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Schools: Statutory Instruments (Merits Committee Report)

My Lords, I begin by thanking the Select Committee and noble Lords for having undertaken this important inquiry and the debate today, and I thank my noble friend Lord Filkin for opening the debate. It is a great honour to be replying to such a distinguished committee of experts. I am pleased to say, particularly to the noble Baroness, Lady Verma, that the Government have already welcomed the report of the Select Committee on the Merits of Statutory Instruments because we recognise that at its heart, it identifies a key challenge: the need to rationalise the impact of the statutory duties, correspondence and guidance that schools receive. The Government agree with the committee on the importance of removing barriers and obstacles to delivery in schools so that teachers can focus on teaching and learning—and head teachers on leading their schools, as the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp of Guildford, said. The Department for Children, Schools and Families has made a commitment to significant changes in response to the recommendations in the report. The 10-year programme outlined in the Children’s Plan included the aim of achieving world-class schools and an excellent education for every child. This aim is central to all new policies impacting on schools. My intention in my remarks is to address each of the main recommendations of the report and then address myself to specific points made by noble Lords. Noble Lords will recognise that legislation is an important tool for any Government in setting clear frameworks and instructions for the delivery and providing equity and high standards across the system to ensure that every child benefits from an excellent education. However, the department is aware of the difficulties which arise from an accumulation of regulations, described eloquently in this debate and in the report. I would contend that we are steadily reducing the volume of statutory instruments impacting on schools. Wherever possible, regulations are consolidated to make it easier for schools to access information and reduce the risk of non-compliance. I intend to expand on that in my remarks. Notwithstanding the remarks of the noble Lord, Lord Turnbull, noble Lords will understand that secondary legislation allows for a great deal of flexibility. Consultation with stakeholders often throws up the need for amendments to procedures. Many statutory instruments have been welcomed by schools, parents and other stakeholders. For example, the school admissions code enjoyed cross-party support. The committee’s report states that the department should shift its primary focus away from the regulation of processes through statutory instruments. However, as my right honourable friend Jim Knight, the then Minister responsible for schools, pointed out in his response to my noble friend Lord Filkin, legislation is just one of the mechanisms available to help the Government achieve their ambitious vision for world-class schools, but it is by no means the department’s main focus. The Government also effect change in schools in many other ways, through support and guidance, funding incentives or the accountability provided by Ofsted inspections and the school improvement partnerships. Indeed, many of the initiatives mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, through research and pilots are included. The department is committed to minimising bureaucracy in schools and the number and quality of statutory instruments impacting on them. We believe that the scope of any secondary legislation must be clear and limited to actions that will have positive outcomes for children and young people. We agree with the committee that it is important to manage the planning and production of secondary legislation. One function of the department is to systematically review and challenge the amount of regulation in the system. In response to the committee’s recommendation, the department will be strengthening its systems to monitor and review of the quality of statutory instruments and accompanying guidance. I undertake to keep my noble friend and his committee informed of progress in that respect, although I suspect that it will show interest in that progress. A gate-keeping function is provided by the Implementation Review Unit, a panel of experienced schools practitioners with a specific remit to advise the Government and other agencies on issues of bureaucracy in schools. Although funded and supported by the department, the unit has a guaranteed independence which enables it to set its own agenda and challenge the department on bureaucracy issues. The work of the panel helps the department to minimise the bureaucracy associated with regulations from all government departments. The current review of the Implementation Review Unit will further strengthen the department’s aim to remove barriers and obstacles to delivery in schools. Engaging effectively with stakeholders throughout the policy-making process is key to the successful implementation of policy in practice. As noble Lords will know, it is a requirement to consult interested parties on proposed changes to regulations. I note the comments made about the number of consultations. This is one of those situations where we are damned if we do and damned if we do not. Apart from anything else, consultation means that there is an early-warning system about proposed changes and that we seek the views of stakeholders and interested parties to make sure that those changes best reflect the needs of the sector. That is an important and powerful tool to ensure good applicability. The department has a regular and productive dialogue with a wide range of school workforce unions, which advise the Government on workforce reform, as well as providing valuable input into the policy-making process. There are several other groups with school practitioner members who provide input into the department’s policy processes, such as the primary and secondary head teacher reference groups. We acknowledge the Committee’s recommendation that there should be a focus on outcomes rather than the regulation of processes. That was especially emphasised by the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss. The debate on outcomes tends inevitably to focus on testing and on results at age 11 and 16. That continues to be important, but the Government focus on wider outcomes for children as set out in the Every Child Matters framework. All five outcomes in that framework are vital for children and young people if they are to fulfil their potential. The new school report card system will provide a better, more holistic measure of the overall performance of every school, ensuring effective accountability without putting undue pressure on schools. The current system for school accountability has served to drive real improvements in attainment. New Relationship with Schools set out a clear approach to school accountability focusing on outcomes. The upcoming White Paper referred to by several noble Lords will develop the reforms started with the new relationship even further, by strengthening the role of school improvement partners in challenging and supporting schools. Moving onto more technical but no less important issues, as my noble friend Lord Filkin recognised, the Government agree with the committee’s recommendation that there should be a commencement date of 1 September for all statutory instruments affecting schools. The House will appreciate that there are some situations where an urgent change is required, which will lead to some exceptions. However, the department has committed to a systematic approach to commencement dates in response to this recommendation. The department will also work towards a lead-in time of at least one full term between laying a statutory instrument and its commencement. I am pleased to be able to tell noble Lords that we have already made progress in this area, and always try to ensure that reasonable time is given for consultation on new secondary legislation, including parliamentary consideration. I take the point made by the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp, about the pressures that that puts on governors in ensuring that guidance is implemented. That brings me to communications with schools. The Government agree with the recommendation of the committee that communications to schools should be improved, informed by advice provided by practitioners. We are led by what practitioners say, which is a key point in the report. As my right honourable friend Jim Knight outlined in his response to the committee, the department is already working hard to improve the accessibility of its communications. All central communications to schools are co-ordinated through one bi-weekly email, which clearly differentiates between statutory and non-statutory guidance. This email now contains concise headlines, so that schools can access essential information more easily. A new online service is being developed in consultation with stakeholders that will bring together all content from the department and its agencies. I hope that will address some of the points raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Deech. I thought they were very pertinent and very important for how we deal with this issue and solve these problems. The Government agree with my noble friend Lord Filkin’s point that effective policy making, including meaningful consultation with stakeholders and post-implementation review, is the key to successful implementation on the front line. The department has recently been working on strengthening its—as it were—customer focus and impact assessment in all its policy making. The Government also agree—this is a very agreeable speech—with the committee that post-implementation review is an integral part of the policy-making process. This was mentioned by many noble Lords, particularly my noble friend Lord Rosser. The implementation of policy is systematically reviewed. Ofsted also provides evidence through inspections and surveys of how policy is implemented. The department runs a devolved system, and the delivery chain feeds information and intelligence back to the centre. The department also uses stakeholder groups to provide feedback on implementation. Specific statutory instruments will now be assessed and reviewed through impact assessment. The Better Regulation Executive in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is working on updated guidance to make clearer how review findings should be published. I shall turn to some specific points made by noble Lords. I was very struck by my noble friend Lord Filkin’s opening remarks. We have known each other for some time. His remarks reflected the accumulated wisdom of his time in public service and his record. He pointed to the collective burdens facing head teachers. I hope he will feel that the Government have taken this report seriously, which we do. He and my noble friend Lord Rosser were right that academies are regulated in a different way from other schools. We are evaluating those differences at the moment. I am not going to follow the noble Lord, Lord Lucas, into his piles of nappies analogy of the work of the Merits Committee because it made me wonder about what takes place at its meetings. However, he made some important points about implementation and the burden of regulation. I hope he will feel that the Government are taking this report seriously. The noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, gave the department quite a poor grade for its co-ordination. I thought C- was the direction that we were heading in, but I hope she will acknowledge that there is a willingness to improve and that my remarks show that we are moving in the right direction so that her next report card will reflect that. She asked whether the department sufficiently listens to the Implementation Review Unit. We listen carefully and respond to concerns about the implementation of the Government’s ambitious aims for schools. The IRU continues to have a key role in advising the department and highlighting its productive engagement on the contents of the forthcoming White Paper and in its recent memorandum to the Merits Committee. I welcome the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Bradford to his first week as our duty Bishop. We might meet on the train going home to Bradford this afternoon. He made some pertinent points about the challenges facing head teachers, as did the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp of Guildford. I do so agree with his comment about the importance of getting the vision and values right. The right reverend Prelate made specific points about headship qualifications. Under the old national professional qualification for headship, the conversion rate was low, as some teachers used it as a continuous professional development opportunity rather than seeing it as a route to being a serious and immediate candidate for headship. The new NPQH had its first entry in September 2008 and is a much more focused qualification, with a stringent test on entry to ensure that the candidates intend to take up the leadership involved in headship. We expect the conversion rate to be much higher. The right reverend Prelate also talked about small schools in rural areas and the pressures on small schools, particularly in more remote areas. The Government recognise those issues, and partnership opportunities are available to schools to share resources such as governance, leadership and business managers to reduce some of these pressures. The noble Baroness, Lady Deech, quoted some truly terrifying statistics, going back over many years, on the accumulative problem. She also, as I have already said, pointed to the importance of the use of IT. I completely agree, and I hope that some of my remarks have shown that we are making progress in this direction. She and others also mentioned that we will miss our right honourable friend Jim Knight, but I am sure that our brand new Minister, Vernon Coaker, will be more than pleased to co-operate with the committee in due course, and I undertake to draw his attention to the debate in your Lordships’ House today. The noble Baroness, Lady Deech, asked whether the DCSF will establish a mechanism to monitor new statutory instruments. We remain committed to establishing a mechanism to monitor statutory instruments that will include a review of the volume, quality and timeliness of all new school-related statutory instruments and accompanying guidance. Officials are discussing this with Vernon Coaker right now. On a personal note, may I say how much I agree with the noble Baroness and other noble Lords about how much the House will miss the wisdom and great knowledge of Lord Dahrendorf, who was the director of the London School of Economics when I was a student there in the 1970s? My noble friend Lord Rosser has a long record of service to the Merits Committee and his point was well made about the focus being on systems instead of on outputs and accountability. He also very pertinently pointed to the complexity surrounding the interpretation and reinterpretation of guidance at local level. The noble Lord, Lord Turnbull, made a very welcome contribution, and I wondered whether he was tempted to join the committee’s galaxy of hardworking experts at some point. The noble Baroness, Lady Sharp, has great experience in so many aspects of education and made a very good point about the need to support governors in their implementation of policy. She gave us a wonderful lesson in the history of the development of educational policy and guidance, and in how we managed to end up where we are. A great deal of cost is involved in departmental working. Indeed, the DCSF collaborates with many departments that work with us on matters that affect schools. However, many good points were made about how we notify departments and ensure that the common commencement date of 1 September works right across government. The noble Baroness, Lady Verma, asked her usual examination list of questions. I hope that we have managed to address most of her concerns. I agree with my right friend Jim Knight about the balance between freedom and regulation in the context of an intelligent accountability framework for what is needed. The noble Baroness asked how statutory instruments are worded. The government lawyers who draft regulations are committed to using plain and direct English, but they also need to ensure that the legal effects of an instrument are absolutely clear and leave nothing open to differing interpretations of the task that is being undertaken. In conclusion, I thank noble Lords again for this report and for their contributions to this debate. The Department for Children, Schools and Families is taking account of the recommendations and we will work hard to bring about the changes necessary to meet those recommendations. The Government believe that these changes will help to manage the overall impact of regulations and their accompanying guidance on schools, as well as improving communications with all our stakeholders. I am not surprised to learn that the committee will pursue this matter. I heard the sound in the voice of my noble friend Lord Filkin of, if not a zealot, certainly an enthusiast who has got the bit between his teeth on this matter. Running an outstanding school which provides an excellent education for all its pupils is an enormous challenge. I am sure that noble Lords will share my admiration for the daily dedication shown by all those working in schools. The Government hope that in response to this report, barriers and obstacles to delivery can be removed and teachers can focus on giving every child an excellent education.