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Education and Inspections Bill

I am pleased to follow the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Paul Farrelly), especially as he revealed his early days of skating on the ice rink in Altrincham. That is obviously where he gained his taste for skating on thin ice. I am delighted to follow my hon. Friends who have spoken, especially my hon. Friend the Member for Reading, East (Mr. Wilson), who obviously does an excellent job not only for his constituents, but for education. One of the most important aspects of his speech was a preparedness to talk about bad schools. One of the most damaging things in education is the number of people who find it convenient not to admit that bad schools exist. They tend to ignore them and they get away with it. My hon. Friend mentioned Reading local education authority’s performance, with about 46 per cent. of children getting five or more good GCSEs. That is unacceptable. The hon. Member for South Swindon (Anne Snelgrove) intervened on him, and I believe that 50 per cent. of children in her LEA obtain five or more good GCSEs. That is also unacceptable. Such levels of achievement should not be tolerated.