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Education and Inspections Bill

I am not sitting with my hon. Friend because I do not want to be called left-wing, which I have been labelled for the first time tonight. Labour Members have dealt with the objections about parents and the ballot. If the new clauses are viewed as establishing the principle of the ballot, it is clearly open to the Government to table amendments in the other place. However, worries have been expressed about the composition of governing bodies, and especially about whether parents are elected or co-opted governors. The Secretary of State has introduced a safeguard of 33 per cent. but when local authorities and properly independent governors are limited to 20 per cent, the safeguard may not be enough, especially in a case in which a trust in a failing school tries to cling on and manipulate matters so as not to admit failure. A ballot is an important safeguard of making the right choice in the first place.