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Teacher Recruitment

Mr. Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment she has made of the future recruitment of teachers in Gloucestershire; and if she will make a statement. [9008]

Mr. Timms: Local education authorities themselves are best placed to assess the future demand for teachers in their areas. Like other authorities, Gloucestershire will continue to benefit from the measures to promote teacher recruitment and retention that the Government have put in place. Between January 1997 and January 2001, the number of full-time equivalent regular teachers working in maintained schools in Gloucestershire rose by 270, from 4,410 to 4,680. During the same period, the number of full-time teacher vacancies in the county remained unchanged at 14.

Special Schools

Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many special schools closed in (a) 1995, (b) 1996, (c) 1997, (d) 1998, (e) 1999, (f) 2000 and (g) 2001 to date. [8891]

Mr. Timms: The number of special schools that have closed each year since 1995 are:

Year	Number of special schools closed
1995	23
1996	28
1997	32
1998	35
1999	35
2000	33
2001	22
Total	208

19 Oct 2001 : Column: 1387W

Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many special schools have closed in each local education authority since 1997. [8892]

Mr. Timms: The number of special schools that have closed in each local education authority since 1997 are:

Local education authority
Barking and Dagenham	3
Barnet	1
Barnsley	3
Bath and North East Somerset	0
Bedfordshire	1
Bexley	0
Birmingham	5
Blackburn with Darwen	2
Blackpool	0
Bolton	2
Bournemouth	1
Bracknell Forest	0
Bradford	1
Brent	0
Brighton and Hove	0
Bristol City of	1
Bromley	0
Buckinghamshire	2
Bury	1
Calderdale	0
Cambridgeshire	1
Camden	0
Cheshire	2
City of London	0
Cornwall	0
Coventry	0
Croydon	0
Cumbria	0
Darlington	0
Derby	0
Derbyshire	3
Devon	0
Doncaster	0
Dorset	0
Dudley	0
Durham	1
Ealing	0
East Riding of Yorkshire	0
East Sussex	1
Enfield	0
Essex	7
Gateshead	4
Gloucestershire	5
Greenwich	5
Hackney	1
Halton	0
Hammersmith and Fulham	0
Hampshire	3
Haringey	0
Harrow	1
Hartlepool	1
Havering	0
Herefordshire	0
Hertfordshire	2
Hillingdon	0
Hounslow	0
Isle of Wight	0
Isles Of Scilly	0
Islington	1
Kensington and Chelsea	0
Kent	5
Kingston upon Hull City of	1
Kingston upon Thames	0
Kirklees	1
Knowsley	0
Lambeth	2
Lancashire	1
Leeds	4
Leicester	1
Leicestershire	0
Lewisham	0
Lincolnshire	0
Liverpool	2
Luton	0
Manchester	4
Medway	0
Merton	1
Middlesbrough	2
Milton Keynes	0
Newcastle upon Tyne	11
Newham	0
Norfolk	0
North East Lincolnshire	0
North Lincolnshire	0
North Somerset	1
North Tyneside	0
North Yorkshire	0
Northamptonshire	2
Northumberland	1
Nottingham	0
Nottinghamshire	1
Oldham	3
Oxfordshire	0
Peterborough	1
Plymouth	0
Poole	0
Portsmouth	0
Reading	0
Redbridge	0
Redcar and Cleveland	0
Richmond upon Thames	0
Rochdale	0
Rotherham	0
Rutland	0
Salford	3
Sandwell	10
Sefton	0
Sheffield	2
Shropshire	0
Slough	1
Solihull	0
Somerset	0
South Gloucestershire	2
South Tyneside	0
Southampton	0
Southend-on-Sea	0
Southwark	0
St. Helens	0
Staffordshire	1
Stockport	3
Stockton-on-Tees	0
Stoke-on-Trent	1
Suffolk	1
Sunderland	0
Surrey	1
Sutton	0
Swindon	0
Tameside	1
Telford and Wrekin	2
Thurrock	0
Torbay	0
Tower Hamlets	2
Trafford	3
Wakefield	4
Walsall	1
Waltham Forest	1
Wandsworth	2
Warrington	0
Warwickshire	3
West Berkshire	0
West Sussex	0
Westminster	0
Wigan	5
Wiltshire	1
Windsor and Maidenhead	0
Wirral	0
Wokingham	0
Wolverhampton	0
Worcestershire	0
York	0

19 Oct 2001 : Column: 1389W

Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many vacancies there are in special schools by (a) local education authority and (b) constituency. [8895]

Mr. Timms: Information on vacancies by constituency is not held centrally. The numbers of vacancies in January 2001 for full-time teachers in special schools by local education authority are as follows:

	Vacancies
Darlington	0
Hartlepool	0
Middlesbrough	0
Redcar and Cleveland	0
Stockton on Tees	0
Durham	0
Northumberland	0
Gateshead	1
Newcastle upon Tyne	0
North Tyneside	0
South Tyneside	0
Sunderland	0
Blackburn with Darwen	0
Blackpool	0
Halton	0
Warrington	1
Cheshire	2
Cumbria	0
Bolton	0
Bury	0
Manchester	0
Oldham	1
Rochdale	0
Salford	0
Stockport	1
Tameside	0
Trafford	0
Wigan	1
Lancashire	4
Knowsley	1
Liverpool	0
St. Helens	0
Sefton	4
Wirral	4
East Riding of Yorkshire	0
City of Kingston Upon Hull	0
North East Lincolnshire	0
North Lincolnshire	0
York	1
North Yorkshire	1
Barnsley	0
Doncaster	1
Rotherham	0
Sheffield	0
Bradford	0
Calderdale	0
Kirklees	0
Leeds	1
Wakefield	3
Derby	0
Leicester	6
Nottingham	5
Rutland	0
Derbyshire	2
Leicestershire	0
Lincolnshire	2
Northamptonshire	4
Nottinghamshire	0
Herefordshire	0
Stoke on Trent	2
Telford and Wrekin	0
Shropshire	0
Staffordshire	3
Warwickshire	3
Birmingham	2
Coventry	0
Dudley	2
Sandwell	6
Solihull	2
Walsall	0
Wolverhampton	3
Worcestershire	2
Luton	0
Peterborough	0
Southend on Sea	0
Thurrock	1
Bedfordshire	5
Cambridgeshire	0
Essex	5
Hertfordshire	5
Norfolk	4
Suffolk	1
Camden	2
City of London	0
Hackney	5
Hammersmith and Fulham	6
Haringey	2
Islington	5
Kensington and Chelsea	1
Lambeth	6
Lewisham	3
Newham	2
Southwark	5
Tower Hamlets	6
Wandsworth	6
City of Westminster	2
Barking and Dagenham	1
Barnet	4
Bexley	3
Brent	0
Bromley	2
Croydon	2
Ealing	0
Enfield	3
Greenwich	2
Harrow	2
Havering	0
Hillingdon	6
Hounslow	0
Kingston upon Thames	2
Merton	5
Redbridge	0
Richmond upon Thames	3
Sutton	0
Waltham Forest	0
Bracknell Forest	1
Brighton and Hove	2
Isle of Wight	0
Medway	5
Milton Keynes	2
Portsmouth	3
Reading	4
Slough	3
Southampton	1
West Berkshire	1
Windsor and Maidenhead	4
Wokingham	3
Buckinghamshire	5
East Sussex	1
Hampshire	8
Kent	23
Oxfordshire	0
Surrey	17
West Sussex	6
Bath and North East Somerset	1
Bournemouth	0
City of Bristol	0
North Somerset	0
Plymouth	0
Poole	2
South Gloucestershire	0
Swindon	2
Torbay	1
Cornwall	0
Isles of Scilly	0
Devon	2
Dorset	2
Gloucestershire	3
Somerset	0
Wiltshire	0
England	280

19 Oct 2001 : Column: 1391W

Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many special schools have closed in each parliamentary constituency since 1997. [8893]

Mr. Timms: The numbers of special schools that have closed in each parliamentary constituency since 1997 are contained in tables, copies of which have been placed in the Library.

Teacher Vacancies

Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many schools have approached the Government with difficulties over filling teacher vacancies (a) this year and (b) since July. [8896]

Mr. Timms: We do not keep detailed records on this, but the number of schools would be very small. Schools are advised to discuss any serious vacancy-filling difficulties with their local education authority, who will offer them all the help they can.

19 Oct 2001 : Column: 1392W

Mr. Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the total cost was of the support given by the Government in the last year to schools which had difficulties with teacher vacancies. [8897]

Mr. Timms: Information on what proportion of their recurrent funding individual schools decide to spend on teacher recruitment and retention is not collected centrally. Average funding per pupil now stands as £3,250, £540 higher in real terms than in 1997–98.

A small proportion of Government funding (for example, through the Teacher Retention and Recruitment Fund) is targeted at local authorities with high teacher vacancy rates.

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