If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

It is good news today for the Leader of the Opposition, Edward Miliband. In December 2009, Campsmount technology college in his constituency suffered significant fire damage, but today that school is reopening as a result of the reforms we have put in place. The cost has been significantly less than it would have been under the previous Government’s Building Schools for the Future programme and the school is opening on an accelerated time scale—proof once again that this coalition Government are reforming in the interests of all children.

Labour’s education maintenance allowance helped thousands of students to meet the costs of further education but this Government have scrapped EMA, abandoning young people who are desperate to fulfil their potential. In Liverpool, Labour’s mayoral candidate Joe Anderson has pledged to work with local schools and colleges to introduce a city-wide EMA scheme. Will the Secretary of State back Labour’s plan and admit that his Government were wrong to scrap EMA?

It is always a pleasure to hear from the voice of the Mersey. I am delighted that the Labour candidate for the Liverpool mayoralty, Mr Anderson, has endorsed the extension of academy schools in Liverpool and I hope that the hon. Lady will join me in working to ensure that those schools transform outcomes for young people. Education maintenance allowance has been reformed by this Government and as a result of those reforms we have seen—[Hon. Members: “Scrapped!”] I am so sorry that Members take such a negative and cynical view; it does not suit them. Education maintenance allowance has been replaced by a form of support for 16, 17 and 18-year-olds that is more effectively targeted and has seen them achieve even better.

Will the Secretary of State join me in congratulating Kirtana Valabhaneni from West Kirby grammar school for girls, along with Danny Wheeler, Sam Mills, Asher Winterson, Gokhul Ramakrishnan and Cameron Douglas from Calday Grange grammar, on winning the BAE Systems leadership award in this year’s Big Bang national awards? Will my right hon. Friend explain what the Government are doing to encourage such budding scientists in schools and to promote future science jobs?

It is fantastic news, and I am delighted that another female representative from a Merseyside constituency is accentuating the positive, because there is a lot to celebrate in state schools on both sides of the

Mersey. We are supporting an emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics by paying more to high-quality graduates to teach those subjects.

There is overwhelming evidence of the negative impact of poverty on children’s educational attainment and, in turn, on their life chances and ultimately how long they can expect to live. In my constituency, nearly 6,000 children are affected. With the assessment of the Institute for Fiscal Studies that child poverty is set to increase under this Government, what is the Secretary of State’s estimate of the impact on the educational attainment of those children?

That is precisely why we have introduced the pupil premium: £2.5 billion targeted at the most disadvantaged children. It is also why we are rolling out 15 hours of early education for all two-year-olds. To pick up the points the hon. Lady mentioned, we know that high-quality education will make a real difference to the life chances of those children.

Has my right hon. Friend had the opportunity to read the report, chaired by Priscilla Chadwick, on the future of Church of England schools? Does he agree that the recent changes in education introduced by the Government provide opportunities for the continuing involvement of the Church of England in education, particularly in delivering distinctive and inclusive new academies?

I absolutely agree. Education on both sides of the border was driven in the first instance by the vigorous missionary activity of Churches, and we praise and cherish the role of the Church of England in making sure that children have an outstanding and inclusive education. I welcome the report, and I look forward to working with Bishop John Pritchard to extend the role of the Church in the provision of schools.

How many of the free schools currently planning to open in September, and seeking expressions of interest from parents on that basis, have not yet signed contracts for specific premises?

Of the free schools that are planning to open this September, more than half have agreed sites, 21 are in negotiations about sites and four, including one in the hon. Lady’s constituency, do not yet have sites. That is significantly better progress than at this time last year, yet we went on to see every single free school that was advertising that it would open opening in time.

Earlier, I just failed to seduce the Secretary of State to come to Wellingborough, but may I tempt him a little more? He would escape from the Westminster bubble and would be in the heart of England, surrounded by Conservative councils and best of all—or nearly best of all—there would be no Liberals; but the real bonus would be that daily he would get the advice of Mrs Bone. Surely there could not be a better opportunity.

It is one of the many causes of envy in my breast when I contemplate my hon. Friend to know that he has the benefit of Mrs Bone’s advice at the breakfast table every day. All I can say is that Northamptonshire has many, many attractions—chief among them, of course, Mrs Bone—but the matter of whether the Department should relocate is properly one for the permanent secretary.

Does the Secretary of State think that granting a licence to one of the Chuckle Brothers to set up a free school was one of his better ideas, and now that it has been rescinded how much did it actually cost to progress the project?

I am surprised that the hon. Lady is so opposed to northern comedians, given that her party has been such a fantastic platform for so many of them. It was not one of the Chuckle Brothers whom we invited to open a free school in Rotherham, but the vice-principal of a very successful school in the north-east. In the end, that lady decided to withdraw her application, but the fact that someone who is strong in the variety world wanted to back it is, to my mind, proof that increasingly, when people from whatever background look at the Government, there is a smile on their face as they contemplate our achievements.

I welcome the Secretary of State’s plans to give up Whitehall control over the A-level syllabus and empower our top universities to restore the gold standard. Does he agree that grade inflation under the last Government fooled no one, and served to devalue the currency of our children’s education?

That is a very good point. The reforms that we hope to make to A-levels, in tandem with the work being done by higher education institutions, will, I hope, once more restore confidence in these valuable qualifications.

Some 75% of UK schools contain asbestos, and more than 140 teachers have died as a result of mesothelioma over the past 10 years. Will the Secretary of State explain what measures his Government have taken to avoid future asbestos-related deaths in our schools?

The hon. Gentleman makes a very good point, and he has a strong record in campaigning on these issues. We want to make sure that everyone who teaches in schools built when building standards were lower has the support that they need. The changes that we have made to building regulations are intended to ensure that schools built in future are fit-for-purpose and refurbished appropriately. I am happy to ensure that officials and Ministers in my Department liaise with him to make sure that teachers and children are protected from unfit buildings.

If the permanent secretary is considering moving the Department to Northamptonshire, may I recommend Towcester or Brackley? We had a fabulous team win at the Chinese grand prix this weekend.

To come to my point, on adoption, does the Minister agree that, given what we now know about the development of a baby’s brain, it is absolutely essential that, wherever possible, a baby gets the best chance of attaching to new adoptive parents by being adopted before the age of two?

My hon. Friend, who within and outside the House is an expert on attachment, is absolutely right. That is why, for young children in the care system for whom there is clearly no safe way home to their birth parents, getting a good-quality, strong, attachment in adoption as speedily as possible is absolutely essential, so that they have a good chance of a safe, stable, healthy upbringing with a loving family—something denied to them by their birth parents.

In the constituencies of Newcastle upon Tyne Central and Hackney South and Shoreditch, and in many other constituencies up and down the country, applications have been put in for free schools—bids for taxpayers’ money with which to run a school for children. When will the Secretary of State publish the financial plans that those schools have submitted, or will he continue with the secrecy of the Department, which does not publish the plans until the schools are open?

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for asking her question, and particularly grateful for the warm welcome that she showed me when I recently went to her constituency to visit the school of which your chaplain, Mr Speaker, is such an effective chairman of governors. All funding agreements for all free schools are published on the Department for Education website. Further information will be made available as funding agreements and other contracts are entered into.

I recently launched an apprenticeship challenge in my constituency, encouraging local businesses to provide 50 new apprenticeships by the Olympic games. What can we do to break down barriers and get more apprentices into small and medium-sized businesses?

My hon. Friend is doing a great job in promoting apprenticeships in his constituency, and the whole House will want to celebrate that fact. He is right that small businesses sometimes perceive the risk of taking on apprentices as being greater than larger firms do. We need to make the process much simpler and take out the bureaucracy. We have provided a toolkit and put financial incentives in place, but we will go still further to ensure that in every village and town, every business has the chance to take on an apprentice.

It is important, when individuals and groups apply to open a free school, that proper checks on them are made. Can the Secretary of State give me guarantees that those checks are in place?

The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. One of the things that we have done in the Department is to set up a specific unit—the preventing extremism unit—which exists specifically to ensure that those people who may come from a fundamentalist religious background or from an intolerant tradition are prevented from having access to public money. Whether they are intending to set up a free school or to subvert the operation of an existing school, safeguards are in place. They can always be better, and I look forward to working with the hon. Gentleman and everyone else in order to ensure that public money does not go into the wrong hands.

One in a Million free school in Bradford is due to open in September and I know that the people involved would very much like the Secretary of State to come and open it, but before he does that, would he agree to meet me so that we can discuss the capital allocation to that school and make sure that when it opens in September in a part of Bradford where it is much needed, it opens with a chance of giving the students there the best possible opportunities?

My hon. Friend is one in a million and I look forward to meeting him. I think there is an opportunity in the diary at 11 o’clock this Wednesday for us to have a cup of tea. I am committed to doing everything I can to improve education in Bradford. It is a great city and it has some great representatives.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I will be as quick as I can. Will the Secretary of State have a look at the 16-to-19 funding formula as applied to Darlington college and make sure that it has been done correctly?

I will do everything in my power.

My colleagues in London are arguing that there should be youth hubs across the city, open five days a week and in the evenings and at weekends for young people to receive advice and support. Whoever wins the London elections and is elected to the Assembly, will Ministers support that proposal so that young people can have better services across the capital city?

My right hon. Friend has been a great champion of some of these youth centres and he has one of the soon to be 63 myplace centres in his constituency, which have been such successful hubs, and which I hope will be open during the whole week and at weekends for as long as there are young people who want to use them—a policy that was started by the previous Government but without the funding that has been secured by this Government to make sure that they all open.

Further to the question about adoption, will the initiative by the Government to speed up the process for potential parents help older prospective parents?

I hope it will help all prospective adopters who are capable of offering a good quality, stable, loving family environment for that child. I have been trying to bust all the myths that people of a certain age or a certain weight or who happen to be smokers or not are instantly vetoed from being adopters. That is absolutely not true. If people of a certain age think they can offer a home to a child, I would encourage them strongly to come forward and see if they are up for it.

Last week I presented certificates to 12 young people in my constituency who had completed the Prince’s Trust team programme, a programme designed to help those not in education, employment or training gain the skills and the confidence to return to the world of work. Does my hon. Friend agree that such programmes are an invaluable tool in getting young people back to work?

Absolutely. Third party organisations, notably the Prince’s Trust, do an extremely good job in providing such support and good quality information, opening up opportunities and giving people a sense of what they can achieve. I congratulate them and my hon. Friend for drawing their work to our attention.

The Government recently started X-raying children whose age is in dispute, despite an overwhelming body of medical evidence that this practice is unethical, exposes children to harmful doses of radiation and is entirely ineffective in determining a child’s age. As the Minister responsible for safeguarding and the welfare of children, will he tell the House what he is doing to ensure that this appalling trial ceases with immediate effect?

The hon. Lady is right to raise concerns. As she knows, this is led by the Home Office but which, because of our concern about safeguarding children, the Minister of State, Department for Education, my hon. Friend Mr Gibb and I have held discussions with the Minister for Immigration. It is essential that we have proper checks and controls on people coming into this country, particularly for adults who are masquerading as children in order to come into this country, but that it should in no way be seen to be damaging to those people. We have to achieve that balance. My hon. Friend and I are determined that we do that with the Home Office.

Several hon. Members:

rose —

Order. I am sorry to disappoint colleagues but, as usual, demand outstrips supply.