There are schools which will be using the whole of their hard-won chancellor's money just to pay for extra supply costs. Demanding that the government address the recruitment crisis, he said many teachers were leaving permanent jobs and joining supply agencies because they could sell their services to the highest bidder. We do need more teachers which is why Labour has pledged 10,000 more. Estelle Morris, the schools standards minister, will today promise that up to 1,000 school bursars will be trained every year in Labour's second term. The pledge will go some way to meeting demands this week for more administrative support.
Courses are likely to be offered part time from next year, funded by the government.
Most independent and one-fifth of state schools, including most former grant maintained schools, have bursars. Smaller primary schools will be encouraged to share them. Bursars are responsible for handling budgets which in large schools can run into millions of pounds. Ms Morris will say she wants the review of teachers' workload being carried out by consultants PricewaterhouseCoopers to look at clerical help for headteachers. Ministers will also bid for more money in this area in the next comprehensive spending review.