Oral Answers to Questions — Education and Science – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 12 February 1991.
Mr Robert Adley
, Christchurch
12:00,
12 February 1991
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what recent discussions he has had with the teaching unions about education policy.
Mr Timothy Eggar
, Enfield North
My right hon. and learned Friend has frequent meetings with the teaching unions on a wide range of educational policy matters.
Mr Robert Adley
, Christchurch
The Secretary of State referred to the trendy left-wing policies emanating from the Labour party. When my hon. Friend contemplates the advice that his Department receives from the teacher unions about education policy and the weight and merit that he should attach to it, will he bear in mind the fact that 25 per cent. of those who are individual members of the Labour party are also members of teaching unions? Is not this an unhealthy relationship?
Mr Timothy Eggar
, Enfield North
I am very interested in the information that my hon. Friend has made available. It goes a long way towards explaining the policies of the Labour party. I have some understanding of the considerable difficulties that the Opposition have, as I, too, am subject to conflicting strands of advice from different teacher unions. The Labour party must find it difficult to reconcile the advice that it has from its paymasters.
Mr Allen McKay
, Barnsley West and Penistone
Does the Minister accept that, when he next goes to the teachers' organisations, he will have to discuss the statement by the Under-Secretary of State that there will be no state-funded schools in three years? Does he also agree that children have the right to have education when they are three years old and that this is what teachers advocate?
Mr Timothy Eggar
, Enfield North
My hon. Friend rightly said that all schools will, in future, be able to benefit from control of budgets at local level. We know that there will be better value for money and better provision of education locally, as schools will not have to rely on the artificial levels of bureaucracy suggested by LEAs.
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