To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families pursuant to the statement of 30 June 2009, Official Report, columns 165-80, on 21st century schools,

(1) what process a prospective teacher will be required to follow to obtain a licence to teach; whether a licence to teach will be required of holders of a postgraduate certificate of education qualification; how often the licence to teach will have to be renewed; whether he proposes that a teacher should undertake a minimum number of hours of teaching to keep the licence to teach; whether teachers will be required to make a payment to obtain a licence to teach; and what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of administering the licence to teach scheme in the first 12 months of operation;

(2) what arrangements he plans to make to enable teachers from overseas to obtain the licence to teach.

Initial details of our plans for the roll-out of a 'licence to teach' were set out in our White Paper 'Your child, your schools, our future' published on 30 June 2009. In setting up specific arrangements, we want to build on the best elements of the existing registration arrangements for teachers but place more emphasis on a teacher's record of professional development and practice.

Our intention is to begin to roll out the new arrangements for qualified teachers and head teachers teaching in maintained schools, non-maintained special schools and short-stay schools (formerly pupil referral units) from September 2010. We envisage that, as with current registration arrangements for teachers, the 'licence to teach' will follow the award of Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and any qualification, for example a Post Graduate Certificate in Education, that a teacher may have attained as part of their initial teacher training.

As we set out in our White Paper, we envisage a 'licence to teach' being valid for five years, at the end of which the licence holder would have to undergo a process of revalidation, building on the performance management arrangements and including other feedback.

We are mindful that this represents a major change for the teaching profession and we will, therefore, work and consult closely with the many stakeholders here, including our social partners. These discussions will help inform the precise shape and details of the 'licence to teach' including: whether or not we set a minimum number of hours of teaching practice to keep the licence current; and what arrangements we may make to enable teachers from overseas to obtain the licence to teach.

In relation to cost, all qualified teachers working in maintained schools, non-maintained special schools and short stay schools (formerly pupil referral units) are currently required to pay an annual fee to the General Teaching Council for England (GTC) in order to be fully registered with the GTC.

This provides them with the right to teach in the maintained sector. The fee must also be paid by those teachers who work in academies who have to pay the fee as part of their employment contract, and any other teachers who wish to register with the GTC. As part of consulting stakeholders, we will consider how the 'licence to teach' will interact with the current annual registration fee and will be seeking the views of the profession before making a final decision.