---

17 July 2006 : Column 180W—continued

Primary Teachers

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether there is an oversupply of qualified primary school teachers. [86009]

Jim Knight: On a national basis there is no evidence of oversupply, but there will of course be differences between regions. The table shows that most regions do have vacancies for primary teachers.

A survey conducted by the Training and Development Agency for Schools this year among 6,590 newly qualified primary teachers showed that 95 per cent. had teaching jobs.

This Department periodically reviews the need for teachers in future years and this informs the number of training places that will be offered. The model takes account of such factors as falling pupil rolls, retirements and teachers returning to the profession after having children.

17 July 2006 : Column 181W

17 July 2006 : Column 182W

Table 4: Full-time vacancy( 1) rates in LA maintained nursery and primary schools in England by grade and Government Office Region: January of each year
	Vacancies as a percentage of teachers in post( 2)										Number of vacancies
	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006(p)	2006 (p)
All vacancies	0.6	0.8	0.8	0.8	1.2	1.0	0.6	0.5	0.4	0.4	700
Grade(3,4)
Head or Deputy/Assistant	0.9	1.4	13	1.0	1.2	1.0	0.8	0.7	0.8	0.8	280
Head	0.6	1.0	0.9	0.8	0.8	0.7	0.5	0.5	0.7	0.7	130
Deputy head/Assistant head	1.3	2.0	1.7	1.3	1.8	1.2	1.1	1.0	0.8	0.9	150
Classroom teacher	0.5	0.6	0.7	0.8	1.2	1.1	0.6	0.4	0.4	0.3	420
Government Office Region
North East	0.4	0.4	0.5	0.3	0.6	0.6	0.4	0.2	0.3	0.3	30
North West	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.4	0.5	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.2	60
Yorkshire and the Humber	0.1	0.4	0.2	0.3	0.3	0.8	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.4	70
East Midlands	0.4	0.5	0.4	0.6	0.7	0.5	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.3	50
West Midlands	0.2	0.4	0.7	0.6	0.7	0.8	0.5	0.4	0.4	0.3	70
East of England	0.7	0.7	0.8	0.9	1.7	1.6	0.8	0.6	0.5	0.5	90
London(5)	1.7	2.5	2.3	2.0	3.3	2.4	1.7	1.0	1.0	1.0	250
South East	0.8	0.8	0.8	1.0	1.6	1.1	0.8	0.4	0.3	0.3	70
South West	0.5	0.6	0.4	0.7	0.6	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.2	30
England excluding London	0.4	0.5	0.5	0.6	0.9	0.8	0.5	0.4	0.3	0.3	460
Total vacancies (numbers)	1,090	1,390	1,370	1,420	2,110	1,800	1,110	780	740	700
(p) Provisional (1.)Advertised vacancies for full-time permanent appointments (or appointments of at least one term's duration). Includes vacancies being filled on a temporary basis of less than one term. (2) Teachers in post include full-time qualified regular teachers in (or on secondment from) maintained nursery and primary schools, plus the primary portion of full-time regular divided service, peripatetic, advisory and miscellaneous teachers. (3).The number of teachers in post by grade is from the 618g survey for 2001 onwards, previous years were estimated using the Database of Teacher Records. (4) The role of assistant head was created in 2001. (5) The 2006 vacancy rates for the inner and the outer London weighting areas are 1.3 per cent. and 0.6 per cent. respectively, (in 2005 they were 1.2 per cent and 0.8per cent). Totals may not appear to equal the sum of the component parts because of rounding. Source: 618g survey

Private Finance Initiative

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills by what total amount private finance initiative projects, for which his Department is responsible, that went over budget did so in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [83651]

Jim Knight: The Department for Education and Skills does not itself undertake private finance initiative (PFI) projects. PFI projects for the provision of schools are delivered through contracts between local authorities and private sector contractors.

There are currently 100 such projects with signed contracts covering over 800 schools. The names, locations and other details of these schools can be accessed at www.teachernet.gov.uk/pfi.

A key aspect of the private finance initiative is that the risk of projects going over budget in the construction phase is transferred to the private sector contractor and we do not have information on any such costs that may have accrued to various private sector contractors for this reason. The public sector does not pay anything until the contracted services are available and thereafter payments are linked to satisfactory performance and availability.

School Meals

Mr. McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what steps he is taking to reduce the quantity of trans fats present in school meals; [84714]

(2) whether he has set a maximum limit for the amount of trans fats to be present in school meals. [84718]

Mr. Dhanda [holding answer 12 July 2006]: The School Meals Review Panel considered the need for a specific standard for trans-fatty acids to be included within their proposals, and concluded against imposing a specific standard for the following reasons:

Evidence shows that adult intakes of trans-fatty acids are well below the maximum threshold level for health;

Adopting a standard to limit the fat content of school meals would contribute towards controlling levels of trans-fatty acids; and

Food-based standards would include restrictions on foods which tend to be higher in trans-fatty acids (for example, savoury snacks and confectionery).

17 July 2006 : Column 183W

The School Food Trust supported the panel's view that their proposals would sufficiently control trans- fatty acids, and that there was no need to develop a specific standard for trans-fatty acids which had the potential to complicate the new standards unnecessarily, making it more difficult for schools and local authorities to implement them.

---