Education Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 5:30 pm on 19 June 2002.

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Photo of Baroness Sharp of Guildford Baroness Sharp of Guildford Liberal Democrat 5:30, 19 June 2002

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his further limp reply. I did not expect that he would go much further on this issue, but the fact remains that there is a need for such a body at a national level. If the Minister had received as many e-mails as I have received from parent governor representatives, he would recognise that they would like to have a national body to represent them.

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Peston, for coming up with a valuable suggestion. As he rightly said, there is the great danger of having government placemen on a body that is paid for by the Government. My main objection to a great many of the bodies that have been set up by the Government is that they are quangos and the people who sit on them are nominated and they are frequently placemen. The notion that we might try to use governor representatives to form a national council but try to get a body such as Rowntree or Leverhulme to help fund it is a good one and I shall feed it back to those who have prompted me to make such representations.

I believe that we shall get no further if we try to push the Government on the matter. I regret that as I believe that we need to have a consumer voice. The problem at the moment is that it is divided. I was at one time a member of the national executive of CASE. We constituted a strong voice but we could never claim to be totally representative as we constituted a particular group. The National Governors' Council represents parent governors, but many governors are not parent governors. The National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations represents parent teacher associations, but it has its own agenda. I recognise that each of those bodies is consulted on occasions but that is by no means always the case. What is needed is a body whom the Government can consult when they want to consult parents. There is a void in that regard at the moment which needs filling. However, as I say, I take on board the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Peston. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.