need to come to a view on arrangements for the future delivery of relevant services.

Higher Education

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will project against annual Government spending plans to 2004 the real unit of resource per student in higher education on the assumption of (a) no increase in student numbers and (b) steady progress towards a target of 50 per cent. participation by young people. [132530]

Mr. Wicks [holding answer 25 July 2000]: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Employment last week announced an extra £100 million for higher education in 2001-02 on top of the increase announced in November 1999. Compared to 2000-01 the projected real-terms increase in unit cost per full-time equivalent student in 2001-02 if student numbers remained at 2000-01 levels, would be 2.2 per cent. If the number of students increases in line with plans for 2001-02, which are compatible with meeting the Government's target that 50 per cent. of 18 to 30-year-olds should have the opportunity to benefit from higher education by the end of the decade, then the real-terms unit cost will be about 0.5 per cent. above that in 2000-01. My right hon. Friend has yet to announce the allocation of funding for higher education for 2002-03 and 2003-04.

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Term-time Workers

Mr. Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will estimate the number of term-time only workers who are (a) women under 45, (b) women over 45, (c) men under 45 and (d) men over 45; and what is the average per capita annual income of each group. [132713]

Ms Estelle Morris: This information is not held centrally.

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