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Education and Inspections Bill

We have considerable sympathy with the intentions behind Amendment No. 21, moved by the noble Baroness, Lady Buscombe, in respect of the requirement to provide a proper statement of reasons in response to a request submitted by parents. But we think that it would be excessively prescriptive to set out this requirement on the face of the Bill. Let me explain what we are doing in this regard. Clause 3 is the expression in the Bill of the commitment set out in the White Paper to give parents the right to ask for a new primary or secondary school. It places an explicit duty on local authorities for the first time to respond formally to parents who are seeking changes to the provision of schools in their areas, including new schools. We are determined that this duty should give parents the right to be heard by their local authority on the provision of schools in their area and to receive a considered and proportionate response. The draft illustrative guidance to local authorities, which we have made available, makes it clear that this is a duty which they must take seriously. They will need to respond on a case-by-case basis, after evaluating the depth and quality of support from parents cited in the proposals, gauging the level of parental concern more generally, and analysing patterns of demand in the area. That would include the issues raised by the noble Baroness in terms of the failure of existing provision in the area. More specifically, the guidance stipulates that the local authority should respond to the original representations by means of a statement, and I hope that the noble Baroness will be reassured to note that the draft guidance specifies that. It states: "““In all cases, the statement would need to set out the local authority's justification for arriving at its conclusions in order that the parents or parent group can follow the reasoning involved and, if dissatisfied, complain citing the reasons given””." That is a categoric statement of the requirements that we are placing on local authorities. Indeed, if parents believe that their local authority has not taken proper account of its duties, they may complain to the Secretary of State, who would consider whether to intervene—for example, by directing the local authority to reconsider its decision. Parents would also be able to make representations to the Schools Commissioner, who might also play a role in the process. We believe that statutory guidance is the most appropriate and proportionate way of setting out detailed expectations of how local authorities should respond to parental representations. While there may indeed be representations from parents specifically requesting a competition for a new school, which was the case raised by the noble Baroness, not all representations will be that specific. We should not, therefore, single out that specific possibility in the Bill. Similarly, while a competition for a new school might be one outcome of a parental representation, there may equally—quite legitimately—be circumstances where the local authority will judge that the best response might be, for example, to propose the enlargement of an existing successful school, or other changes to existing provision which meet parents’ demands in other ways. In all cases, however, local authorities will need to provide full justifications for whatever their conclusions may be in response to whatever the parental representations may be. I hope that the noble Baroness will be reassured on thatbasis that we are with her in spirit, the guidance will deliver what she seeks to achieve and that she does not need to take the amendment further. The new clause introduced by Amendment No. 67 would require a local authority to hold a competition for a new foundation, voluntary or foundation special school or academy if prescribed conditions about the standard of education and the extent of diversity in the authority were not met. Competitions are intended to be held where proposals for a new school need to be published. They could well include cases where pupil numbers are increasing, where there is a replacement required for a failing school or where schools are being reorganised in an area. However, it is for the local authority, as commissioner, to decide whether a new school is needed, or whether it might be preferable to reorganise in some other way, perhaps involving the addition of places at existing schools. We also recognise that proposers might wish to come forward with proposals for new schools without waiting for the local authority to issue an invitation. We have therefore provided in Clause 10 for them to be able to do so with the consent of the Secretary of State. I hope that these proposals, taken in the round, will satisfy the noble Baroness. They represent our extensive discussions on how we would take these provisions forward in another place. The balance is now right. In their role as champions of parents and quality assurers of provision in their local areas, local authorities must deploy a range of measures, not just to attract new schools—the issue raised by the noble Baroness—or to expand good schools, but also to assist and turn around weak schools and encourage ambition in coasting schools. We have a set of policies in place to encourage those outcomes, which needto be seen alongside the issue of competitions and parental representations.