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Health and Education

The hon. Gentleman has a short memory. It was his party that closed two dental training hospitals. It is this Government who are employing 1,000 more NHS dentists this year. In our party’s manifesto and in the Gracious Speech we explained how we would continue to reduce the number of failing schools, how we would open up choice for parents, how we would tailor education to the needs of every child, relentlessly focusing on the basics, as the hon. Member for Witney (Mr. Cameron) acknowledges we should, but also how we would provide opportunities for every child to be stretched to their full potential. Central to this party’s programme is school discipline, and I hope that we can establish a consensus across the House on the need for orderly classrooms and good school discipline, and that we can work with parents, with teachers and with everybody in society to develop a culture of respect which means that we have good discipline in our schools. We have made real progress in tackling bad behaviour in the classroom, but zero tolerance of bad behaviour and the culture of respect, good behaviour and firm discipline must be the norm in all classrooms, in all schools, all of the time. This Government have given schools the powers, training and guidance that they need to deal with destructive behaviour, but we know that the real work is done not by Government, but by teachers and classroom assistants working on the front line with those pupils. That is why we, as a Government, will continue to back head teachers and teachers so that they can take the necessary action to address this issue. The hon. Gentleman also knows that we cannot just legislate for good order in the classroom; it has to be delivered with the full backing of teachers and parents. That is why we will work with them on making sure that there is a cultural change, and that effective practice in the best classrooms is translated to every classroom across the country. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will support us when the expert group of head teachers reports, that he will support our work with the teaching profession and that he will back the measures that we take as a result.