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Education and Inspections Bill

I, too, shall begin by making a few general remarks. I thank the Minister and his officials—especially his officials—for their help during the Bill’s passage. I also thank the Conservative Front-Bench team for the interesting and lively debate at all stages, especially in Committee, some of which I shall not easily forget. This is the first Bill on which I have served as my party’s spokesperson from beginning to end, so the learning curve was a steep one. I am grateful to my hon. Friends the Members for Mid-Dorset and North Poole (Annette Brooke) and for Leeds, North-West (Greg Mulholland) for their help and support throughout the process. It is notable that the Lords appear to be more flexible and willing than the Commons to amend a Bill. I hope that the new ethos—we had a debate about ethoi in the Committee, so perhaps that is a better word. I hope that the new ethoi of flexibility and responsiveness will translate into the Commons in relation to future Bills. Lords amendment No. 5 to clause 8 does not deal with the key concern that we expressed at other stages, which is that the Bill gives the Secretary of State a veto that we do not believe he should have. However, inasmuch as the amendment appears to prescribe more closely the circumstances in which the Secretary of State can use his or her discretion, rather than leave it entirely unfettered, it is probably welcome. We expressed concern about the provisions on exclusions and house arrest at earlier stages, but we cannot reopen those matters now without going out of order. It seems to us that the amendments in those respects make the position neither worse nor better. With those brief comments, I shall conclude my remarks.