David Blunkett: Would like teachers to have money by Christmas

"I look forward very much in the next fortnight to being able to announce a programme of measures to get things back on track so that teachers can get the �2,000 uplift so they can access the new scales of pay for the future and we can get the moral and motivation up that is so important," Mr Blunkett said.

"I would very much like teachers to have got it by this Christmas for obvious reasons. If we can't, we will do so as quickly as we can."

Bonus payments

Up to 200,000 teachers may receive the bonus payments, but they have been bitterly opposed by the NUT.

Mr Blunkett also said he was working with Home Secretary Jack Straw to put together a programme making the most of their new powers to combat truancy.

Any programme must include provisions to change the culture of homes which condone truancy, he said.

But Mr Blunkett stopped short of endorsing the School Standards Minister Estelle Morris's view that a "cultural change" in the party meant members should feel free to send their children to independent or private schools.

"We should ensure that anyone who chooses to go private does so because of a particular ethos, religious nature or family circumstance rather than because the school that their child would have gone to is providing an inadequate education," he said.