Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alison McGovern and Michael Gove

Monday 10th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right, and had she been fortunate enough to join me at the London Academy of Excellence last week she would have seen a free school that is outperforming an independent school. The next time I have the opportunity to visit an outstanding academy or free school, I hope she will come with me to see what the state sector is capable of achieving to outpace and outperform the private sector.

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

The Lyndale school in south Wirral is a very small but excellent school. It is not currently an academy and it is under threat of closure. One of the options for saving it involves it becoming an academy, so if parents and I can find a way to keep the school sustainable, will the Secretary of State stand ready to help us?

[Michael Gove]

Absolutely; I very much enjoyed visiting the Wirral just two weeks ago, and I will do anything I can to work with the hon. Lady to help the children and teachers in that school.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alison McGovern and Michael Gove

Monday 9th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that issue. Ofsted has, in its new revised handbook, taken account of the fact that more parents are exercising choice in a way that inevitably compels Ofsted to review its guidance, and explicitly it says:

“Certain types of schools (such as faith, Steiner and Montessori schools) exist as maintained or independent schools. When inspecting such…provisions, inspectors should familiarise themselves with the background information to these types of schools”.

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

We heard at Prime Minister’s questions last week about the impact of free schools on the cost of school uniforms. Whatever the rights and wrongs of free schools or uniform policy, may I give the Secretary of State a second chance on this, and will he explain what steps he has been taking, in relation to free or other schools, to keep the cost of school uniforms down for parents?

[Michael Gove]

This is an important issue. Parents need reassurance that we are doing everything possible to keep down the cost of school uniforms. Clear guidance is issued by the Department for Education on how costs can be kept down. I subsequently read the report that was mentioned at Prime Minister’s questions last week and it referred to 13 schools, a small sample, but there were one or two worrying cases. I believe that those worrying cases may well be voluntary-aided schools rather than academy or free schools, but we shall keep the issue constantly under review.

Curriculum and Exam Reform

Debate between Alison McGovern and Michael Gove

Thursday 7th February 2013 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend—who used to be a member of the Education Committee—has made a very good point. One of the other problems with contextual value added was that it seemed to embed a culture of low expectations by automatically assuming that students from particular ethnic minority backgrounds would do less well. The “value added” measure that we hope to introduce will be clearer and simpler, and will also embed high expectations for every student.

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

Only last Friday, when I visited a secondary school in Bebington, in my constituency, I was greeted at the gates by exasperated teachers who were fed up with learning the latest news about their subjects on BBC News 24. Now that the Secretary of State has apologised, will he put things right by answering the question that he was asked earlier, and telling us how much all this has cost?

[Michael Gove]

Over the last three years, the Department has made significant savings in every area by concentrating on better value for money. I think that, overall, this move will save money for a variety of schools and students by ensuring that modularisation, controlled assessment and coursework—which have absorbed so much energy and time—will no longer absorb energy, time and money from our schools.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alison McGovern and Michael Gove

Monday 3rd December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

The Sutton Trust and Sir Peter Lampl have done wonderful work to advance social mobility. Not every aspect of the open access scheme necessarily recommends itself to the Government, but I applaud all the independent schools, such as those in the King Edward VI Foundation in Birmingham, which have done so much to extend a brilliant education to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State spoke earlier about the canon. He may recall that, in 2009, he said:

“the greatest artists and thinkers are great precisely because their insights and achievements have the capacity to move, and influence, us all”.

Does he agree with the great artist Danny Boyle, who said recently:

“If there is any way you can help make culture, music, dance, theatre a core of the new English baccalaureate you will have given something beyond what you give every day”

[Michael Gove]

As an admirer of Danny Boyle’s film-making, and indeed of the amazing work that he did at the opening ceremony for the Olympics, I hesitate ever to disagree with him in any respect. That is why I was so pleased this morning to be able to talk to representatives of the culture sector, including those responsible for dance education, drama and visual arts, and to agree on what we can do together to ensure that every child has access to the best that has been thought and written.

Exam Reform

Debate between Alison McGovern and Michael Gove

Monday 17th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

Which businesses did the Secretary of State consult before making his announcement today?

[Michael Gove]

I looked at everything that had been written by the Confederation of British Industry, the Institute of Directors and the Federation of Small Businesses, and in so doing, I could see the widespread view among business that we needed to reform GCSEs. I look forward to hearing from individual businesses about their views of specific aspects of the reform. However, among businesses, there was a universal view that examinations had been discredited and dumbed down under the previous Government and that, at last, the nettle was being grasped.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alison McGovern and Michael Gove

Monday 23rd May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I have to say that I am very worried about that. I know that it is a Tory authority, but it sounds to me as though it is doing the wrong thing.

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

Good careers advice is absolutely vital to those at risk of falling into neither earning nor learning. Following the demise of Connexions, will the Secretary of State say who will own the administrative data, counting in real time the numbers of young people who are not in education, employment or training?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alison McGovern and Michael Gove

Monday 7th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

It is always a pleasure to hear the radical proposals of my hon. Friend, whose stewardship of money when he was a councillor in Wandsworth and a Minister in a previous Conservative Government is a model to all. I shall look carefully at the case he makes, but the one thing that is clear is that we already know that our programme ensures that more new school places are being provided more cheaply than was the case under the previous Labour Government.

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

T7. Today is the first day of national apprenticeships week. We know that one of the most significant barriers to young people taking up apprenticeships is getting the right advice at school. In fact, there is now a confused situation, because the Government want to end Connexions and introduce an all-age service. Will the Minister explain what extra funds will be available to schools to procure advice for young people?

Education Maintenance Allowance

Debate between Alison McGovern and Michael Gove

Wednesday 19th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

That is a passionate intervention, and I know that the hon. Gentleman has devoted his whole life in the trade union movement and elsewhere to trying to secure a better deal for the worse-off. I take nothing away from the force with which he makes his case, but practical steps are being taken, including in his own constituency, to provide a better deal for the worse off. That includes a new arrangement with a comprehensive in Sutton Coldfield to sponsor a school in his constituency so that they can both enjoy academy status and both have their standards driven up. I hope that I can co-operate with him and secure his support on that policy, alongside many other policies that we wish to introduce so as to target support better on the disadvantaged.

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

In response to the hon. Member for Tamworth (Christopher Pincher), the Secretary of State mentioned the discretionary support fund that is available for schools, but one of the most common questions that I have been asked by principals of colleges and schools in my constituency is whether the fund is available for transport. EMA is vital to give young people a choice of college and school courses, so will he comment on whether funds will be available to help young people with the cost of transport?

[Michael Gove]

That is a very good point. The hon. Lady has alighted on something that is critical and constructive. I shall say a little more about transport in my speech, but one thing I should say is that local authorities have a statutory duty to ensure that there is no barrier to participation for 16 to 18-year-olds because of transport. Currently the discretionary learner support fund cannot be used to fund transport, but I would like to ensure that any replacement for EMA can cover additional transport costs. However, we must ensure that local authorities cannot shirk their responsibilities in law.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alison McGovern and Michael Gove

Monday 15th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

Evidence from the Royal Shakespeare Company, Arts Council England and others has shown the very real impact access to live theatre can have on the attainment of young people in schools. What specific discussions is the Secretary of State having with the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport to ensure that all young people can still access live theatre, especially those from low-income backgrounds?

[Michael Gove]

Shall I compare her to a summer’s day? [Interruption.] I am very grateful that appreciation for Shakespeare is something that unites both Front-Bench teams. I had an opportunity to talk to the RSC before the general election and I am committed, along with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, to ensuring that access to live theatre, and, indeed, to the very best of English literature, is at the heart of learning. I hope that the shadow Education Secretary, the right hon. Member for Leigh (Andy Burnham), will join me in that. I know he studied English at university, which is why I hope he will withdraw his recent comments against John Dryden, suggesting that that figure should not feature in the national curriculum.