Clause 8 - Removal of exemptions
Education Bill
3:15 pm
Mr Stephen Timms (Minister of State (School Standards), Department for Education and Skills; East Ham, Labour)
I expect that schools that earn their autonomy will use that wisely and continue to push up standards and improve the quality of leadership. If they do not do that and standards fall significantly, the Secretary of State and the National Assembly for Wales must retain the right to act quickly and decisively.
The withdrawal would not occur automatically simply because the performance criteria were no longer met. A judgment would be made. In practice, any intervention would be a result of dialogue with the applicant body and, perhaps, other relevant bodies that were originally consulted. I am happy to confirm that we would expect to consult. However, there may be circumstances in which the need for speed would outweigh that. For example, there may be a school that no longer meets the conditions for earned autonomy and has serious problems, and its governing body could make a bizarre curriculum change. In that case, we would wish to step in quickly to protect the interests of the children at the school. However, that process will not be common.