Written question asked by Lord Willis of Knaresborough (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 22 November 2001, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 3 December 2001. It was answered by Stephen Timms (Labour) on Monday, 3 December 2001 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Dept for Education and Skills

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what the source was of the figures she used which illustrate the gap between the supply and demand of teachers in her speech on the Social Market function. - Including figures, and reference to 'Statistical First Release on Teachers in Service and Teacher Vacancies' April 2001 - in Library and on DfES website.

Answer: Mr. Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the source was of the figures she used which illustrate the gap between the supply and demand of teachers in her speech on the social market function. [18345] Mr. Timms: The graph on page 11 of my social market foundation pamphlet shows two columns for 2001. The lower figure of 410,000 is the number of teachers in post. The higher figure, of some 435,000, includes vacancies and occasional teachers covering for other teachers. The figures are drawn from the publication "Statistical First Release on Teachers in Service and Teacher Vacancies"-- the latest edition is for April 2001, and this is in the House of Commons Library and on the DfES website. The final column for 2006 is a projection based on recent trends.

Secondary information