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Debate on bill on Tuesday, 23 May 2006, in the House of Commons.

Education and Inspections Bill

Education and Inspections Bill. Debate on Programme motion (No 2) on proceedings on report and Third reading. Agreed to on question. Report stage first day.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
446 c1333-449 
Session
2005-06
Department
Department for Education and Skills
Legislative stage
Report stage
Procedure
Programme motions
New clauses
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Related items
Deposited Paper DEP 06/1005
Monday, 22 May 2006
Deposited papers
House of Commons
Proceeding contributions
Annette Brooke | 446 c1381-2 (Link to this contribution) Does not the hon. Gentleman think that if parents perceived that their children would benefit from a...
Edward Leigh | 446 c1382 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I must not exaggerate my argument. Nearly 20 per cent. of schools became grant-maintained after...
Show all contributions (312)
Lord Knight of Weymouth | 446 c1382 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry to interrupt the hon. Gentleman’s flow, but does he accept that the NAO figure of 23 per ...
Baroness Teather | 446 c1378 (Link to this contribution) I am making the point that authorities should be allowed to decide whether a community school is the...
Baroness Teather | 446 c1378 (Link to this contribution) I am finishing my speech now. I am surprised that the Government will resist that new clause.
Roberta Blackman-Woods | 446 c1379 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend not accept that the guidance that has been issued about the schools commissioner...
Edward Leigh | 446 c1381 (Link to this contribution) I wish to speak briefly to new clause 64, which I tabled, and other amendments. I hope to be brief b...
Gordon Marsden | 446 c1379-80 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. The letter that was issued on 2 May to members of the ...
Edward Leigh | 446 c1384-5 (Link to this contribution) Of course that is right, and it is why I want head teachers to be subject to governing bodies. I sho...
Helen Jones | 446 c1384 (Link to this contribution) A school’s head teacher is crucial to its success, but he or she will not get every decision right. ...
Paul Farrelly | 446 c1383-4 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that it is extremely important for the future of children’s education ...
Edward Leigh | 446 c1384 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman identifies a fundamental difference of opinion between us, which leads me on to m...
Speaker | 446 c1383 (Link to this contribution) Order. That has been a long intervention.
Edward Leigh | 446 c1383 (Link to this contribution) But it was an excellent intervention, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Lord Adonis is one of my heroes, and he fa...
Edward Leigh | 446 c1383 (Link to this contribution) I have no problem with democracy, but the requirements amount to a fig leaf for the Government. They...
Andrew Turner | 446 c1383 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend asks what difference 500 schools choosing foundation status would make, but the fact ...
Edward Leigh | 446 c1382-3 (Link to this contribution) I do confirm that, and am sorry to have given the opposite impression, but is not a school that is m...
Ian Stewart | 446 c1383 (Link to this contribution) What is the hon. Gentleman’s problem with democracy?
Roberta Blackman-Woods | 446 c1389 (Link to this contribution) My intervention relates to ballots. Will my hon. Friend explain why, in the context of the decision,...
Angela C Smith | 446 c1385 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman accept that head teachers already have considerable freedom in how they run ...
Angela C Smith | 446 c1388 (Link to this contribution) One of the most controversial and difficult decisions that a school governing body ever has to take ...
David Chaytor | 446 c1388 (Link to this contribution) In the case of school closure, it is entirely reasonable that a ballot should be part of the overall...
Peter Soulsby | 446 c1388 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that many of us already have experience of consultation without ballots in...
David Chaytor | 446 c1388-9 (Link to this contribution) That is the heart of my argument: the ballot process ensures that the decision is made on the basis ...
Edward Leigh | 446 c1385 (Link to this contribution) That is the hon. Lady’s third or fourth intervention, and all have been excellent and very loyal to ...
Annette Brooke | 446 c1385 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman and I both had the honour of attending the Harvard Business School lecture. He mi...
Edward Leigh | 446 c1385-6 (Link to this contribution) It all goes to show that one’s views of a lecture are always subjective; one’s innate prejudices aff...
David Chaytor | 446 c1389 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important point. Obviously, there are limitations with any electorate. The r...
Margaret Moran | 446 c1389-90 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend explain how the parents of children in schools in my constituency that feed into...
David Chaytor | 446 c1390 (Link to this contribution) None of them, for the reasons that I gave earlier. Let me make my final point on new clause 16. Whe...
Lord Clarke of Nottingham | 446 c1390-1 (Link to this contribution) It was a pleasant and unusual experience to speak on Second Reading, because I was able to support a...
Paul Farrelly | 446 c1390 (Link to this contribution) I am glad that my hon. Friend supports the new clause in the name of my hon. Friend the Member for S...
Lord Clarke of Nottingham | 446 c1394 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way to my hon. Friend, who was very much involved at that time.
Lord Clarke of Nottingham | 446 c1391-4 (Link to this contribution) It turned out that balloting was used as an excuse to try to wreck the principles underlying the ref...
Andrew Turner | 446 c1394 (Link to this contribution) I apologise for the vehemence with which I tried to set the record straight a moment ago. I do not f...
Lord Clarke of Nottingham | 446 c1394 (Link to this contribution) With the inevitable result that we tended to do better in middle-class, articulate areas that were f...
Speaker | 446 c1394 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. and learned Gentleman has taken us on a historic tour of the battles over grant-maint...
Lord Clarke of Nottingham | 446 c1394-5 (Link to this contribution) I am not the only Member who, as well as discussing where we are now, enjoys reminiscing. You are qu...
Helen Jones | 446 c1395-6 (Link to this contribution) After years of being referred to on my home turf as the hammer of the Trots, it is a pleasure to be ...
Ann Winterton | 446 c1396 (Link to this contribution) In spite of her opposition to the grant-maintained school example, does the hon. Lady agree that bal...
Helen Jones | 446 c1396 (Link to this contribution) In any school the support of parents is needed. The school will not work properly if it cannot carry...
Tom Levitt | 446 c1396-7 (Link to this contribution) I hope those listening to the debate are not unintentionally misled by something that my hon. Friend...
Helen Jones | 446 c1397 (Link to this contribution) I think my hon. Friend misunderstands the position on trusts. He is right that the trust will be a c...
Diana Johnson | 446 c1397 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend mentioned general elections and local authority elections, where the electorate is cl...
Diana Johnson | 446 c1366 (Link to this contribution) May I take the hon. Gentleman back to a comment that he made about local education authorities that ...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1365-6 (Link to this contribution) People are more interested in how the hon. Gentleman and his colleagues will vote tomorrow than in h...
Jon Trickett | 446 c1365 (Link to this contribution) I listened carefully to the Secretary of State, who offered a welcome clarification of the principle...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1365 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a valid point, which I wish I had made myself. When there is a competition in w...
Judy Mallaber | 446 c1366 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman accept that there can be a diverse range of ethoses and styles of schools, e...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1366 (Link to this contribution) Of course. I meant that if the local education authority ceased to have that poor rating of 1 it wou...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1365 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a valid point, which is why we are not averse to supporting the Bill with t...
Andrew Gwynne | 446 c1365 (Link to this contribution) I wish to declare my interest as a member of Tameside metropolitan borough council, and to draw to t...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1363-4 (Link to this contribution) There are cross-party views on all kinds of education issues. I am speaking for the Opposition, yet ...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1362-3 (Link to this contribution) Select Committees bring out reports all the time and the Government respond to them, but such report...
Gordon Marsden | 446 c1362 (Link to this contribution) I know that it suits the hon. Gentleman’s perspective to present what happened as an enormous conces...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1363 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend makes the point well enough. It is very much a producer-capture situation. If ...
Lord Deben | 446 c1363 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that the NUT is still entirely opposed to any aspect of the Bill that give...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1363 (Link to this contribution) There is a diverse range of views in the Conservative party and we are proud of that fact.
Anne Snelgrove | 446 c1363 (Link to this contribution) On diverse views, the hon. Member for Gainsborough (Mr. Leigh) tabled interesting and informative am...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1361 (Link to this contribution) I could not agree more with the hon. Lady. That is precisely what Conservative Members want. We want...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1362 (Link to this contribution) The Conservative party has already set out its position and there will be a debate on admissions tom...
Paul Farrelly | 446 c1361 (Link to this contribution) Clearly, the Bill not only proposes a new form of school, but sets some limits. Will the hon. Gentle...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1371 (Link to this contribution) Because the ballots would not be used for that. They would be used by people such as the right hon. ...
Frank Dobson | 446 c1371 (Link to this contribution) When the old Etonian Leader of the Opposition goes around saying that he wishes to hand power to par...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1370 (Link to this contribution) That is not true. I oppose the ballot because in the case of grant-maintained schools, it led to the...
Gordon Marsden | 446 c1370 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman’s reluctance to accept the principle of the ballot have anything to do with ...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1369-70 (Link to this contribution) I do not accept that. As we witnessed in Committee, all the Liberal amendments are designed to thwar...
Baroness Teather | 446 c1369 (Link to this contribution) I am surprised that the hon. Gentleman is not keener on that new clause. It would make it easier for...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1369 (Link to this contribution) I am going to make some progress, if I may. Our amendments Nos. 105, 106 and 107 would make it easi...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1369 (Link to this contribution) I hate to disagree with my hon. Friend, but I think that those are matters for the governing body of...
Ann Winterton | 446 c1369 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend talks about parent consultation. Where a school changes status to, say, a trust schoo...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1368 (Link to this contribution) That would be an exaggeration. The Thomas Telford school has high-quality leadership, but it would h...
Frank Dobson | 446 c1368 (Link to this contribution) In view of the hon. Gentleman’s remarks about the school in Telford, does he believe that if every s...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1368 (Link to this contribution) Not at the moment. I want to assure my hon. Friends that this is a Bill and a policy that we can an...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1367 (Link to this contribution) Of course, the hon. Lady is right. Conservative Members have never said that we can solve all the pr...
Helen Jones | 446 c1366 (Link to this contribution) I understand the hon. Gentleman’s concern about the need to tackle failing schools, which is shared ...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1367-8 (Link to this contribution) I still hold the philosophy to which the hon. Gentleman refers. In my time as shadow education spoke...
Barry Sheerman | 446 c1367 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman was a member of the Education and Skills Committee and signed up to the report qu...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1366 (Link to this contribution) Of course I accept that. The then Minister for Schools told us that the plural of ethos is ethoi, so...
Paul Farrelly | 446 c1374 (Link to this contribution) I warmly welcome my hon. Friend’s amendment, which is a good start. In relation to the necessity of ...
John Grogan | 446 c1374 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted that my hon. Friend thinks that I have made a good start. Should Ministers want to ho...
Speaker | 446 c1373 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Lady has gone beyond the bounds of an intervention.
John Grogan | 446 c1373 (Link to this contribution) Many of those stakeholders are, of course, represented on the governing body, which will come to a d...
Ken Purchase | 446 c1374 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has put his finger on the heart of the debate. He says that democracy is important. I...
John Grogan | 446 c1374 (Link to this contribution) I do find it sad. I have probably taken up too much of the House’s time—[Hon. Members: ““More! More!...
Helen Jones | 446 c1374 (Link to this contribution) The argument from the Conservative Front Bench seemed to be that parents would be so overwhelmed by ...
John Grogan | 446 c1374 (Link to this contribution) I agree. The beauty of one person, one vote is that it does not give the loudest voice the final say...
Andrew Turner | 446 c1375 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
John Grogan | 446 c1375 (Link to this contribution) I want to make this final point. Others may have an opportunity to speak later. I think that this d...
Helen Jones | 446 c1371 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Nick Gibb | 446 c1371 (Link to this contribution) I will not give way to the hon. Lady. I am just coming to the end of my speech.
Ian Stewart | 446 c1371 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Nick Gibb | 446 c1371 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry, I will not give way to the hon. Gentleman. Our amendments and new clauses are designed ...
John Grogan | 446 c1371-2 (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Mr. Gibb), and ...
John Grogan | 446 c1372 (Link to this contribution) I thank my right hon. Friend for that clarification. I think that a school’s decision to become a fo...
Ann Winterton | 446 c1373 (Link to this contribution) I assure the hon. Gentleman that a consultation costs nothing if not many people are consulted. The ...
John Grogan | 446 c1373 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Lady for that. Clearly, these radical, reforming, modernising ideas are spreading l...
Baroness Keeley | 446 c1373 (Link to this contribution) On that point, I used to be responsible for education in Trafford, which was a complicated authority...
Baroness Teather | 446 c1376-7 (Link to this contribution) That depends on the extent to which they are involved with children. Perhaps we can debate that issu...
Baroness Teather | 446 c1377 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to the hon. Member for Isle of Wight (Mr. Turner) and then I will make some progress...
Andrew Turner | 446 c1377 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Lady for giving way. The hon. Member for Hackney, South and Shoreditch (Meg Hillier...
Baroness Teather | 446 c1377 (Link to this contribution) I suspect that the Minister will have to clarify this issue, because my understanding is that govern...
Roberta Blackman-Woods | 446 c1376 (Link to this contribution) I am not actually sure whether the hon. Lady is speaking in favour of trusts or against them; perhap...
Baroness Teather | 446 c1376 (Link to this contribution) There is no reason why such a company should not meet the basic standards, or why someone should not...
Baroness Teather | 446 c1376 (Link to this contribution) I give way first to the hon. Member for Hackney, South and Shoreditch (Meg Hillier).
Meg Hillier | 446 c1376 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Lady for giving way. She is making some interesting points. Does she think that loc...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1359 (Link to this contribution) Local authorities already have that duty. The point made earlier was that a failure to promote commu...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1358 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important point. In my two weeks as Secretary of State, Mossbourne is the on...
Margaret Moran | 446 c1358-9 (Link to this contribution) I very much welcome the promotion of community cohesion. Is my right hon. Friend aware that, since 1...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1358 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a nice try, and I agree that that website, like all websites, should be updated...
Meg Hillier | 446 c1358 (Link to this contribution) Is my right hon. Friend aware that two city academies—the Mossbourne and the Petchey academies—have ...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1359 (Link to this contribution) No, I do not accept that. We are talking not about fragmenting governing bodies, but about increasin...
David Chaytor | 446 c1359 (Link to this contribution) I accept the argument that trust schools should have a duty to promote community cohesion but, given...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1359 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend repeats what has been people’s experience in too many parts of the country. The Bill ...
Peter Soulsby | 446 c1359 (Link to this contribution) Does the Secretary of State accept that fragmenting the governance of schools is a risky enterprise,...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1360 (Link to this contribution) That is one form of the diversity that we want, but we also want diversity in structure that will he...
Nick Raynsford | 446 c1360 (Link to this contribution) Can the hon. Gentleman reconcile the clear statement that his party is opposed to giving local autho...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1361 (Link to this contribution) This is not an anti-local authority issue, as I will come on to say. Under the White Paper and the B...
Kali Mountford | 446 c1361 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman and his party were ever to be in power—God forbid—he would have to learn that ...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1361 (Link to this contribution) Of course, parents will initially set out the determination to have one of the new schools. Those wh...
Lord Redwood | 446 c1361 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend understand why Labour Members seem to want to leave the rich with a complete cho...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1361 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend makes a good point and his pertinent intervention has encapsulated the history ...
Meg Hillier | 446 c1361 (Link to this contribution) I am driven to rise to my feet again. In Hackney in my constituency, we have a new city academy, to ...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1359-60 (Link to this contribution) I add my congratulations to the Secretary of State on his appointment. He is a sure pair of hands as...
Meg Hillier | 446 c1360 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman seems to be contradicting himself. He suggests that every community school is hom...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1357-8 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady raises some important issues that have been considered as part of the review of Ofsted...
Angela Watkinson | 446 c1357 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State has mentioned all the safeguards relating to Ofsted inspections. What safegua...
Rob Wilson | 446 c1357 (Link to this contribution) Can the Secretary of State confirm that trust schools will not have to pay for inspections by Ofsted...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1357 (Link to this contribution) As my hon. Friends point out, the problem with that question is that trust schools will not be indep...
Baroness Keeley | 446 c1357 (Link to this contribution) On the point about turning failing schools around, a school in my constituency had to be put on spec...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1357 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. All hon. Members want to see such schools turned around as quickly as possi...
Martin Salter | 446 c1356 (Link to this contribution) What on earth were my right hon. Friend’s predecessors thinking when they considered a regime in whi...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1356 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend asks an impossible question: I cannot say what previous Ministers were thinking. The ...
Clive Efford | 446 c1357 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend clarify the answer he gave to my right hon. Friend the Member for Greenwic...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1357 (Link to this contribution) No. My hon. Friend mixes two different points. Trust schools will be subject to the same regime, but...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1355 (Link to this contribution) I am never going to get to the fourth point. I will give way.
Nadine Dorries | 446 c1355 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State give way?
Alan Johnson | 446 c1355 (Link to this contribution) I think that I have set out the reasons for the local authority to refer to the schools adjudicator....
David Chaytor | 446 c1355 (Link to this contribution) Can my right hon. Friend confirm whether a local authority will have the power to refer to the adjud...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1356 (Link to this contribution) The important points are the Secretary of State’s powers and the obligation on the governing body to...
Nick Raynsford | 446 c1356 (Link to this contribution) I am appreciative of the many safeguards that my right hon. Friend outlines. There has been a signif...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1355-6 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady will forgive me if I do not go into hypothetical situations. The whole point is that t...
Nadine Dorries | 446 c1355 (Link to this contribution) If a school were not performing as well as it should but felt that it could improve standards by emb...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1346 (Link to this contribution) I believe that governing bodies that decide to have a majority trust—I stress that it is governing b...
Helen Jones | 446 c1346 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend knows that the Select Committee recommended that all parent governors on a trus...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1345-6 (Link to this contribution) It is a matter for the governing body to decide. It can decide whether to become a trust, and then d...
Baroness Teather | 446 c1345 (Link to this contribution) But surely the point is that there would be a reduction in the number of elected parent governors. I...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1345 (Link to this contribution) It is also the only university that does a two-year degree. There would be nothing to stop a school ...
Gordon Marsden | 446 c1347 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend mentioned the schools commissioner. Does he envisage the schools commissioner p...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1346-7 (Link to this contribution) Once we have established the schools commissioner, his role will be to act as a broker for schools i...
Gordon Marsden | 446 c1346 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend has expressed reservations about including a requirement for federation in the ...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1346 (Link to this contribution) No, it would not. The other important point to bear in mind is that, if the circumstances that I hav...
Frank Dobson | 446 c1346 (Link to this contribution) If a governing body decided go for trust status, would it be required, before it was granted that st...
Simon Burns | 446 c1344 (Link to this contribution) Could the Secretary of State help me with something that has slightly amazed me? This morning, I rec...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1344 (Link to this contribution) I would never accuse the hon. Gentleman of being particularly stupid. A school would take that decis...
Lord Redwood | 446 c1344 (Link to this contribution) Like some of my hon. Friends, I do not think that there are enough powers for foundation schools. Wo...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1344 (Link to this contribution) I have spent many happy hours deliberating on how the West Chelmsford Labour party reached its decis...
John Bercow | 446 c1345 (Link to this contribution) Can the Secretary of State confirm that the new clause does not prohibit a school from federating or...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1345 (Link to this contribution) If I were to hazard a guess—I may be making myself a hostage to fortune—I would say a great many.
James Clappison | 446 c1345 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the Secretary of State to his post. Does he agree that the attributes that he ascribed to ...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1344 (Link to this contribution) There are no plans to move further than what is currently in the regulations. We now have a real opp...
Gordon Prentice | 446 c1345 (Link to this contribution) I have a very simple question. How many schools does the Secretary of State believe will go for trus...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1345 (Link to this contribution) I do not agree with the hon. Gentleman. Grant-maintained schools could select, had more money, were ...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1342 (Link to this contribution) I can, in the sense that not holding a ballot would not be failure to consult, but if the local auth...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1342 (Link to this contribution) Can the Secretary of State confirm that it will not be regarded as a poor consultation process if a ...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1341-2 (Link to this contribution) May I set out the Government’s position on the new clause and the other propositions in this group o...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1343 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. I believe that grant-maintained schools had to hold a ballot every year, bu...
Tom Levitt | 446 c1343 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend has mentioned grant-maintained schools. Does he agree that one of the many fail...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1343 (Link to this contribution) Because this is not a change from a grammar school to a community school. We set out the arrangement...
Paul Farrelly | 446 c1343 (Link to this contribution) Ballots are mandatory when a change is in prospect from a grammar school to a community school, so w...
Tony Baldry | 446 c1344 (Link to this contribution) I have a different problem. Will the Secretary of State explain why the governors of, for example, B...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1343-4 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend will know that we have set out guidance on that matter, which is available in the Hou...
Louise Ellman | 446 c1343 (Link to this contribution) The change from a community school to a trust school is fundamental. Will my right hon. Friend indic...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1333-4 (Link to this contribution) I do not intend to detain the House on the programme motion. We support the broad principles of the ...
Lord Redwood | 446 c1334 (Link to this contribution) I do not want to delay the business either, as this is an important Bill that we wish to scrutinise ...
Baroness Teather | 446 c1334 (Link to this contribution) May I begin by welcoming the Secretary of State, and congratulating him on his new role? A reshuffle...
Speaker | 446 c1336-41 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: New clause 16—Ballot of parents on change...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1335 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Alan Johnson | 446 c1354 (Link to this contribution) I can confirm that. Perhaps my hon. Friend and I could have a chat afterwards, so I could point to t...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1353 (Link to this contribution) I hesitate before saying that I share the right hon. Gentleman’s anger, but I do think it a matter o...
David Anderson | 446 c1353-4 (Link to this contribution) On the day after Second Reading, the previous Secretary of State confirmed that schools choosing not...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1352-3 (Link to this contribution) At least a third of governors will have to be parents, and in the circumstances that my hon. Friend ...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1352 (Link to this contribution) I will give way one more time and then make some progress.
Paul Farrelly | 446 c1352 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate my right hon. Friend on introducing the safeguard concerning the removal of a majorit...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1352 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right; indeed, the only voluntary aided school in my constituency uses ...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1354-5 (Link to this contribution) I can confirm that. I am aware that my hon. Friend has had discussions about children with special e...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1352 (Link to this contribution) Let me make it absolutely clear: if the governing body of a trust decided that it wanted to leave th...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1352 (Link to this contribution) I give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Hillsborough (Ms Smith).
Alan Johnson | 446 c1351 (Link to this contribution) Last time I was at the Dispatch Box talking about higher education, the hon. Gentleman and his party...
Anne Snelgrove | 446 c1351 (Link to this contribution) Is this not one of the issues that put clear red water between us and the Opposition? We have examin...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1351 (Link to this contribution) I agree. If we examine the strategic role of local authorities in the context of ““Every Child Matte...
Jon Trickett | 446 c1352 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend referred to new clause 23, which I tabled, and to subsequent amendments. Will h...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1350 (Link to this contribution) I will take one more intervention. Then I must make some progress.
Alan Johnson | 446 c1350 (Link to this contribution) Yes. That is the kind of provision that clause 9 makes.
Lord Willetts | 446 c1351;446 c1350-1 (Link to this contribution) I hope very much that the Secretary of State will join us in making a robust case for the Government...
Angela C Smith | 446 c1352 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend agree that trust schools will not be community schools, and that they will...
Judy Mallaber | 446 c1350 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend give way?
Angela Eagle | 446 c1350 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate my right hon. Friend and his predecessor on making the new skeleton admissions code a...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1350 (Link to this contribution) I expect it to operate in the context of admissions forums. I hope to say more about that later, but...
John Denham | 446 c1349 (Link to this contribution) I welcome what my right hon. Friend has said about the way in which he will approach diversity, as h...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1349 (Link to this contribution) Yes, the adjudicator will do that, as that will be part of the regulations that we will produce.
Alan Johnson | 446 c1349 (Link to this contribution) That is an important point. If the Bill allows that to take place, it will be beneficial to every Me...
John Bercow | 446 c1350 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State referred a few moments ago to regulations that were imminent or to be publish...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1350 (Link to this contribution) First, they will be subject to the negative procedure. Secondly, we tried hard, as Members who serve...
Judy Mallaber | 446 c1349 (Link to this contribution) Following that last point, as my right hon. Friend has mentioned faith schools, will he specifically...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1349-50 (Link to this contribution) I repeat: the fact that a local authority does not have a faith school, or has few faith schools, wo...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1348 (Link to this contribution) That was as a result of the representations of not only Labour Back Benchers, but the Local Governme...
Baroness Teather | 446 c1348 (Link to this contribution) Does the Secretary of State recognise that the annual performance assessment relates to the overall ...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1348 (Link to this contribution) The ability to collect rubbish is very important, but we depend on educational attainment in regard ...
Tom Levitt | 446 c1348 (Link to this contribution) Further to the question from my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Hillsborough(Ms Smith), can th...
Helen Jones | 446 c1348 (Link to this contribution) The key here is surely the way in which we define diversity. The Secretary of State has talked about...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1348 (Link to this contribution) I shall come to that in just a second, if my hon. Friend will be patient.
Angela C Smith | 446 c1348 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend agree that the criteria should act as a spur to local authorities not only...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1348 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has made a crucial point. In places with a long history of failing schools, we really...
Anne Snelgrove | 446 c1348 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend agree that our right hon. Friend the Member for Redditch (Jacqui Smith) wa...
Lord Knight of Weymouth | 446 c1444-50 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman knows well, as will any Member who chooses to read the Hansard report of the full...
John Hayes | 446 c1444 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has just told the House that he thinks people should go to schools without agreei...
Lord Knight of Weymouth | 446 c1443-4 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Member for Brent, East (Sarah Teather) for indicating that she wants to ta...
Lord Knight of Weymouth | 446 c1438 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady got in just in time. As she is my neighbour, I know that she takes the issue of childr...
Lord Willetts | 446 c1438-9 (Link to this contribution) I had hoped that the Minister would be able to go a bit further. I realise that our new clause is no...
John Hayes | 446 c1439 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Speaker | 446 c1439-41 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: New clause 10—Home-school contracts—"‘(1)...
John Hayes | 446 c1441 (Link to this contribution) This group of new clauses and amendments deal with discipline in schools. If the objective of the Bi...
Baroness Teather | 446 c1442 (Link to this contribution) We discussed this matter in Committee, when it was noted that many people—such as those who cannot r...
John Hayes | 446 c1442-3 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady, and the whole House, will know that the protection of the vulnerable is always my top...
Andrew Turner | 446 c1443 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend think that the Bill deals adequately with the case not of sex offenders who migh...
John Hayes | 446 c1443 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has great knowledge of educational affairs, on which he always speaks with great auth...
Angela Watkinson | 446 c1433-4 (Link to this contribution) I should like to speak briefly in favour of new clause 1, and I want to illustrate its importance by...
Rob Wilson | 446 c1434 (Link to this contribution) It is always a great pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Upminster (Angela Watkinson). ...
Lord Willetts | 446 c1438 (Link to this contribution) I had hoped that we could avoid dividing the House, but to help us to reach a decision, can the Mini...
Lord Knight of Weymouth | 446 c1438 (Link to this contribution) All that I can say to the hon. Gentleman—I hope that this is enough—is that I am very happy to consi...
Sammy Wilson | 446 c1434-6 (Link to this contribution) As someone who taught for 23 years, I recognise the importance of this issue, especially in more rec...
Lord Knight of Weymouth | 446 c1436-8 (Link to this contribution) I very much appreciate the concern of the hon. Member for Havant (Mr. Willetts), expressed through t...
Annette Brooke | 446 c1438 (Link to this contribution) Will that be a cross-party meeting?
Lord Knight of Weymouth | 446 c1438 (Link to this contribution) Of course I am very happy to meet the hon. Gentleman and have that discussion, although I cannot giv...
Lord Willetts | 446 c1438 (Link to this contribution) I am trying to find a way forward, because I fully understand that we do not particularly want to di...
David Drew | 446 c1428 (Link to this contribution) What happens if the loss of confidentiality occurs through the arrest process? It is not unknown for...
Lord Willetts | 446 c1428-9 (Link to this contribution) That would not be possible within the framework of the new clause that we propose, as it relates onl...
David Drew | 446 c1429 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is generous in giving way and he is doing the right thing by moving the new claus...
Lord Willetts | 446 c1429 (Link to this contribution) If a parent has broken the confidentiality in those circumstances, that should be an offence. The pr...
Speaker | 446 c1426 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss amendment No. 4, in title, line 9, at end insert"‘to make...
Lord Willetts | 446 c1426-8 (Link to this contribution) New clause 1 would place a duty on individuals investigating allegations against teachers to ensure ...
Nadine Dorries | 446 c1431 (Link to this contribution) It is a long time since I was in a school classroom and had a blackboard rubber lobbed at me for tal...
Annette Brooke | 446 c1429-31 (Link to this contribution) As we approached this short debate, I was particularly struck by the headline of one of the many new...
Nadine Dorries | 446 c1431-2 (Link to this contribution) I have no idea. Perhaps my hon. Friend the Member for Havant (Mr. Willetts) could answer that one fo...
Phil Hope | 446 c1425-6 (Link to this contribution) New clause 34 will allow the registration authority for independent schools to institute proceedings...
Jon Trickett | 446 c1413 (Link to this contribution) If my right hon. Friend will not accept my facts, will he accept those in the Bill? Clause 17(4) sta...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1413 (Link to this contribution) I will in a moment. Part of my hon. Friend’s argument is that trusts are intrinsically evil and a t...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1414 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way once—to my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Paul Farrelly).
Alan Johnson | 446 c1413-4 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is describing the situation at the moment. I do not want to get into discussing the i...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1414-25 (Link to this contribution) No. The 20 per cent. limit is right—but my hon. Friend has reminded me of another issue. A Labour-co...
Paul Farrelly | 446 c1414 (Link to this contribution) I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way. I am sure that he does not want to discuss the issue of...
Speaker | 446 c1425 (Link to this contribution) With this it will be convenient to discuss Government amendments Nos. 69 and 79.
Phil Hope | 446 c1425 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Jon Trickett | 446 c1405 (Link to this contribution) I shall not give way to a Member who has just come in. All the arguments for citizens rather than c...
Tom Levitt | 446 c1405 (Link to this contribution) The conventions of the House quite rightly allow that, in a debate on Report, those who have tabled ...
Jon Trickett | 446 c1405 (Link to this contribution) I tabled new clauses 17 and 23, and that is why I was called to speak.
Tom Levitt | 446 c1406 (Link to this contribution) That was exactly my point. I was not arguing against the convention. It is quite right that the peop...
Jon Trickett | 446 c1405 (Link to this contribution) Of course. My hon. Friend makes an important point. The three new clauses on ballots allow the Secre...
Helen Jones | 446 c1406 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is missing the point that the new clauses include a power for the Secretary of State ...
Tom Levitt | 446 c1407 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention.
Peter Soulsby | 446 c1407 (Link to this contribution) I think that my hon. Friend the Member for High Peak (Tom Levitt) has unintentionally misrepresented...
Tom Levitt | 446 c1407 (Link to this contribution) Apart from that last clause, I accept the point that my hon. Friend has made. Indeed, I also accept ...
Sammy Wilson | 446 c1410-1 (Link to this contribution) According to my understanding of the Bill, parents will have the right to be consulted, as will othe...
Sammy Wilson | 446 c1409-10 (Link to this contribution) As I have listened to the debate, I have felt like an outsider intruding on a family row. The debate...
Paul Farrelly | 446 c1410 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is speaking from long experience of wielding a veto in Northern Ireland. Does he ...
Tom Levitt | 446 c1407-8 (Link to this contribution) I have explained why a ballot should not be binding. As I understand it, new clause 16 does not requ...
Jon Trickett | 446 c1413 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend give way?
Sammy Wilson | 446 c1411 (Link to this contribution) That is an exaggeration, for the simple reason that the views of parents must be collected. The gove...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1411-3 (Link to this contribution) I shall be brief. We have had a vigorous and extremely interesting debate on an important group of n...
Helen Jones | 446 c1397-8 (Link to this contribution) The point was well made by my hon. Friend the Member for Bury, North. Clearly, there is a register o...
Rob Wilson | 446 c1399-400 (Link to this contribution) It is always a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Warrington, North (Helen Jones), or perhaps sh...
Anne Snelgrove | 446 c1401 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman consider that the schools in the Reading authority—Kendrick, St. John’s, Cav...
Rob Wilson | 446 c1401-2 (Link to this contribution) I think that the hon. Lady should do her homework, as reciting grammar schools in support of her cas...
Rob Wilson | 446 c1402 (Link to this contribution) I am just finishing. However, they may wish to dress it up for the rebels and the educational estab...
Speaker | 446 c1402 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Gentleman clearly does not intend to give way.
Jon Trickett | 446 c1402-3 (Link to this contribution) I want to remind the House of precisely what happens when a community school becomes a trust and why...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1404 (Link to this contribution) I have every confidence that the ballots would be won. That is why 1,100 ballots were won in the pro...
Nick Gibb | 446 c1403 (Link to this contribution) Of course, 1,100 ballots were won for the grant-maintained system. We oppose ballots for foundation ...
Jon Trickett | 446 c1404 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman had another argument. He claimed that a ballot was divisive and would politicise ...
Helen Jones | 446 c1404 (Link to this contribution) One of the arguments against giving women the vote was that they were incapable of understanding the...
Jon Trickett | 446 c1404 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. The same arguments were used to refute arguments in this place for the abolition of slavery....
Ian Stewart | 446 c1404 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend should not to listen to the siren voices on the other side of the Chamber who claim a...
Jon Trickett | 446 c1404 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes the point and I do not need to add to it. Other arguments have been presented ...
Paul Farrelly | 446 c1405 (Link to this contribution) I am not sitting with my hon. Friend because I do not want to be called left-wing, which I have been...
Ian Stewart | 446 c1391 (Link to this contribution) Why is it that Members who argue against balloting do not have the eyes to see, or the ears to hear,...
Baroness Teather | 446 c1375 (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Selby (Mr. Grogan), who made an excellent and f...
Judy Mallaber | 446 c1350 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend confirm that he just said that if an infant school and a junior school ama...
David Drew | 446 c1432 (Link to this contribution) As someone who spent 10 years as a teacher trade unionist and represented teachers in difficult circ...
David Leslie Taylor | 446 c1411 (Link to this contribution) Can the hon. Gentleman explain why the views of the great and the good on the governing bodies shoul...
Paul Farrelly | 446 c1398 (Link to this contribution) On choice, I hope that my hon. Friend will also speak to amendments Nos. 9, 10 and 11, which are in ...
Jon Trickett | 446 c1404 (Link to this contribution) If I understand the hon. Gentleman correctly, we should either keep those organisations in the dark,...
Gordon Marsden | 446 c1379 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to speak to new clause 35, tabled by myself and my hon. Friends, and to comment on some...
David Chaytor | 446 c1386-8 (Link to this contribution) I support new clause 16, proposed by my hon. Friend the Member for Selby (Mr. Grogan) in favour of b...
David Chaytor | 446 c1390 (Link to this contribution) I entirely agree, but it then becomes a matter for the governing bodies of the feeder primary school...
Andrew Turner | 446 c1365 (Link to this contribution) I share my hon. Friend’s satisfaction that the Bill has been amended as it has. Is it not the adjudi...
Angela Eagle | 446 c1368 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Alan Johnson | 446 c1372 (Link to this contribution) The rule books of most unions—including mine—state that there must be a ballot of members before a s...
Andrew Turner | 446 c1378 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady seems to be defending the White Paper as originally presented, which gave the local au...
Lord Whitehead | 446 c1358 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend envisage that the website to which he has referred will be updated regular...
Gordon Marsden | 446 c1354 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for confirming that the schools commissioner will have a role ...
Alan Johnson | 446 c1347-8 (Link to this contribution) Yes, as would the local authority. We are firmly persuaded that trust schools represent an importan...
Baroness Teather | 446 c1443 (Link to this contribution) With an eye on the time, I shall simply say that I would like to take up further aspects of new clau...
Jim Devine | 446 c1431 (Link to this contribution) When the hon. Lady’s party was in power, it introduced the patient’s charter, but not the staff char...
Lord Willetts | 446 c1426 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.
Baroness Keeley | 446 c1408-9 (Link to this contribution) Following the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for High Peak (Tom Levitt), I want to speak brie...
David Leslie Taylor | 446 c1407 (Link to this contribution) I am listening with interest to the points that my hon. Friend is making. Is he about to refute the ...
Nick Raynsford | 446 c1363 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman rightly highlights the fact that the Members who signed the alternative White Pap...
Lord Redwood | 446 c1353 (Link to this contribution) Does the Secretary of State share my anger at the fact that some people have absolutely no choice an...
Helen Jones | 446 c1398-9 (Link to this contribution) I will come on to that matter in a moment. I may wish to test the opinion of the House on the amend...
Subjects
Criminal records Abuse Admissions Discipline Charities Administration Community schools Cooperation Finance Education Governing bodies Inspections Foundation schools Local government Parents Local education authorities Office for Standards in Education Registration Standards Voting methods Schools Teachers Trust schools
Legislation
Education and Inspections Bill 2005-06
Link
View this Parliamentary proceeding on www.publications.parliament.uk