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Education and Inspections Bill

I, too, am a member of the Joint Committee on Human Rights and my name is on the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Judd. I will speak briefly in support of what he said. I do not doubt the Government’s commitment to ensuring that the protections for academy pupils are not lower than those for pupils in maintained schools. Given that commitment, the crux of the question is whether the funding agreement is the best vehicle for securing it. I share the qualms of Members of the Committee about the detail of those model agreements and so forth. There must be some doubt over whether the agreements can deliver what the Government seek. I therefore strongly support the amendment.