Clause 18 - Governing bodies
Education Bill
8:00 pm
Mr Ivan Lewis (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Education and Skills; Bury South, Labour)
We acknowledge that there was some unease and unhappiness about the initial group of proposals. However, we amended them after extensive consultation with key stakeholder groups and have committed ourselves today to consult further on any regulations that we bring forward.
Perpetual change in school governance structures is not in anyone's interest. We have drawn up radical, flexible proposals which, for the first time, will allow schools to create a governance structure that best meets their needs and allows them to fulfil their responsibilities in an innovative and flexible way. Therefore, having produced regulations after extensive consultation, we do not envisage fundamental changes within the foreseeable future.
However, no Minister can say that the Government would not seek further change if it were discovered, for example, that obstacles were preventing the realisation of our objectives. The measure is designed to give governing bodies the strategic power to make decisions in the best interests of their schools. We believe that it is a welcome step forward and that school governing bodies and other key groups support it.