Mr Robin Squire: I will give way, but for the last time.
Mr Robin Squire: I refer the hon. Gentleman, who was not blessed with joining us on the Standing Committee and who obviously missed the exchanges on this, to the Audit Commission's report earlier this year, which considered the various settings. One of the report's central conclusions was that, in terms of the quality of provision, no inherent assumption could be made that one setting was invariably better...
Mr Robin Squire: I have given way a lot, unlike the hon. Member for Walton, and other hon. Members want to contribute. It is self-evident that full evaluation of the scheme will not be possible until it is fully implemented. For such evaluation to be of any constructive use, clearly, it needs to be undertaken over a longer term, but it is equally clear that we can learn some important lessons from phase 1....
Mr Robin Squire: As is conventional, I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon, South (Mr. Marshall). However, I am entitled to say that his speech was one of the best researched and best argued speeches that the House has heard for a considerable time and I am certain that it will read as well as it sounded when it was delivered. My hon. Friend has established an enviable reputation for his...
Mr Robin Squire: All independent schools in England are monitored by Ofsted to ensure satisfactory standards. Those with boarding provision are also inspected by local social services departments to safeguard pupils' welfare.
Mr Robin Squire: I pay tribute to the hon. Gentleman for pursuing that subject in general. Exactly a week ago he pursued it at greater length in a speech that I have read, and will return to, which was answered by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces. The hon. Gentleman made several suggestions, and I shall think about them. As for the issue that he has just raised, he and the House know...
Mr Robin Squire: My hon. Friend, with her wide knowledge of education, is absolutely right. The independent sector in general is indeed a jewel in the crown of education in this country. In that sector parents have the choice of withdrawing their children and taking them elsewhere. There are a variety of different inspections that cover the independent sector, and as my hon. Friend knows, but as it is worth...
Mr Robin Squire: There are 96 grant-maintained schools in the north-west of England.
Mr Robin Squire: I willingly give my hon. Friend that assurance. As he knows, since the start of this year alone, another five schools have gone GM in his region. I also give him an assurance that, in the White Paper to be published in June, we shall specifically consider ways to allow GM schools better to develop and take advantage of that state of self-governance.
Mr Robin Squire: My right hon. Friend has no plans to introduce a differential nursery voucher value for children with special educational needs.
Mr Robin Squire: If the hon. Lady takes the trouble to read our proceedings in Committee, she will realise that not only the Government but the Opposition spokesman and virtually all outside groups that specialise in special educational needs recognise that the way ahead is not through a differential voucher. One of the many benefits of the voucher system is that it should enable earlier diagnosis of...
Mr Robin Squire: To repeat in part what I said to the House yesterday, the commitment to the code of practice, or something similar that better reflects the different nature of voluntary providers, is there and up-front. It is understood by the groups that I have met on behalf of children with special needs—[Interruption.] It is not a laughing point. Labour Front Benchers are smiling, but I promise them...
Mr Robin Squire: We have recently announced funding for a programme of more than 60 projects to identify and promote effective ways in which to tackle pupil behaviour and discipline problems in schools. The projects are expected to run for three years at an overall cost of around £18 million.
Mr Robin Squire: I agree powerfully with the thrust of my hon. Friend's comments. There is no doubt that a small minority of parents neither instil sufficient discipline in the home nor support teachers in their difficult job of ensuring that schools are properly disciplined places. That is why, over and above the measures that I announced in my first answer, we are actively investigating ways in which better...
Mr Robin Squire: The Government take parents' views into account when deciding the annual revenue support grant. It is then for local education authorities to determine the level of funding for their own schools in the light of local needs and priorities.
Mr Robin Squire: Fortunately, it is not one of my responsibilities to point to my hon. Friends. It is, however, my responsibility to trumpet abroad our success in getting such a good education funding settlement for the coming year—an average settlement of about 4.5 per cent., and rather higher in Essex, the county that the hon. Gentleman represents. Because a very large proportion of parents in that county...
Mr Robin Squire: My hon. Friend makes a telling point. Even with the minimum requirement to delegate 85 per cent. of the relevant budgets, it is clear, looking at the spread of the percentage budget delegated, what a wide difference there is and how often it is Labour-Liberal Democrat councils that insist on spending more money at the centre and less at the chalkface.
Mr Robin Squire: I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman's first point, which I believe will receive broad agreement across the Chamber. We do take school security very seriously. The hon. Gentleman mentioned the working group, which has already contributed to legislation in the form of increased police powers to search for offensive weapons on school premises. I await the group's final report. I believe that...
Mr Robin Squire: I can certainly confirm that, comparing the forthcoming year with the past year, some £90 million has been moved out of areas receiving the area cost adjustment and into the rest of the country. My hon. Friend will know, because he has studied these matters, that my right hon. and hon. Friends in the Department of the Environment have set up an independent inquiry into the operation of the...
Mr Robin Squire: I am confident that existing and new providers in the maintained, voluntary and private sectors will bring forward over time the places that parents want in exchange for nursery education vouchers.
