To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to increase the numbers of teachers in Rother Valley.

In January 2019 the Department launched the Government’s first ever integrated strategy to recruit and retain more teachers in schools – developed alongside and welcomed by teachers, education unions and leading professional bodies.

The Department recognises that some schools and local areas have greater issues with recruitment and retention than others. The Department is making every effort to refocus national teacher recruitment and retention programmes to ensure they address local variations in teacher supply, so that more schools can benefit from tried and tested programmes.

In January 2019 the Department also announced that we will introduce the Early Career Framework early in three local authority areas, including Doncaster, in September 2020. The Early Career Framework is a two-year package of development and support that will transform support for early career teachers, rolling out nationally from September 2021. From September 2020, early career teachers and their mentors in early roll-out areas will be eligible to start benefitting early from improved support to their early career teachers, including high-quality training and support.

There are a number of financial incentives to join and remain in the profession that teachers in Rother Valley may be eligible for. Mathematics and Physics teachers in the Rotherham and Doncaster local authority areas of Rother Valley who are in the first five years of their career may be eligible for a £2,000 retention payment after tax. In addition to this, teachers who completed their initial teacher training from 2013 onwards may be eligible for Teacher Student Loan reimbursement, and Mathematics teachers who started their initial teacher training from 2018 onwards may be eligible early career payments up to £7,500. Both of these schemes are available to teachers in the Doncaster local authority area.

In addition to this, the Department is currently delivering a £30 million investment in tailored support for struggling schools designed to help schools improve existing plans, join national programmes, build local partnerships or fund new initiatives. One school in Rother Valley is receiving this support.