Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Children, Schools and Families – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 30 November 2009.
Iain Wright
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Children, Schools and Families) (14-19 Reform and Apprenticeships)
2:30,
30 November 2009
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.
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.
