Baroness Morris of Yardley: To ask Her Majesty's Government why the Every Child a Chance Trust has been asked to delay the publication of research into the effectiveness of the Every Child a Reader and Every Child Counts scheme; and when that research will be published.
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, I welcome the debate and congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Perry, on introducing it. She always does so in a thoughtful and sensible way and I enjoy listening to and debating with her, as I do this morning. She has highlighted some of the issues that still need to be addressed. I do not differ from her and I am not going to go over them. However, I should like to place on record...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, before making my contribution, I would draw attention to the Register of Members' Interests. I am employed by the University of York and I am a council member at Goldsmiths College. These are not easy issues. They are good issues to discuss and debate over many months and years, but it is not easy to come to a conclusion. I do not think that anyone has made a speech in which they...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: I support the amendments and wish to raise two questions. I agree with all the comments about the difficulty of primary schools becoming academies and I shall not repeat them. However, I am a bit concerned about two suggested ways forward. One is the notion of schools grouping together, which the noble Baroness, Lady Williams, talked about. I am absolutely an enthusiastic advocate of...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, I support the amendment. The point has been well made by noble Lords on both sides of the House that there needs to be an element of planning. I suppose that it is for the Minister to make a decision about whether his Government spend money on surplus places or on building schools for the future. It is interesting that one day there is no money for the Building Schools for the...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what bureaucracy the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, was referring to in his letter of 26 May to headteachers of schools rated outstanding by Ofsted in the sentence "All schools acquiring these freedoms will be liberated from the bureaucracy which was attached to Academies from 2007", other than the matters covered in the preceding bullet points.
Baroness Morris of Yardley: I shall direct my comments to Amendment 72, although I also support Amendment 73. On this occasion, I shall disagree as strongly as I might with the noble Baroness, Lady Perry. Of all the freedoms that academies may be granted, it is the freedom not to take part in the education of vulnerable excluded children that worries me most. This amendment is important and, if we do not pass it, we do...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: But the evidence is on my side. The number of exclusions by academies is very great, while the number of children at risk of exclusion by non-academies being taken in by academies is very small. That is why the amendment is important. This is not about the Government saying to schools, "You must do this, that or the other"; it is about a partnership that already exists. We are not instructing...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: To ask Her Majesty's Government who will be responsible for brokering partnerships between schools converting to academies and the underperforming schools they will support.
Baroness Morris of Yardley: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much the Department for Education will spend on grants to schools to support the cost of converting to academies.
Baroness Morris of Yardley: I support the amendment proposed by my noble friend Lady Royall. This is a very strange part of the Bill, and I am not sure what the rationale behind it is. The Bill purports to want to know the views of people in communities or schools where children's lives are affected by what legislation says. However, it excludes from consultation at key points anybody outside the school. I wonder if...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, will the Minister say a little more about parent-led free schools? We all want parents to be involved in the education of their children, because the more involved they are the better, but I see two problems. If parents set up a school, the contract they let to a provider could be as long as seven years. Within that time, there could have been 100 per cent changeover of parents at...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: Will the Minister please answer the specific question I asked?
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, this is an interesting debate that has raised important issues. Legal status and legal titles are exactly that, but at the end of the day they are not the mark of success or failure in our education system. We may disagree on whether legal status is the measure that raises standards or whether it is something other than that. I very much agree with the previous speaker that...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, I congratulate the Minister on the way in which he has introduced his first piece of legislation. His speech was very conciliatory and I think that the ensuing debate in Committee will be much welcomed by the rest of the House. I look forward to taking part in that Committee stage with him. I also want to put on record my congratulations to the academies which have done some...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, I join others in congratulating the noble Lord, Lord Hill, on his appointment. His really is one of the best jobs in Government, and as long as he can withstand the surfeit of good advice from former education Ministers who are in this House he will do very well. I am sure that he will enjoy it. I also congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Hall, and the right reverend Prelate the Bishop...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: I welcome this debate and join other noble Lords in congratulating the noble Baroness, Lady Shephard, on introducing it. She knows that I share her commitment and interest: perhaps it is former Secretaries of State who have also been teachers who end up having their view confirmed that teaching rather than structural change makes the difference. Before making my few comments, I draw the...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, I first declare an interest in terms of my employment at the Institute of Effective Education at the University of York, and as a member of the council at Goldsmiths College. I also welcome the debate. It is a timely opportunity to discuss a serious issue, which worries not only those working in universities but everyone who has a child who wishes to go to university, or has skills...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: My Lords, before making a brief contribution to this debate I declare an interest as a director of the Performing Right Society. I very much welcome the Bill, and it has been heartening to hear some really powerful speeches in favour both of its thrust and of some of the details in it. In particular, I am struck by the idea that in this digital age, this is the first time that we are looking...
Baroness Morris of Yardley: I support the amendment to which I have added my name. Noble Lords have already said why it is important, but I should like to add my voice. The Bill does not make sense in terms of consideration, and the notion that anyone should have the legal power to consider whether someone should receive factual information is not realistic in an internet world, let alone a civilised society. If we...
