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Dept for Education and Skills

Answer

Mr. Chidgey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent assessment he has made of the impact of house prices on the recruitment and retention of further education college staff in the south-east of England. [20742] John Healey: [holding answer 4 December 2001]: Turnover of staff in the further education (FE) sector in the south-east of England averages 11 per cent. for lecturers and 17 per cent. for support staff. Recruitment and retention difficulties arise from competition from other institutions and the wider economy. We recognise that staff in the further education sector need to be able to find affordable homes within a reasonable distance from their work place. The average house price in the south-east of England is £161,748 compared to £124,379 for England as a whole. By 2003-04 capital investment in housing will have risen to more than £4 billion compared with planned spending of £1.5 billion in 1997-98. The Government plan to provide 100,000 new or improved homes for low cost renting or ownership over the next three years and to review the planning guidance to local authorities in order to help them to negotiate more affordable housing. Eligibility for loans or cash grants will be dependent on local arrangements. We have also introduced a number of initiatives aimed at tackling recruitment and retention difficulties in the FE sector: the Teaching Pay Initiative, more than £300 million over the next three years, to reward high calibre teaching staff and create a proper career structure for teaching in the FE sector; and additionally, pilot initiatives such as Golden Hellos, student loan write-offs and training bursaries will all attract new staff to the profession.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

376 c639-41W; 20742

Session

2001-02

Subjects

Staff Housing Further education Recruitment Prices Teachers South East

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk