Question reference: S5W-34673
- Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 19 January 2021
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Current status: Answered by John Swinney on 26 January 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people accessed the Supply Teachers Job Retention Payment since it was introduced, and how much has been spent on these payments.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold the information on how many people accessed the Supply Teachers Job Retention Payment. Recruitment and deployment of teachers are matters for local authorities to determine.
The Scottish Government has provided £80 million of additional investment in education staff, sufficient for the recruitment of around 1,400 additional teachers and 200 support staff this year.
On 13 January a further package of £45 million of new funding was announced to support the delivery of remote learning, which can be used to recruit further staff. It is sufficient to employ an additional 2,000 teachers to the end of this financial year if required and may offer further employment opportunities for supply teachers.
This money is additional to the £160m that we have already committed for education recovery since the start of the pandemic.