Clause 32
Education and Inspections Bill
3:30 pm
Nick Gibb (Shadow Minister (Schools), Education; Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, Conservative)
Amendment No. 224, to which the hon. Member for Bury, North spoke in the briefest contribution that I have heard him make to this Committee, would change the role of the parent council from one of giving advice to one of assisting. Depending on how those words are interpreted, that would either make it a non-voting group on a school’s board of governors or it would do nothing. I hate to sound like the Minister, but I believe the amendment to be unnecessary. Regulation 6 of the draft School Governance (Parent Council) (England) Regulations 2006, which the Minister kindly circulated on 19 April, states:
“The governing body shall consult the parent council on such matters and in such manner as they consider appropriate in relation to the governing body’s conduct of the school, and...the governing body shall have regard to any advice given or views expressed to them by the parent council”.
That is the correct role, and it is important. There are already positions available to parents as parent governors. To go further by incorporating the parent council in the governing board of a school would make the board unwieldy, large and unworkable. It may be that the Government have got the balance right in the Bill.
Amendment No. 225 would ensure that regulations include provision for secretarial support for parent councils. The hon. Gentleman’s wish has come true, because regulation 7(2) states:
“The governing body shall provide the parent council with such support and assistance as they may reasonably require.”
Paragraph 7.22 of the regulatory impact assessment, on page 97, states that that will mean two hours of the school secretary’s time to organise meetings, at a cost of £20; and the use of facilities, including heating, lighting, caretaking and opportunity costs for the room, calculated at approximately £80.
The regulatory impact assessment goes still further, saying that the sanction for non-compliance will be a direction from the Secretary of State, to be enforced by court order if necessary. Ofsted will inspect
“how schools take into account the views of parents and other stakeholders.”
Incidentally, it is interesting to see the extent to which this guidance is to be enforced by provisions and guidance to Ofsted, whereas the homework guidance has no related enforcement procedures. Sometimes the prescription that the Government inflict on the education world is focused on minor issues, and no attention other than the publication of guidance is paid to the big issues such as how much homework children are set.
The hon. Gentleman has got what he is asking for, and it will be interesting to hear the Minister’s response.