Lord Hardie

The department knows that high quality teaching is the factor that makes the biggest difference to a child’s education, which is why this government will recruit 6,500 new expert teachers.

The department is developing its approach and putting plans in place to achieve this, which will be shared publicly in due course. The department have taken the first steps towards delivering this pledge by restarting and expanding the teacher recruitment campaign, entitled ‘Every Lesson Shapes a Life’. The department is dedicated to delivering change in partnership with the sector and my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State recently addressed over 14,000 people from the workforce and has committed to working alongside the sector to re-establish teaching as an attractive profession, and one that existing teachers want to remain in, former teachers want to return to, and new graduates wish to join.

Alongside this work, the department is delivering key programmes to improve teacher recruitment and retention. It knows that financial incentives are one of the ways to increase teacher supply and this year the initial teacher training financial incentives package is worth up to £196 million.

Fair pay is key to ensuring teaching is an attractive and respected profession, which is why this government has accepted the School Teachers’ Review Body’s recommendation of a 5.5% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools from September 2024.

The department is providing schools with almost £1.1 billion in additional funding in the 2024/25 financial year to support schools with overall costs. This matches what the department has calculated is needed to fully fund, at the national level, the teacher pay award and the support staff pay offer in the 2024/25 financial year, over and above the overall available headroom in schools’ existing budgets.

Alongside pay, the department is also continuing to support mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who chose to work in disadvantaged schools with retention payments worth up to £3,000 after tax.

Recruiting more teachers is a key part of the department’s Opportunity Mission, but this government is also committed to tackling long-standing retention challenges to ensure teachers stay and thrive in the profession, including by addressing teacher workload and wellbeing, and support schools to introduce flexible working practices. The department have also made key resources available to help teachers better manage their workload.

The UK has a clear interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. We consider the Taiwan issue one to be settled peacefully by the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait through constructive dialogue, without the threat or use of force or coercion. New judicial guidelines are part of a series of assertive Chinese measures towards Taiwan in recent months.

Advice to British nationals travelling to China is set out in our travel advice, which includes risks around arrests and detention. Travel Advice is continually kept under review.

The Government recognises that it is critical for industry to access a labour market with the right skills and training. To build 1.5 million homes in the next parliament we will support the construction workforce to deliver the additional capacity that is needed.

We will work across government and with industry to make sure there is the right eco-system for training and skills to deliver sufficient high-quality training opportunities to build a diverse workforce that is fit for the future.