Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the (a) employment and (b) income of supply teachers.

The Department does not hold data on the rate of employment or the income of supply teachers.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has released estimates of the number and value of claims made to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). This outlines the number of companies, and employees who have been supported by the CJRS by employment sector, including education. However, the statistical release does not provide data on specific job roles within a sector. The information is available to view here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coronavirus-job-retention-scheme-statistics-december-2020

If supply staff employed via employment agencies are unable to find work, their employment agency can place them on furlough and use the CJRS to claim for 80% of their wages, including during school holiday periods, provided that the eligibility criteria. are met. Information on the CJRS is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme. Information on the eligibility criteria is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-which-employees-you-can-put-on-furlough-to-use-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme.