Public Accounts Committee

PRESS RELEASE

25 November 2010

PAC 03/10/11

SUBSTITUTE TEACHER COVER COST £66 MILLION

Substitute teacher cover costs have escalated in a decade. A report entitled ‘The Management of Substitution Cover for Teachers: Follow-up Report’ , published today by the Assembly Public Accounts Committee, shows that the costs have soared from £38 million in 2000-01 to £66 million in 2008-09.

Speaking at the launch of the Report, Paul Maskey MLA, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee said: “The Committee understands that substitution cover is a normal and unavoidable part of school management. However, this level of spending is clearly unacceptable. Our review has found that this expenditure could, with the right initiatives in place, release much needed funds for other pressing needs within education.

Also, the Committee was extremely unhappy with how schools record the reasons they need substitute cover. There is no standard method of recording; this makes it difficult to analyse the data across the sector. A £1.1 million payroll system, planned for implementation in 2005, is still not fully meeting the management information needs of all schools, and this has hindered the ability of the Department and the schools sector to properly manage the demand for substitution cover.”

The report also looked into the issue of re-employing teachers who retired early, in preference to newly qualified teachers, when substitute cover is needed. This issue was flagged up to the Westminster PAC in 2002-03 by the Comptroller and Auditor General, with assurances given by the Department to reduce the days worked by prematurely retired teachers. The current report found that, contrary to these undertakings, such employment had actually increased over the time.

Commenting on this issue, Paul Maskey said: “With nearly 2,500 newly qualified teachers desperately seeking teaching opportunities, re-employing retired teachers for substitution cover is a tragedy for our young teachers. What makes this even more reprehensible is that we were told that we could have saved £6 million in 2008/09 alone, if newly qualified teachers instead of prematurely retired teachers had provided cover.

“The Committee is disappointed that the Department, which has responsibility for this issue, did not show the will, following the previous report, to ensure that any teachers who had benefited from enhanced settlements, in particular, were barred from subsequent re-employment as a substitute teacher.”

“Clearly, the Department must up its game in addressing sickness absence and in delivering high quality substitution cover through more effective management. Given the departmental failings in dealing with the previous PAC recommendations, this Committee will be monitoring the outworkings of this report particularly closely.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

• The Report also noted that since the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report, the cost of sickness absence has fallen by over £3 million. It also notes that, in relation to sickness absence, a potential savings of £10 million per annum could be made, if sickness absence was reduced to the levels experienced in England.
• The Report also conveyed the Committee’s concern about the potentially negative impact of substitution cover on educational standards and expressed the desire of the Committee for greater input by the Schools’ Inspectorate in monitoring substitute teaching. The Report noted that a similar concern was highlighted by the Westminster PAC in 2003 with an investigation carried out by the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) in 2004.

The membership of the Committee since 9 May 2007 has been as follows:

Mr Paul Maskey 5 (Chairperson)
Mr Roy Beggs (Deputy Chairperson)

Mr Gregory Campbell MP 16 
Mr John Dallat                  
Mr William Irwin 14     
Mr Trevor Lunn
Mr Patsy McGlone 2 & 8 
Mr Mitchel McLaughlin
Mr Adrian McQuillan 15                         
Mr Stephen Moutray 12                     
Ms Dawn Purvis                                                                                                                                              

1 Mr Mickey Brady replaced Mr Willie Clarke on 1 October 2007

2 Mr Ian McCrea replaced Mr Mickey Brady on 21 January 2008

3 Mr Jim Wells replaced Mr Ian McCrea on 26 May 2008

4 Mr Thomas Burns replaced Mr Patsy McGlone on 4 March 2008

5 Mr Paul Maskey replaced Mr John O’Dowd on 20 May 2008

6 Mr George Robinson replaced Mr Simon Hamilton on 15 September 2008

7 Mr Jim Shannon replaced Mr David Hilditch on 15 September 2008

8 Mr Patsy McGlone replaced Mr Thomas Burns on 29 June 2009

9 Mr David Hilditch replaced Mr George Robinson on 18 September 2009

10 Rt Hon Jeffrey Donaldson replaced Mr Jim Wells on 18 September 2009

11 The Lord Browne replaced Rt Hon Jeffrey Donaldson on 19 April 2010

12 Mr Stephen Moutray replaced Mr Jonathan Craig on 19 April 2010

13 Mr Jim Shannon resigned from the Public Accounts Committee on 1 August 2010

14 Mr William Irwin replaced Mr David Hilditch on 13 September 2010

15 Mr Adrian McQuillan replaced The Lord Browne on 13 September 2010

16 Mr Gregory Campbell MP was appointed as a member of the Committee on 13 September 2010

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Debra Savage
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Northern Ireland Assembly
Tel: 028 90521405
Mobile : 07929 864221
Email: Debra.Savage@niassembly.gov.uk