Oral Answers to Questions

Steve Brine Excerpts

Monday 26th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Nick Gibb]

The essence of our academies programme is about delivering autonomy for schools, and it is that autonomy—the hon. Lady is quite right—that is driving up standards. We have also, since 2014, been addressing the workload issues of schoolteachers up and down the country, and that has proven successful in reducing the number of hours in addition to teaching time that schoolteachers face.

[Steve Brine (Winchester) (Con)]

The new all-party parliamentary group on issues affecting men and boys will, I hope, do very good work during this Parliament, including on educational attainment. Given that there is still a tiny number of male teachers in primary education—do not even get me started on early years—what are the Government doing to address that imbalance, and given the shifting labour market that we have seen post pandemic, what are they doing to get new, inspirational teachers into the classroom from non-traditional backgrounds?

[Nick Gibb]

I share my hon. Friend’s concern about this issue, and I pay tribute to him for his work on this matter and that of the APPG. We aim to attract and retain high-skilled, talented individuals, including men, into teaching through effective pay structures and financial incentives, and we have set out plans to increase starting salaries nationally to £30,000. We also intend to retain male teachers in primary schools by offering world-class support and development through the early career framework reforms.