Clause 17
Education and Inspections Bill
6:30 pm
Nick Gibb (Shadow Minister (Schools), Education; Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, Conservative)
No, because the purpose of the Bill, and the direction in which the Government seek to move education policy—a direction with which we agree—is to create a more diverse range of schools. Allowing more community schools to be established would contradict a direction of travel that will lead to the higher standards and higher quality of education that we all want in our schools.
Amendments Nos. 101 and 102 would prevent a school from admitting more pupils or expanding its premises if, in the opinion of the local education authority, that would prevent other schools in the area from performing their existing functions and duties. Again, the amendments would prevent or limit the expansion of good schools. They would undo the measures in the Bill to sweep away the bureaucratic and entrenched interests that have until now been highly successful in preventing good schools from expanding. They would not so much reintroduce a surplus places rule as reintroduce school organisation committees, or at least the effects that SOCs had in terms of atrophying the system.
It is important that we do all that we can to make it easier, not more difficult, for good schools to expand if they wish to do so. We have a shortage of places for pupils at good schools, and instead of endlessly debating how we allocate those places, we should all be working out how to increase the number of good schools and the number of places at them. That is why I am so astonished that anyone should table amendments to make that objective more difficult. The Conservative party wants more good schools and more places at good schools. We will therefore oppose amendments Nos. 101 and 102 if they are pressed to a vote.
On the point about whether changes that are made to one school will impact on others, it would be helpful if the Minister could clear up an issue that has emerged from our reading of the draft guidance to decision makers, which was circulated at the end of this morning’s sitting. Paragraph 3 states that one factor to be taken into account in deciding whether to acquire a trust should be
“Concerns that the Trust will have a negative impact on school standards”.
On page 8, under a heading relating to the factors that local authorities need to consider when deciding whether to refer a proposal for a trust to the adjudicator, the guidance similarly states that one factor will be
“Concern that the Trust will have a negative impact on standards.”
However, under the next heading, which relates to the factors that the school’s adjudicator or the school governing body needs to consider when deciding whether to acquire a trust, the guidance states that one factor will be whether the trust
“will contribute to raising standards at the school”.
The question, therefore, is whether the first two phrases that I quoted refer to standards at the school acquiring a trust or whether they need to reflect the possibility that the acquisition of a trust in that school will impact on standards in other schools. I had not thought that they meant that until I saw the wording on the bottom of page 8, which specifically refers to standards at the school. Some clarification from the Minister on this point would be helpful.
I believe that the decision by one particular school to acquire a trust should have no impact on standards at other schools. If it makes a school better or increases standards, that is very welcome and is the whole objective of these measures. If by raising standards the school becomes more popular, that again is the objective. There is an underlying current of opinion among some Labour rebels—there are indications of this among the Liberals too—that the problem with trying to create schools with higher standards by, for example, acquiring a trust is that it creates a two-tier system and that because a two-tier system must be wrong, we should not attempt the reform.
We already have a two-tier system in the state sector. There is a wide gap between the two tiers: there are the excellent and good schools on the one hand and the underperforming and coasting schools on the other. The reforms in the Bill will help to narrow that gap by raising standards, and the trust school element of the reforms is crucial to that.