Oral Answers to Questions — Children, Schools and Families – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 30 November 2009.
John Mann
Labour, Bassetlaw
2:30,
30 November 2009
What plans his Department has for the development of schools for three to 18-year-olds.
Iain Wright
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Children, Schools and Families) (14-19 Reform and Apprenticeships)
The decision to create so-called all-through schools is one for local authorities to take. There are currently 25 such schools, with a further four planned. A Majority of them cater for pupils aged three to 18 and they include academies as well as those maintained by local authorities. We are currently examining the benefits of and challenges faced by all-through schools, with the aim of sharing good practice.
John Mann
Labour, Bassetlaw
I thank the Minister for that answer, and I know that the ministerial team will be keen to visit Serlby Park three-to-18 school, as it has recently knocked back a Tory council attempt to close it down. Is he prepared to consider whether his Department could assist with some specialist advice on how it can free itself from local authority control by becoming an academy?
Iain Wright
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Children, Schools and Families) (14-19 Reform and Apprenticeships)
I congratulate my hon. Friend, who is one of the best campaigners in the business, and certainly in this House, on his campaign to save Serlby Park school. I understand that on
Michael Gove
Shadow Secretary of State (Children, Schools and Families)
The Secretary of State has stressed today that in any school environment, children from the age of three up and young people should be protected from racist views such as those of the organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir, which he rightly describes as abhorrent and which is banned in Germany. However, the schools and nurseries of the Islamic Shakhsiya Foundation have received taxpayers' money, even though the proprietor, Yusra Hamilton, was a Hizb ut-Tahrir activist, and she is married to its media representative, Taji Mustafa. The head teacher of one of the schools, Farah Ahmed, who has described her past activism with Hizb ut-Tahrir as irrelevant, has designed a curriculum that defines the ruling system of Islam as a khilafah or caliphate, in precise accord with Hizb ut-Tahrir ideology. What guarantees does the Minister have that those schools are absolutely not a front for, or linked in any way with, Hizb ut-Tahrir?
Iain Wright
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Children, Schools and Families) (14-19 Reform and Apprenticeships)
I think the hon. Gentleman and the whole House would agree that racism cannot be justified in any shape or form, in schools or indeed anywhere. His right hon. Friend the Leader of the Opposition had a go at my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister about this on Wednesday and got it hopelessly incorrect, and he has had another attempt today. Might I suggest to him that he set out his views and concerns in writing so that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will be able to respond to him in full?
Michael Gove
Shadow Secretary of State (Children, Schools and Families)
I am very grateful to the Minister for that very fair reply. I wrote to the Secretary of State last Wednesday, and I am still waiting for a reply to that letter; I look forward to receiving it in due course. After it was written, the BBC reported that the headmistress of the Slough school, Farah Ahmed, had described democracy as a "corrupt tradition", the national curriculum as a tool of "systemic indoctrination" and western education as a threat to "our beliefs and values". Will the Minister and the Secretary of State investigate those views, that head teacher and the foundation following that revelation by the BBC?
Iain Wright
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Children, Schools and Families) (14-19 Reform and Apprenticeships)
I will certainly ensure that those claims and allegations made by the hon. Gentleman at the Dispatch Box and by the BBC last week are investigated. I reiterate what I said a moment or two ago-my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State will respond in full to the concerns that have been raised.
Barry Sheerman
Chair, Children, Schools and Families Committee, Chair, Children, Schools and Families Committee
Does my hon. Friend accept that through-schools are an interesting pilot? One in my Constituency, Netherhall campus, which since last Thursday has been assured that it will encapsulate a studio school, will be a very important experiment. Will he ensure that it is an experiment in which we can play with the national curriculum to make it a through curriculum, without great disjunctions at seven, 11 and so on?
Iain Wright
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Children, Schools and Families) (14-19 Reform and Apprenticeships)
My hon. Friend makes a very important point. The Department does not dictate or impose any particular type of school system, such as a two or three-tier system or all-through schools. It is for the local authority to determine what is necessary, based on the local priorities of the area. The minimal disruption that can be caused in all-through schools is certainly a good thing for local authorities to consider. There are only 25 of them, as I said in my original answer, and it is too early to decide whether they can be rolled out across the country, but they certainly have some benefits and challenges and are something that we are considering.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
The political party system in the English-speaking world evolved in the 17th century, during the fight over the ascension of James the Second to the Throne. James was a Catholic and a Stuart. Those who argued for Parliamentary supremacy were called Whigs, after a Scottish word whiggamore, meaning "horse-driver," applied to Protestant rebels. It was meant as an insult.
They were opposed by Tories, from the Irish word toraidhe (literally, "pursuer," but commonly applied to highwaymen and cow thieves). It was used — obviously derisively — to refer to those who supported the Crown.
By the mid 1700s, the words Tory and Whig were commonly used to describe two political groupings. Tories supported the Church of England, the Crown, and the country gentry, while Whigs supported the rights of religious dissent and the rising industrial bourgeoisie. In the 19th century, Whigs became Liberals; Tories became Conservatives.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
The "Leader of the Opposition" is head of "Her Majesty's Official Opposition". This position is taken by the Leader of the party with the 2nd largest number of MPs in the Commons.
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In a general election, each Constituency chooses an MP to represent them. MPs have a responsibility to represnt the views of the Constituency in the House of Commons. There are 650 Constituencies, and thus 650 MPs. A citizen of a Constituency is known as a Constituent
