Clause 7
Education and Inspections Bill
9:00 am
Annette Brooke (Mid Dorset and North Poole, Liberal Democrat)
I was too late to intervene on my hon. Friend, so I shall make some brief comments on one or two of the amendments in this group—and I shall speak up, Mr. Cook.
Amendment No. 24 is an incredibly blunt instrument. It would mean that even more power would be taken away from local authorities. It is blunt because we know that the value-added measure is far from perfect. Its rigidity means that, as with many targets that we have experienced, which all of us criticise, there would be ways of working around it. That might be to its detriment.
Amendment No. 179 proposes that a notice be triggered if 50 parents petition. We have rehearsed well the arguments about 50 being too small a number. What sort of cost would the measure impose on the local authority? Where 50 parents signed a petition the local authority would have a great deal of work to do. The idea of putting such extra burdens on local authorities and diverting them from what their real jobs should be is worrying.