MINISTERS this week pledged to close the 12 per cent gap between the pay of teachers and college lecturers amid fears that staff are quitting further education for schools.

The guarantee from Ivan Lewis, adult skills and lifelong learning minister, to the Labour party conference, is the most emphatic statement yet from a minister. However, he has ruled out any chance of meeting the 2004 deadline demanded by the unions.

His statement coincides with an FE Focus survey which reveals the worsening staff recruitment crisis. Areas hardest hit include IT, construction, basic skills, social care and specialist A-level studies.

The findings are confirmed by a national survey by the Association of Colleges, to be published next week. Even more disturbing, the survey will show that the problems have spread well beyond teaching.

David Gibson, chief executive of the AoC, told FE Focus: “We can confirm that it is not just in teaching but across the board, affecting managers and support staff in equal measure.”

The Department for Education and Skills refuses to accept that there is a crisis. But the increasing severity of the problem was acknowledged by Mr Lewis.

“We had thought that shortages were limited to some areas, particularly IT and construction, but they have now extended into areas like social care,” he said.

The Government would set out its plans for investment and reform of the sector within the next few weeks, he said. This would be unveiled by Education Secretary Estelle Morris at the AoC’s annual conference on November 19.

But he warned delegates that improving pay in colleges would be a slow business. “It is not going to happen overnight because we are dealing with 18 years of neglect.

“We accept that we have a responsibility to close the gap between those who work in FE colleges and those who work in schools, because they are equally vital to the future of our education system,” Mr Lewis said.

He echoed the mantra from Chancellor Gordon Brown in his comprehensive spending review in June that “increased money for pay would have to be matched by a willingness to reform”.

Ministers hope a more conciliatory attitude to lecturers will help counter the sort of resistance to change in FE that they found in schools. Privately they concede that it will be difficult to close the pay gap.

Paul Mackney, general secretary of the lecturers’ union Natfhe, welcomed Mr Lewis’s more emphatic line. “It is good to see that they acknowledge that we need parity. We will just have to make sure that they speed-up implementation.”

But Mr Lewis’s pledge would not deter the unions from ballots on industrial action over pay, including a strike on November 5, he said.

Senior government figures are frustrated at what they see as a lack of leadership by the AoC and an approach that is “too pro-union”.

Lifelong learning minister Margaret Hodge and her officials are said to be exasperated that an additional pound;32 million announced last week for college pay has not kick-started fresh negotiations.

But Mr Gibson said AoC hands were tied because of ring-fencing for specific pay initiatives. “The FEFocus research is even more proof that the crisis is a crisis and not just being talked up. Ministers must address this with new money for pay and reforms,” he said.

Pay survey, 36-37