Prime Minister's question asked in the House of Commons, by Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton (Conservative). It was answered on Wednesday, 1 March 2006 on behalf of the Prime Minister.

Engagements

Question: May I join the Prime Minister in expressing our sympathy for the families of the two British soldiers who died in Iraq yesterday? They died serving our country, and we should honour their memory. I also agree with what the Prime Minister said about Mr. Speaker, and wish him a speedy return. On a happier note, may I thank the Prime Minister for the flowers that he sent to my family? He may not know that I received flowers from both No. 10 and No. 11. I am delighted to be the first man in history to get bunched by both our Prime Ministers. Yesterday the Government published their Education and Inspections Bill. The phrase ““trust schools””, which appeared throughout the White Paper, has now disappeared. Can the Prime Minister confirm that he is renaming those schools ““foundation schools,”” and that they will have all the same freedoms?

Answer: Let me first congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on the birth of his child, wish him and his family well, and say thank you to him for his thanks to me for the flowers? I am glad that the Chancellor was immensely generous in sending him flowers as well. Whether he will be as generous in the Budget I do not know. I certainly hope that that is the limit of his generosity to the right hon. Gentleman. We do not for legal reasons need to mention the words ““trust school””. It is exactly the same for specialist schools, which are not mentioned in legislation either. However, the trust schools will have exactly the freedoms that we have set out in the legislation and those freedoms will allow schools by a simple vote of their governing body to become self-governing trust schools.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 443 c249-50
Session: 2005-06
Oral question type: Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Commons chamber
Subjects: Education Foundation schools Legislation Reform Secondary education Trust schools
Link: View this Prime Minister's question on www.publications.parliament.uk