Army of teaching assistants faces the axe as Education department attempts to save some of the £4billion they cost each year Assistants were introduced by Labour, earning on average £17,000 a year They appear to have a negative effect on pupils' results By John Stevens The country's 232,000 teaching assistants face the axe after ministers started talks to phase out the so-called 'mums army'. The Treasury and Department for Education are considering getting rid of the classroom assistants in attempt to save some of the £4billion a year spent on them. The number of assistants, who are often used to help children with special needs, has nearly tripled since 2000, but research has found they can have a negative impact on pupils' results. Expensive: Scrapping teaching assistance would allow the Department for Education to hire more fully-qualified teachers Studies have found that those pupils who receive help from teaching assistants make less progress than classmates of similar ability. Reducing the number of assistants would enable schools to hire more teachers as well as reduce the Department for Education budget. However, any plans to scrap the helpers would likely be subject of opposition from some parents and headteachers who value the individual attention they can give to children. Under the previous Labour government, the assistants were introduced to ease pressure on teachers and allow them more time to prepare for lessons and mark work. They earn an average of about £17,000 a year and often have few qualifications. Slow progress: Teaching assistant numbers have tripled since 2000 but they have not had an entirely positive effect on pupils The number of assistants has increased around three-fold from 79,000 in 2000 to around 232,000. Think-tank Reform found that schools could improve value for money by cutting the number of teaching assistants and increasing class sizes. Making savings: In the drive for austerity Education Secretary Michael Gove has been overseeing major teaching reforms Thomas Cawston, the think-tank's research director, said: 'We cited a swathe of evidence that questioned the value for money of teaching assistants and demonstrated that their impact on educational outcomes for pupils was negligible. We found that while they were supposed to help teachers, they were actually being allowed to take classes themselves. Not being prepared or qualified to do those classes, they were not doing a very good job. The money spent on teaching assistants would be far better spent on improving the quality of teachers. But Meg Hillier, Labour MP for Hackney and Shoreditch, said: 'I fear this is just another excuse for cutting services with no regard for the real impact on the lives and opportunities of some of the neediest children.' The mass removal of teaching assistants would likely have to be phased in over several years with staff not being replaced or with assistants retrained as teachers. School budgets are ring-fenced from government cuts and head teachers can decide how to spend their budgets to changes could be difficult to implement. Both the Treasury and Department for Education declined to comment.