Asked by: Caroline Johnson (Conservative - Sleaford and North Hykeham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of cuts to teacher training bursaries in 26/27 on teacher recruitment in Lincolnshire.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The government committed, in our Plan for Change, to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers across secondary and special schools, and in colleges, over the course of this parliament.
We are making progress. The latest workforce data reported over 2,300 more secondary and special school teachers in 2024/25 than in 2023/24, and this year over 32,000 trainees began training, a rise of 11% on the previous year.
Initial teacher training (ITT) bursaries are offered to incentivise more applications to ITT courses. In reviewing these annually, we take account of historic recruitment, forecast economic conditions, and teacher supply need in each subject. We are continuing to offer bursaries worth up to £29,000 tax-free to encourage more talented people to train to teach key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing.
In addition, we offer a Targeted Retention Incentive worth up to £6,000 after tax for mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing teachers in the first five years of their careers who work in disadvantaged schools. In Lincolnshire, there are 56 schools where teachers are eligible for these payments.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the impact on supply teacher recruitment and retention of not requiring agencies operating under the Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing framework to pay in accordance with the national teacher pay scale.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The new iteration of the Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing framework will remove excessive agency mark-ups through a cap on agency fees.
It will not affect pay for supply teachers employed through agencies. This will continue to be set by agencies in the first 12 weeks of an assignment, and supply teachers are free to register with multiple agencies to find the best pay and conditions to meet their own circumstances. The Agency Worker Regulations provides that all workers on assignments exceeding 12 weeks are paid on equal terms as permanent staff after the 12th week.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to mitigate variations in pay and employment conditions arising from individual school negotiations with agencies under the Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing framework.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The new iteration of the Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing framework will remove excessive agency mark-ups through a cap on agency fees.
It will not affect pay for supply teachers employed through agencies. This will continue to be set by agencies in the first 12 weeks of an assignment, and supply teachers are free to register with multiple agencies to find the best pay and conditions to meet their own circumstances. The Agency Worker Regulations provides that all workers on assignments exceeding 12 weeks are paid on equal terms as permanent staff after the 12th week.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she made an assessment of the potential merits of amending the Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing framework to require supply teachers to be paid in line with the national teacher pay scale.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The new iteration of the Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing framework will remove excessive agency mark-ups through a cap on agency fees.
It will not affect pay for supply teachers employed through agencies. This will continue to be set by agencies in the first 12 weeks of an assignment, and supply teachers are free to register with multiple agencies to find the best pay and conditions to meet their own circumstances. The Agency Worker Regulations provides that all workers on assignments exceeding 12 weeks are paid on equal terms as permanent staff after the 12th week.
Asked by: Beccy Cooper (Labour - Worthing West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how she plans to ensure consistency in pay and conditions for supply teachers when participation in the new Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing framework is on an opt-in basis.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The new iteration of the Supply Teachers and Temporary Staffing framework will remove excessive agency mark-ups through a cap on agency fees.
It will not affect pay for supply teachers employed through agencies. This will continue to be set by agencies in the first 12 weeks of an assignment, and supply teachers are free to register with multiple agencies to find the best pay and conditions to meet their own circumstances. The Agency Worker Regulations provides that all workers on assignments exceeding 12 weeks are paid on equal terms as permanent staff after the 12th week.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the press release entitled Schools to save millions as Government launches agency profit cap, published on 4 December 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of that policy on the availability of agency staff for schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Supply teachers and supply staff perform a valuable role, and the department is grateful for their important contribution to schools across the country.
Schools, academies and local authorities are responsible for the recruitment of their supply staff, which includes deciding whether to use private supply agencies to fill temporary posts or cover teacher absence.
The measure will cap profits of private agencies and does not affect supply teacher pay. Therefore, we should not see any negative impact on the availability and number of supply teachers as a direct result of this policy.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what consideration she has given to the potential benefits for schools of introducing a register of supply teachers, allowing access to available, qualified and DBS checked substitute staff.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department continues to develop and review policy on supply teaching and currently has no plans to introduce a national supply register for teachers.
The mix of models presently available in England, including agencies, direct hire and some local pools, gives schools choice over how they secure supply teachers, how many providers they work with and how they engage with providers to ensure their needs are met.
As part of our Maximising Value for Pupils programme, we will introduce a cap on supplier rates on the new Crown Commercial Service framework due in June 2026, and expect schools and trusts to use this new framework unless they are achieving better value for money elsewhere.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to take steps to reduce the use of large commercial agencies in the supply teaching sector.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Schools, academies and local authorities are responsible for the recruitment of their supply teachers, which includes deciding whether to use private supply agencies to fill temporary posts or cover teacher absence.
The department recognises the role that agencies play in helping to keep schools running when they face teacher shortages and absences. We are committed to helping schools achieve better value for money when using agencies, which is why we have established the agency supply deal in conjunction with the Crown Commercial Service. The deal has established a list of preferred suppliers that schools can access, all of which will be transparent with schools about the rates they charge. Our most recent announcement on maximising value for pupils is available at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maximising-value-for-pupils/maximising-value-for-pupils.
The department has no plans to take steps to introduce a national supply register for teachers.
Asked by: Kate Osamor (Labour (Co-op) - Edmonton and Winchmore Hill)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to take steps to introduce a national supply register for teachers.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Schools, academies and local authorities are responsible for the recruitment of their supply teachers, which includes deciding whether to use private supply agencies to fill temporary posts or cover teacher absence.
The department recognises the role that agencies play in helping to keep schools running when they face teacher shortages and absences. We are committed to helping schools achieve better value for money when using agencies, which is why we have established the agency supply deal in conjunction with the Crown Commercial Service. The deal has established a list of preferred suppliers that schools can access, all of which will be transparent with schools about the rates they charge. Our most recent announcement on maximising value for pupils is available at this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maximising-value-for-pupils/maximising-value-for-pupils.
The department has no plans to take steps to introduce a national supply register for teachers.
Asked by: Anna Gelderd (Labour - South East Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department's policies of trends in the use of qualified supply teachers by academy trusts.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department values the work that supply teachers do and the important contribution they make to the smooth running of schools. The department has not made any assessments relating to academy trusts alone, but we have considered the school sector as a whole.
The department knows that the use of supply teachers, particularly in the secondary phase, has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic and that this is having an impact on school budgets. Details of our work on helping schools to maximise value from their budgets will be announced shortly.