Clause 31
Education and Inspections Bill
2:45 pm
John Hayes (Shadow Minister (Vocational Education), Education; South Holland and The Deepings, Conservative)
That is a good point, which I thought about when considering the amendment. The definition in the amendment is perhaps slightly broader than the very clear arrangement that will pertain if the Bill remains unamended. However, I am concerned that we might be talking about people—we have all come across them in our constituencies—with a history of serious mental disturbance. Sometimes that will have involved their being detained previously and they might be about to be detained again because of a pattern of behaviour that could be perceived as dangerous to children or others, although they have yet to be detained and so would not necessarily be included in the category that the Bill currently defines. The hon. Lady is right. This issue is not easy, but I am anxious to ensure that no one who is unsuitable finds their way on to one of the boards.
Perhaps it will reassure the hon. Lady and bind us even more closely together, given her warm words about the principles of our amendments, if I say that this is a probing amendment, intended to enable us to look at how the Government have considered the matter and ways in which they might consider it further by drawing in others whom we would all regard as unsuitable to play a part in the process.
Given the seriousness of the question of who should be allowed to serve as charity trustees on a foundation, it is only right that the safeguard should be in place and that the Secretary of State should have that power. It would be less than responsible to be vague or imprecise about powers that the Secretary of State might exercise, particularly in light of the revelations in recent months about the sort of people working in schools who have access to children, and the public worry about the involvement of unsuitable people in education.
I do not suggest that the Bill will be a vehicle for all kinds of people with malevolent intent who want to get involved in schools. We must be careful about that, of course, although I do not think it will be a significant problem, but it is possible that someone inappropriate could find their way into an influential position in a school’s governance in which they could be involved in decisions about our children. It is my judgment that we need to probe and to press the Government; we need to ensure that a belt-and-braces approach is taken to the membership of trusts. That is the purpose of the amendment.