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Education and Inspections Bill

There are cross-party views on all kinds of education issues. I am speaking for the Opposition, yet defending the White Paper and Bill of the Prime Minister who leads the hon. Lady’s party. Let us not talk about splits in the Conservative party when she can see splits all over the Labour Benches. Her point is irrelevant to the important principles behind the Bill. The Government’s excuse about consultation is a smokescreen. In reality, the concessions were made for reasons of internal Labour party management, rather than as part of a considered approach to education reform. We have thus tabled amendments Nos. 101 and 102 and new clauses 53 and 58, which would put back into the Bill the original vision that the Prime Minister set out with clarity, passion and sincerity on 24 October. New clauses 53 and 58 would simply insert in the Bill the wording used in the White Paper. New clause 58 comes from page 116 of the White Paper and new clause 53 is taken from paragraph 2.5 on page 25, which says:"““We will encourage all primary and secondary schools to be self-governing and to acquire a Trust.””" Throughout our time in Committee, Conservative Members tried to restore the Bill to a form that corresponded to the original vision in the White Paper. As such, if the Government do not accept new clause 53, we hope that it will be possible to press the principles that it sets out to a Division. The concessions made in the then Secretary of State’s letter of 6 February could have provided ample reason for the official Opposition to vote against the Bill’s Second Reading on 15 March. Such a vote would have been decisive, because it would have killed the Bill. However, we took the view—and we still hold it—that half a loaf is better than none. The Conservative party is serious about raising the quality of education in our schools. It is unacceptable that, according to the National Audit Office, 23 per cent. of secondary schools are underperforming and a similar proportion is probably coasting. On page 138 of the regulatory impact assessment, the Government consider the four school grading categories used by Ofsted—excellent, good, satisfactory and poor—and say:"““‘Satisfactory’ is no longer good enough—as that may mean that some children will not achieve their full potential.””" We agree. We have moved into a global jobs market, in which prosperity for individuals and the country depends on the acquisition of a high-quality knowledge-based education, and that is why we take education reform seriously. It is not just a matter of economics. A thorough education enables us to enjoy life to the full and to appreciate and contribute to our culture. The Bill, with all its flaws and concessions, is still a step in the right direction. As my right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition said, when the Government do the right thing, we will support them. The concept of trust schools is right. On Second Reading, we accepted the concession that local authorities could, subject to agreement by the Secretary of State, propose a community school as part of a competition for a new school. It was an unnecessary concession, but we accepted it rather than lose the Bill. Under the White Paper proposals, local authorities can, as I said earlier, propose a foundation school. This is not an anti-local authority issue—it is about creating a more diverse range of provision. We therefore listened carefully to the right hon. Member for Redditch (Jacqui Smith), the then Minister for Schools, when she clarified in Committee when the Secretary of State would, or would not, exercise the veto. We did not want her clarification to amount to further unnecessary concessions to the Labour left. We wanted to be sure that the principle behind the use of the veto was in line with the principle established by the letter from the previous Secretary of State and by the Government’s response to the Select Committee report. In that response, which was published on 6 February, three weeks before the publication of the Bill, the Government said:"““Where a local authority with a good track record in education proposes a community school…the Secretary of State will not normally intervene.””" We are happy that the concessions are in line with those principles.