Ken Purchase: The cave from which I emerged is rather better than the one that the hon. Gentleman may be going to. Notwithstanding that, I think that an important omission has been made, appearing to suggest we live in a monocultural place. It is unfortunate that it should be presented in that way. I want to speak briefly on amendment 121. My right hon. Friend the Member for Don Valley rightly made the...
Ken Purchase: The words are interesting, to say the least, but is the response that children will not leave school without reaching a certain level a guarantee? What does it mean? The Minister has already inquired whether the words mean that the children will not leave school without the particular qualification. Does the Conservative party mean that? Would it keep children in school until they have that...
Ken Purchase: I want to be honest and straightforward in an attempt to be helpful. Everyone in the room knows exactly what the hon. Gentleman means, but it is a question of the wording, which is ambivalent, to say the least. It needs tidying up because it can be read as, “No child can leave still struggling.” It is ambivalent, and it would be helpful to get some clarity on the matter.
Ken Purchase: Selective memory is wonderful. I will say two words: league tables. The hon. Gentleman’s Government, under Mrs. Thatcher and others, introduced league tables, poisoning the atmosphere in schools through what they had to do to show that they were better and different from the school next door. My party, unfortunately, has continued with that poisoned chalice, but we are at least, and have...
Ken Purchase: It is worth discussing that point: who inspects the inspectors? That is always the question; but in this instance we are talking about an already very sophisticated professional inspection system that exists to ensure that the pedagogy is correct and properly worked out. The layout in question—the ombudsman intervention—is very worthwhile. It has proved to be so in every other area...
Ken Purchase: Will the hon. Gentleman say a little more about this particular subject? It seems to me that there is already in place a professional inspection of schools, curriculum, pedagogy and so on and so forth. Surely the job of the ombudsman will be to ensure that the administration is being done competently and properly—as he does in every other complaint—and not impede the professional...
Ken Purchase: It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs. Anderson. My hon. Friend the Minister gives us some illustrations of what he means by a guarantee, and I take it as read that the definition will be in the Bill and that it will be what he means it to be. However, I understand that the meaning of a word is what a judge in court might say it is within the context in which that word is...
Ken Purchase: This question of one-to-one tuition is at the heart of the guarantee and the resolution of difficulties. It seems to me that one-to-one tuition and small group work are ideal ways of resolving problems for parents who feel that their children are not receiving the sort of tuition that will guarantee those particular outcomes. The hon. Member for Yeovil is right to say that this is...
Ken Purchase: It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr. Amess. This is my first Bill Committee since 1999—I cannot understand why, but there we are. I would like to dwell for a few moments on the question of inclusion or exclusion from the guarantee. I am broadly in favour of the guarantees under the Bill. I acknowledge that there will be difficulties in their implementation, but I am...
Ken Purchase: And never has been.
Ken Purchase: indicated dissent.
Ken Purchase: Of course we can use statistics in this way, but the truth is that those academies that have improved at a faster rate have been matched by the other secondary schools in their boroughs. That shows that there is nothing particularly special about academies.
Ken Purchase: I really wanted to talk about academies, but if we ask that question, we find a great body of education theory and practice that shows that, at an older age, children respond better one to one and that, at a younger age, they often respond better in small groups. That is the theory behind what the Secretary of State is saying.
Ken Purchase: And he was opposed to academies.
Ken Purchase: This is at the heart of the Bill; the most important reform that the Secretary of State is introducing is the possibility of one-to-one tuition, catch-up support and so on. What guarantees can he give us that middle-class parents will not "snaffle"-I use that term for want of a better word-all those resources because they have the loudest voices and the best understanding and will demand that...
Ken Purchase: On the point about the ability to run chains of schools, which the Secretary of State has been promoting, I must note that one such chain has been debarred from taking on any more schools. Does he therefore accept that there ought at least to be a default position whereby local authorities can take over an entire chain and re-establish a proper educational approach to such schools? Does he...
Ken Purchase: If he will commission comparative research into levels of remuneration in (a) the banking sector and (b) the public sector; and if he will make a statement.
Ken Purchase: But does the Minister understand the anger that is reflected in the response of public sector workers to the pre-Budget report, when they see the incomes being given, granted to or thrown at the banking sector? Does he not understand that he must take further measures in order to redress the balance? When the economy returns to good health, will he make public sector pay a priority for the...
Ken Purchase: Does the Leader of the House recall that when the miners went on strike in order to protect the pits, they were denounced as traitors in the press? Does this morning's action by the bankers remind her of that? Can we expect a similar condemnation? Furthermore, those precious, self-centred people need to be brought here and cautioned for what they are saying about their position. They are...
Ken Purchase: Will the Secretary of State accept that the obsession with structures, trusts and foundation trusts is entirely irrelevant to the level of care that we expect in our hospitals? Will he understand that the spending of a million pounds a throw on foundation trusts is simply a waste of money, and that the best work he can do is to put more money into front-line services, get rid of all this...