Mr Andrew Turner (Isle of Wight, Conservative)

Yes, as a shareholder in a company. I have mentioned that before. The officials from the Department for Education and Employment—as it then was—who told Southwark that targets were needed, were very concerned that it stuck to the targets for unauthorised absence. However, I and other members of staff of the education department at John Smith house—for that is where I worked at the time—[Interruption.] It was great fun. They understood that one cannot teach children unless they are in the classroom. Whether they are absent for good or bad reasons is irrelevant. We had some difficulty persuading officials that the private companies competing for the contract would accept such targets and difficulty persuading them that it was appropriate to go beyond the targets already required by the Government. We were successful in persuading three or four private companies to compete for the contract; the one that was successful accepted the contract and the targets to reduce all absence, not just unauthorised absence. In the end, the Department for Education and Employment was happy and gave considerable assistance to the council and to the private company to ensure that the contract bore fruit.

I am pleased that the Government are following in my footsteps and I am happy to support the proposal.

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