Since 1997, head teacher vacancies have remained low and fairly stable. Provisional figures released today show a fall in the head teacher vacancy rate for the maintained sector from 0.8 per cent. in January 2006 to 0.6 per cent. in January 2007. However, we know that some types of schools such as church schools, schools in London and some small schools in rural areas find it harder to recruit senior staff than others.
Regarding the specific work highlighted in our response to the PAC report, we have made progress on a number of fronts. On vacancy filling, we have provided an additional £10 million funding to the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) to extend its support to schools and local authorities on succession planning. The NCSL is also strengthening work with governor organisations including advice on recruiting school leaders. We have further developed initiatives on bringing on new talent, including the Fast Track and Future Leader programmes. Revised professional standards for teachers, from September 2007, will provide all teachers with a clear, coherent and progressive set of career pathways and help them to prepare for leadership. More broadly, the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) study identified a number of issues affecting recruitment to leadership positions and we will be working with key stakeholders, including the social partners, to make progress on these issues.