Oral Answers to Questions

Angela Rayner Excerpts

Monday 25th April 2016 Commons Chamber

[Nicky Morgan]

I thank my hon. and learned Friend very much, first, for raising this important issue, but also for spotting that only one of the eight chapters in the White Paper deals with school structures, while the rest tackle the issues that schools have been talking to us about, one of which is the high recruitment cost of teachers. We think that if we can work with the sector to provide a low-cost or no-cost website to enable schools to advertise vacancies, it will mean that more money gets to the frontline, which I think we all want to see.

[Angela Rayner (Ashton-under-Lyne) (Lab)]

4. What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of teacher recruitment and retention.

[Julie Cooper (Burnley) (Lab)]

16. What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of teacher recruitment and retention.

[The Minister for Schools (Mr Nick Gibb)]

We have record numbers of teachers in our classrooms, and retention rates have remained broadly stable for the past 20 years. I recognise that recruitment has become more challenging for some schools, which is why our White Paper sets out clear plans to boost teacher recruitment, build on the success of measures we have already put in place, such as the £67 million package to improve recruitment of STEM teachers, and generous training bursaries and scholarships.

[Angela Rayner]

Excessive workload is the top reason for teachers leaving the profession. Figures released by the National Union of Teachers show that three quarters of teachers say their workload has increased since the Secretary of State launched the 2014 workload challenge, which was supposed to address the concerns about increasing and excessive work. Why has her workload challenge failed to reduce the workload crisis, and will she agree to meet me and my Labour colleagues in Oldham and Tameside about our local challenges?