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Education and Inspections Bill

I oppose this amendment for the reasons given by the noble Lord, Lord Lucas: it is unclear what duties might be imposed on local authorities to contribute to social inclusion and community cohesion. It is unclear what these things mean, and the duties they involve are even less clear. What is clear is that we have a confused view—and I admit to sharing it—of what we mean by community. It is hard to follow the moving speeches of the noble Baroness, Lady Williams, and the noble Lord, Lord Dearing. Underlying their views is essentially a static notion of community as a geographically narrow place where a settled group of people live and work for most of their lives, and where the school, like other buildings or institutions, is at the centre of that communal life. Yet most communities are not like that today, and, if they are, they are becoming increasingly less so. We have geographically scattered communities. How many jobs will people have in a lifetime? How many times will they move house? Professor Amartya Sen talks of multiple identities. It is not that sort or world. Increasingly, people want good schools for their children and the appeal of a local school to a local community is becoming less significant than having a good school to which they have access. I agree that social inclusion is important in the traditional sense whereby everyone should have access to good schools, but that is not the same as having a local school which is at the centre of an old-fashioned community. In that respect, this amendment is somewhat misguided.