Fisheries Bill [HL]

Debate between Baroness Jones of Whitchurch and Baroness Garden of Frognal

Report stage & Report stage (Hansard): House of Lords & Report: 1st sitting & Report: 1st sitting: House of Lords
Monday 22nd June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, for raising this issue again, following our debate in Committee. It is a fundamental issue, which deserves more attention. Who owns the resources in our coastal waters? How can it be that, once a quota of fish is issued, it seems to be owned indefinitely by mainly foreign vessels?

As the noble Lord said, there is a strong argument that, when we become an independent coastal state, the ownership of those resources, including the fish, should be returned to the nation. What we do with them then should be the subject of a new consensus, with new timescales and obligations, and with the ultimate right of the UK to take back control of those resources. This would obviously be subject to a new devolved settlement, so that the rights to the resources were properly shared. Some noble Lords seem to feel that that is quite a complicated argument, but, personally, I think that it is fairly straightforward.

As the noble Lord is right to say, we should be more ambitious about the opportunities that could flow from our independence. If we were writing a new plan for UK fishing, we certainly would not start from here, with all that existing baggage.

I agree with my noble friend Lord Hain that a no-deal Brexit would of course be disastrous, not only for the fishing sector but for all other trade sectors in the UK.

We will explore in other amendments what we need to do to revitalise the UK fishing sector. In the meantime, it is useful to put on record our belief that fish stocks are a public asset and should be owned by the nation. I look forward to the Minister’s response.

[The Deputy Speaker]

Shall we try again to see if we can get the noble and learned Lord, Lord Mackay of Clashfern? Lord Mackay, are you there?

Arrangement of Business

Debate between Baroness Jones of Whitchurch and Baroness Garden of Frognal

Thursday 25th July 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch]

My Lords, I am very conscious that the Minister is not on the Bench opposite.

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

My Lords, I wonder whether the House might adjourn during pleasure for five minutes.

Education (Amendment of the Curriculum Requirements for Second Key Stage) (England) Order 2013

Debate between Baroness Jones of Whitchurch and Baroness Garden of Frognal

Wednesday 12th June 2013 Grand Committee

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

I thank noble Lords for the opportunity to debate the Government’s proposals for the introduction of compulsory foreign language teaching into primary schools in England. As noble Lords will know, the study of languages is currently a compulsory national curriculum subject in maintained schools in England at key stage 3 only.

In January 2011, the Government launched a review of the national curriculum in England. After consideration of evidence from competitor nations, advice from subject experts and responses to the review’s call for evidence, the expert panel advising the review recommended that the teaching of languages should be introduced at key stage 2. Following this, in June 2012, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Education confirmed that it was the Government’s intention to include the teaching of foreign languages at key stage 2 and, in doing so, build on the good work that many primary schools are already doing, and bring us into line with practice in many other countries.

I will say something about why we think this change is essential. Learning a language benefits individuals’ social and economic prospects and the economy more widely. It improves the mind, provides an opening to other cultures and deepens our understanding of the world. It is one mark of an educated person and we want all children to develop confidence and enjoyment in being able to speak another language early in their school life.

It is a sad fact, however, that the state of languages teaching in secondary schools has been in decline for a number of years. One sign of this can be seen in the fall in the numbers of those taking languages GCSEs. It is startling to note that the proportion of the cohort entering for at least one modern foreign language GCSE has declined from a high of 79% in 2001 to 40% in 2011. Other evidence also points to a decline. For example, the 2012 European Survey on Language Competences highlighted the poor state of languages ability among school pupils in England. Specifically, in the first taught foreign language, England had significantly more pupils at the lower proficiency levels and significantly fewer at the highest levels than our European counterparts.

We are committed to changing this situation and improving the teaching of languages. The English baccalaureate performance measure has already started to address the number of pupils studying languages at key stage 4. We believe that introducing languages earlier will improve take-up further still and also help pupils to achieve higher levels of performance at GCSE level and beyond.

We recognise the importance of making foreign languages compulsory at key stage 2, as recommended by the expert panel appointed to advise the national curriculum review. There is evidence that suggests that children are better able to learn the sounds of new languages when they are younger. We have also taken into account previous recommendations, made by Lord Dearing, that the teaching of foreign languages should be compulsory at key stage 2, and the similar conclusions of Sir Jim Rose’s review of the primary school curriculum conducted under the previous Government. Learning languages at an early age also helps general cognitive development. Researchers from University College London in 2004 found that learning other languages altered grey matter—that is, the area of the brain that processes information—in the same way that exercise builds muscles.

We have also taken into account the international evidence that shows that many other jurisdictions recommend the teaching of foreign languages in the primary phase. Indeed, evidence from Europe shows that many countries start a compulsory second language much earlier than at age 11. In Austria, France, Norway and Spain, for example, pupils will have started to learn a second language by the age of seven. We also considered evidence from secondary schools, which told us how difficult it is to plan languages teaching for their new intake that builds on what they may have been taught in primary school. This means that in some circumstances teaching is not built on effectively when pupils start secondary school.

We were encouraged by the recent CfBT Language Trends survey, in which 97% of primary schools reported that they were already teaching a language. The same survey found that more than 80% of primary schools were reasonably confident about meeting the statutory key stage 2 language requirement from 2014. It is uplifting to see examples such as St Paul’s primary school in Brighton, a leading school for the teaching of Spanish, which is taught from reception to year 6.

All pupils should enjoy the benefits of learning a language for at least four years during their primary education, which will enable them to make significant progress. We also believe that making languages compulsory at key stage 2, underpinned by a statutory programme of study, will give secondary schools a much more secure base on which to build.

We have sought views on this proposal both through the national curriculum review call for evidence and a specific consultation exercise on making languages compulsory at key stage 2. Responses on this issue in both exercises were overwhelmingly positive. The large majority of respondents to the consultation—more than 90%—agreed with the Government’s intention to introduce foreign languages at key stage 2. Their arguments included the view that young children have a natural disposition for learning languages. They claimed that making the subject compulsory was important to ensure its place in the curriculum of all schools. They also argued that doing so would lead to better attainment at key stage 3, and greater take-up at key stage 4, and that pupils would benefit from a more global outlook and enhanced career prospects.

Only a very small proportion of respondents—3% —opposed the proposal. Their key argument was that languages should not be a priority for this age group compared with other subjects such as literacy, numeracy and science. The majority of respondents, however, were of the opinion that all children benefited from learning a foreign language and that it widened opportunity.

In November last year, we therefore announced our decision to proceed with the necessary legislation to make languages compulsory at key stage 2. As noble Lords may be aware, on the same date we sought views on a proposal to require primary schools to teach one of the following languages at key stage 2: French, German, Italian, Mandarin, Spanish, Latin or ancient Greek. Responses to this second consultation were divided, but the matter for debate today is whether we should make foreign languages a statutory subject at key stage 2. A separate order will be laid subsequently on the proposed list of languages.

We also published, in February this year, a programme of study for key stage 2 languages in draft, along with one for key stage 3. These programmes set out the purpose and aims of study, as well as the subject content to be taught. The intention behind them is that children should enjoy learning a language, with the goal of being able to speak it with increasing confidence and fluency, and finding ways of communicating what they want to say. Having the confidence and ability to use a foreign language for their purposes, as well as for academic study, is very important. We have been extremely encouraged by the very positive response with which these programmes of study were greeted. Our belief that they will provide a challenging, rigorous and appropriate standard has been supported by many respondents.

On the implementation of the proposal, we are carefully considering the responses to the recent consultation on the Government’s wider proposals for reform of the national curriculum. This included a specific question asking for views on the support that schools will need to implement the new national curriculum. Clearly, system leaders, such as teaching schools and national support schools, will play a key role. We are also working with subject associations, publishers and others to ensure that high-quality support is available.

As my honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Childcare said in her speech to the National College Fellowship Commission last month, the implementation of this edition of the national curriculum will be unlike previous revisions. There will be a much greater emphasis on freeing up teachers from central government prescription to enable them to make these reforms work in their schools.

Language teaching requires expertise both in using the language and in age-appropriate pedagogy. Many primary schools have already successfully addressed these needs. Making languages compulsory at key stage 2 will build on this good base and on the investment made by previous Governments to support primary languages teaching.

We recognise that training and continuing professional development will, of course, be important, particularly with the new emphasis on written as well as spoken language, but needs will vary from school to school. The Government, therefore, believe as a general principle that schools themselves are best placed to decide what arrangements they need to put in place to support their staff to deliver the new national curriculum.

Making foreign languages compulsory at key stage 2 is a hugely significant step, and one that has and will attract widespread support from the teaching profession and employers. Many primary schools have already made significant progress towards providing languages in key stage 2. Once we have completed the analysis of the responses to the consultation exercise and reflected on the feedback received, we will publish what we intend to be final versions of the new programmes of study. Subject to the will of Parliament those programmes of study will be confirmed in the autumn. I believe that the reforms that we are making will be crucial in helping to improve the standard of languages teaching in England. I therefore commend the order to the House.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her explanation of the order. I should make it clear from the outset that we are not in principle opposed to the requirement to teach a foreign language at key stage 2. In fact, the previous Government led the way on this and were already legislating for it in the Children, Schools and Families Act 2010 when the then Opposition refused to support it in the run-up to the general election. If our proposal on the primary school curriculum had been allowed to continue, modern foreign language teaching in primary schools would have been compulsory from 2011; it will not now be compulsory until September 2014.

The order is set against the backdrop of much broader curriculum changes that have been subject to detailed debate and criticism both in your Lordships’ House and in the wider education world. While I am sure that the noble Baroness will be pleased to hear that I do not intend to repeat all those concerns today, some of them are specific to this discussion and I shall address those now. First, the whole process of curriculum reform has been marked by secrecy and a lack of transparency, which is equally true of the foreign language proposals. The Government have carried out two consultations on this issue but the responses were available only when sought by a freedom of information request, so we have to take the summary in the Explanatory Memorandum on trust. Nevertheless we were pleased to see that the vast majority of respondents supported the change in principle.

However, we share the fundamental concerns also identified in the memorandum about the prescriptive list of languages to be taught. It is not at all clear how the list was drawn up and what the evidence base was to determine that these and no other languages should be taught. Why not, for example, include Bengali, Hindi or Arabic, or other languages with strong roots in local communities? I was a school governor a decade or two ago in a south London school with a strong local Portuguese community. Why should that school not be able to benefit from the advantages of pupils who already have some bilingual knowledge in their classroom? I appreciate that the specifics are subject to a separate order and will take note of the Minister’s justification of the list, but I would like to return to this later.

Secondly, we are concerned that the current broad aims of learning set out in the old curriculum are being replaced by a much narrower concentration on pupils acquiring core knowledge. We are concerned that this will have an impact on the way in which any foreign language is taught, will militate against developing a love and respect for other languages, and will be replaced by a more formulistic count of words and phrases that have to be memorised. With a technical emphasis on learning in the curriculum, there appears to be a lack of understanding of the wider benefits of intercultural understanding, access to a global community and greater transferrable skills, although I was pleased to hear the noble Baroness making some references to those issues in her introduction. Can she provide any insight into the teaching guidance that will be given to language teachers to ensure that pupils learn in a broad global context?

Dyslexia: Apprenticeships

Debate between Baroness Jones of Whitchurch and Baroness Garden of Frognal

Thursday 28th February 2013 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

My noble friend makes a very important point. As she surmised, I do not have a direct answer. I feel that it would be for the House authorities and other people to look into that, but we heard what she said and will try to take forward some ideas.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch]

My Lords, does this issue not raise a more general point about the direction of the Government, who in the exam system are moving away from an appraisal system throughout the period of learning to just a three-hour exam at the end of the process? Does the Minister agree that that will discriminate against people who have special educational needs in all sorts of forms, who would be much better assessed and appraised over a period of time than in one three-hour exam at the end of the process?

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

The noble Baroness takes us rather wide of the Question, which is on apprenticeships. All the issues surrounding final assessments and examinations in schools are under discussion at the moment. On apprenticeships, there has always been a stress on practical application and seeing what people can do rather than what they can write down. Ongoing assessment and testing are part of an apprenticeship scheme all the way through.

Legislative Reform (Annual Review of Local Authorities) Order 2012

Debate between Baroness Jones of Whitchurch and Baroness Garden of Frognal

Thursday 12th July 2012 Grand Committee

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

My Lords, this draft legislative reform order seeks to remove the unnecessary bureaucratic requirement on the Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills annually to review and rate the performance of each top-tier local authority in England in relation to its children’s services functions. The process is simply an amalgamation of other inspection evidence and data, rather than an inspection in its own right. My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families announced in December 2010 the Government’s intention to repeal this requirement, imposed under Section 138 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006, at the earliest legislative opportunity. The draft order would effect that repeal.

Ofsted’s children’s services assessment is a remnant of a more centralised local government performance management framework and formed part of the previous Government’s comprehensive area assessment regime, which drew together separate assessments from other inspectorates including the Care Quality Commission, HM Inspectorate of Constabulary, HM Inspectorate of Prisons, HM Inspectorate of Probation and Ofsted. Although the annual assessment was intended to provide the general public with an independent judgment of the performance of their local council in respect of children’s services, there is no evidence to suggest that the general public engage with the process. The assessments and the associated bureaucracy are also not valued by local authorities themselves, with the Local Government Association suggesting their termination and directors of children’s services making it clear that they do not find the process helpful.

The repeal of Section 138 and the resulting removal of the requirement to undertake annual children’s services assessments will eliminate an unnecessary regulatory burden on both Ofsted and local authorities. It would bring a cost saving to Ofsted of between £1.3 million and £1.7 million per annum. It would also bring cost and administrative savings to local authorities, which the Association of Directors of Children's Services has said are “unquantifiable but … not insignificant”. The same organisation said of removing the requirement to conduct annual children’s services assessments that the benefit should not be understated. Indeed, it is not only the local authority that would like to see the requirement removed. The NSPCC stated in its response to the consultation on the use of a legislative reform order to repeal Section 138 that it was,

“not aware of any evidence to show that the annual assessment process has had any impact on the protection of children”,

and that it is,

“too superficial to add anything of real value to the inspection regime”.

I should add that the repeal of Section 138 would not affect the wider inspection of local authority children’s services. Ofsted will continue to inspect all services covered by the children’s services assessment, including child protection and safeguarding, looked-after children’s services, fostering and adoption services, schools and early-years provision. Indeed, Ofsted has recently introduced a new universal child-focused inspection regime for local authority services for the protection of children. A similar new inspection regime for local authority fostering, adoption and looked-after children’s services will follow in early to mid-2013.

The new inspection regimes will focus more closely on front-line practice than previous inspection frameworks and, particularly in relation to adoption services, will raise the bar for what constitutes good or outstanding practice, which will more effectively help drive improved services for vulnerable children. Ofsted will also continue to make an annual report to the Secretary of State under Section 121 of the Education and Inspections Act 2006. Ofsted’s annual reports summarise the overall results of inspections conducted under the various different frameworks that span its remit. Such annual reports must also be laid before Parliament.

To sum up, this repeal is necessary to remove unnecessary and costly bureaucratic burdens from Ofsted and local authorities. I beg to move.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch]

My Lords, I thank the Minister for her explanation of the order. She will know that the issue of the quality of services for children and young people provided by local authorities is particularly sensitive, not least because of the ongoing concerns about standards in children’s homes and the need for vulnerable young people to be protected. Therefore, it is crucial that if we are to change the inspection arrangements, we have to be satisfied that the new regime is an improvement on what has gone before.

I am unconvinced by some of the key justifications for these changes, which centre on the need to reduce the regulatory burden and the pressures on Ofsted to operate within a 30% budget cut. It is hard to envisage how a shift in policy from centrally designated and measured standards to local monitoring and accountability can work when dealing with the most vulnerable and powerless children and young people, who do not have a voice to demand quality services at a local level.

Nevertheless, I am persuaded that the inspection regime as it is currently composed and implemented is not achieving the objectives originally set for it. This seems to be the view not only of Ofsted and local authorities but, more importantly, as the noble Baroness said, of children’s charities, which clearly have the interests of children at heart. With this in mind, I will ask the noble Baroness a few questions about the proposed new inspection arrangements.

First, will she clarify what funds are being put in place to ensure a comprehensive inspection service is maintained, and reassure us that the changes are not being finance-driven? Secondly, will she clarify the start date of the new arrangements should the order go through? Ofsted has talked about putting in place the new inspections provision between May 2012 and mid-2013. Can we be sure that there will not be a gap in regulatory coverage in which poor practice could go undetected?

Thirdly, as the noble Baroness said, Ofsted has announced that it is working on a joint framework for multi-agency inspection of services for the protection of young people, including the Care Quality Commission, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons and the probation service, to be implemented during 2013-14. Is the Minister concerned that this further imminent upheaval in local authority inspection arrangements might cause confusion and further bureaucracy? Can we be assured that the transfer of arrangements will take place seamlessly? Will she also clarify how the strengthening of the role of the Children’s Commissioner, announced by Sarah Teather yesterday, which will include the power to carry out investigations, will fit with the new multi-agency inspection arrangements?

Finally, and most importantly, will the Minister assure the Committee that once the order has been implemented, the replacement provision will be more comprehensive and more stringent, giving vulnerable children and young people the protection they should have a right to demand of modern, caring local authorities? I look forward to hearing her response.

Media Oversight: Transfer of Responsibilities

Debate between Baroness Jones of Whitchurch and Baroness Garden of Frognal

Thursday 5th July 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

I entirely agree with my noble friend that DCMS supports and encourages the creative industries, and I join her in celebrating all that those industries bring to this country. They make an enormously important contribution, not just to the economy but to the cultural richness of the country and, indeed, to the UK’s standing on the international stage, where we are world leaders in many areas of the arts and media.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch]

Does the Minister recognise that the events of recent weeks mean that Jeremy Hunt no longer commands the confidence of the media or the public in dealing with media regulation? How much longer will the department be expected to limp along with a Secretary of State in limbo waiting for a reshuffle? Do not the arts, culture and sports organisations in this country need better leadership?

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

Harsh words indeed from the noble Baroness. I cannot possibly agree with her that Jeremy Hunt is a lame duck Secretary of State. He continues to run a department with important and high profile responsibilities. He is highly regarded within the fields that he covers. Nor can we forget that one of his responsibilities is for the Olympics and Paralympics, which are about to be of major significance in this country.

Telecommunications: Mobile Phone Services

Debate between Baroness Jones of Whitchurch and Baroness Garden of Frognal

Monday 18th June 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

The right reverend Prelate makes a very apt point. I know the parts of the country to which he refers and how difficult it is to stand on the roof trying to get a signal on one’s mobile. Yes, that could certainly be one of the requirements on the operators in a bid. At the moment, we understand that there are more than 80,000 premises in complete not-spots where you simply cannot receive, and the intention is to cover at least 60,000 of those premises, if we can, with new technologies.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch]

My Lords, does the Minister agree with the Ofcom consumer panel that a pure market approach to the extension of mobile technology has reached its economic limit? Does she therefore agree that in order to ensure the extensive coverage rurally that we all desire, it should be made an explicit condition of the bids for the forthcoming 4G spectrum auction that the operators comply with that?

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

The noble Baroness makes a very valid point. As I mentioned earlier, economic requirements will always be part of such bids, but the question of conditions for the forthcoming auction of spectrum to roll out 4G mobile broadband services is a matter for Ofcom, and Ofcom has consulted on options for delivering 4G coverage, including an option that would require either one or all of the 800 megahertz licences to cover 98% of the UK population. The points that she raised will undoubtedly be considered for that auction.

Media Ownership

Debate between Baroness Jones of Whitchurch and Baroness Garden of Frognal

Wednesday 23rd May 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

Yes, indeed—my noble friend makes another important point on this. At the moment the media-plurality public interest test can be triggered only by a merger or takeover; it cannot really take account of organic growth. That is certainly an issue which the current reviews will look at to ensure that owners who take different forms of media into their ownership can also be under scrutiny.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch]

My Lords, can the Minister confirm when the long-promised communications Green Paper will be published? Can she clarify whether there is any truth in the media reports that Jeremy Hunt is so busy preparing for the Leveson inquiry that he has had to put the Green Paper on the back burner? If that is the case, does it not underline our view that it is time to let someone else get on with the job?

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

No, I do not follow that logic at all, I am afraid. The Secretary of State is probably as busy as anything with the Olympics and all the other activities of 2012 that we have been discussing so fully in your Lordships’ Chamber. The communications review is on course. Subject to the legislative programme, the Government hope to introduce new legislation before the end of this Parliament, and of course the Leveson inquiry will influence the contents of that.

Media: Plurality

Debate between Baroness Jones of Whitchurch and Baroness Garden of Frognal

Wednesday 7th March 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

My noble friend makes very valid points on this. On his second point, the Secretary of State has indeed questioned whether it is appropriate for politicians to have the final say on plurality issues. In competition cases, Ministers are removed from the decision-making process, and that would also be applied to media plurality. We will be seeking views on that in the Green Paper. On his other point, these topics will be discussed in great depth by the communications Green Paper and by Leveson.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch]

My Lords, given that each day sees the catalogue of News International’s misdeeds spreading more widely, and given the dominance of the parent company throughout the UK media, should the Government not now be taking urgent action to strengthen Ofcom’s powers to intervene where it has doubts about whether UK broadcasting licence holders are fit and proper persons? It is a matter of urgency now.

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

I hear what the noble Baroness says. There is already a requirement on Ofcom to ensure that any person holding a broadcasting licence is and remains a fit and proper person. That is an ongoing requirement. It is not limited to merger situations. Ofcom is in contact with the relevant authorities and has asked to be kept informed of anything that may assist it in assessing whether BSkyB is and remains fit and proper to continue to hold its broadcast licences. Clearly, Ofcom cannot and should not act while allegations are unsubstantiated. If it found evidence that persons were unfit to hold a licence, it could act ahead of the conclusion of a criminal investigation.

Film Industry: Development and Production

Debate between Baroness Jones of Whitchurch and Baroness Garden of Frognal

Monday 27th February 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will consider requiring all major United Kingdom broadcasters to invest in British film development and production.

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

My Lords, the independent review panel of the noble Lord, Lord Smith, recently recommended to government that discussions should be initiated with the major broadcasters with the aim of agreeing a memorandum of understanding with each, setting out agreed commitments to support British film. Should discussions prove unproductive, the panel recommends that the Government consider legislative solutions. We are actively considering the report and will respond to its recommendations in the spring.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch]

I thank the Minister for that reply and extend my congratulations to last night’s Oscar nominees of films produced and filmed in the UK. It is widely acknowledged that British film is able to compete with the best in the world. However, although we have the creativity and talent, the noble Baroness will know that filmmakers still struggle to raise the finance to make independent UK films. Channel 4 and the BBC make an important contribution through their separate film production arms, but other national broadcasters are effectively able to freeload on the investment of others. I very much acknowledge that the noble Baroness said that she was considering the report of the noble Lord, Lord Smith. However, given the importance of UK film to both our economy and our national identity, are the Government prepared to follow the example of several other European countries and require all broadcasters to invest in future film production at similar levels to that of Film4 and BBC Films?

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

I happily join the noble Baroness in congratulating the Oscar winners, and indeed Channel 4 on its recent BAFTA successes and the BBC on its highly acclaimed BAFTA nominations. I entirely agree with her about the important contribution that Channel 4 and the BBC make to British films. However, on her other point, at the moment the Government do not have the levers to require broadcasters to invest in film. As I indicated, we are actively looking at the wide-ranging recommendations put forward by the noble Lord, Lord Smith, in his review, and we will respond to those after due consideration.

Media: Ownership

Debate between Baroness Jones of Whitchurch and Baroness Garden of Frognal

Wednesday 15th February 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they are giving to the implications of Saturday’s arrests of senior News International journalists for the future of BSkyB’s broadcasting licence.

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

My Lords, this is a matter for the police, who should follow their investigations wherever the evidence takes them. Decisions on whether News Corporation remains a fit and proper person to hold a broadcasting licence is a matter for Ofcom, which is taking its responsibility in this area seriously and is in touch with the relevant authorities. The Government have no role in its decisions.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch]

I thank the Minister for that reply. However, given that it was not just journalists but senior management at the Sun who were arrested at the weekend, and that according to press reports it is now possible that the directors of News Corp could be charged with offences under America’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, is it not time to review the way in which the fit and proper test applies to those holding broadcasting licences so that the Government have the power to intervene as and when events require it, rather than having to wait for a trigger event, such as a takeover or a referral to the Competition Commission, which is the case at present?

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

The noble Baroness raises serious issues but she will be aware that the Government have no power to intervene over whether anyone holding a broadcasting licence is a fit and proper person, and there are currently no plans to change this. By coincidence, the Communications Select Committee will publish a report tomorrow on the future of investigative journalism, which will cover these matters in greater detail. Of course, the communications Green Paper is also coming up shortly, when there will be further opportunities to discuss these issues.

Social Networking Sites

Debate between Baroness Jones of Whitchurch and Baroness Garden of Frognal

Wednesday 11th January 2012 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

Yes, I do indeed undertake to my noble friend to look at that programme. She and others in this House have been very involved with encouraging programmes such as PSHE which teach children self-respect and respect for others and identify the motives behind bullying. Obviously, legislation can only go so far. We need a change in the culture so that bullying is an unacceptable activity.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch]

My Lords, the Minister will know that one of the problems we face is that parents are way behind their children in keeping up with technology and are often oblivious to what is happening under their own roof. Does she agree that one small way in which the social networking sites could help, and should help, both parents and schools would be to ban children using fake names or multiple names to disguise their identity?

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

The noble Baroness makes an interesting point. Some of these things are always much more difficult to implement than they are to suggest. Although the internet service providers are being extraordinarily helpful and supportive of the Government on ways of tackling this, and that will certainly be one aspect they consider, whether it is feasible to stop the worst cases of bullying is another question.

Education Bill

Debate between Baroness Jones of Whitchurch and Baroness Garden of Frognal

Monday 24th October 2011 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

My Lords, as we said in Grand Committee, a debate about the value of the School Support Staff Negotiating Body should not be confused with a debate on the value of support staff themselves. We all agree that support staff have a vital part to play in the life of their schools. There is no disagreement on that score with the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, or the noble Lord, Lord Knight. However, we do disagree, as my noble friend Lady Perry set out, over whether we should set up a new piece of control machinery to determine the pay and conditions of school support staff or whether we should stick with local decision-making by employers, local authorities and schools which best know local conditions.

Organisations representing employers of support staff, such as the Local Government Group, take the latter view. The group draws its members from across the political spectrum and is a firm supporter of the Government’s decision to abolish the SSSNB. If we retain the SSSNB and act on any agreements it reaches, schools would be required to review the pay and conditions of more than half a million support staff, requiring a massive investment of time by schools. The impact assessment that accompanied the ASCL Bill suggested that this might take more than 200,000 hours of head teacher or senior leadership time alone—time that we think could be better spent on pupils and their learning.

We should also remember that for the majority of support staff working in community and voluntary controlled schools, there is already a national pay and conditions framework in place, the Green Book. This long-standing voluntary agreement negotiated by the Local Government Employers, UNISON, GMB and Unite is already used for those staff in all but three local authorities. Of course, in all schools, existing employment law ensures that individuals are treated equally with regard to their terms and conditions when assessed against their colleagues.

In Committee my noble friend Lady Walmsley asked whether the SSSNB could be allowed time to complete part of its work, believing that the results of its work would be useful if made available for schools to choose to use. In response to that and to her other point, the SSSNB process is not that flexible. The Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 sets out the process that must be followed once the SSSNB has reached an agreement. That process can involve many twists and turns, allowing the Secretary of State to request the SSSNB to reconsider agreements that it has submitted to him. However, ultimately it requires the Secretary of State to make an order that is binding on schools and local authorities in respect of how they determine the pay and conditions of their support staff. It is that rigid legislation that this clause seeks to abolish.

However, we agree with my noble friends Lady Walmsley and Lady Perry that some of the materials the SSSNB has begun to develop could be a useful optional reference tool. We also know that the trade union members of the SSSNB are keen to continue to work with support staff employer organisations independently of government to complete a set of job role profiles for support staff. That is why we have already agreed to arrange for the intellectual property rights—in other words, the copyright—of all materials that are owned by the Department for Education to be reassigned to Local Government Employers. This means the materials can then be used freely by the unions and employers that made up the membership of the SSSNB.

When the Secretary of State met the three unions that represent school support staff—UNISON, Unite and GMB—on 12 October, he was able to confirm that unions, together with the other SSSNB member organisations that represent employers, already own the materials developed during the final months of the SSSNB activity. This means that they are free to work with employer organisations to finalise the job role profiles. This is the piece of work that unions and employers agree will be of most use to schools. Abolishing the SSSNB will spare schools from the burden of a wholesale review of support staff pay and allow them to keep the level of freedom they currently have in relation to support staff pay. It is right that we do all that we can to ensure that the good work that SSSNB member organisations have done so far is not wasted. On that basis I hope that the noble Baroness will feel able to withdraw her amendment.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lords who have reiterated the crucial role that support staff play in the classroom and the added value that they bring to the classroom. My noble friend Lord Knight made the particular point that they can often free up teachers to carry out other roles. Of course, they can also in themselves grow into and eventually qualify as teachers, so they do have a significant role in the classroom. My noble friend Lord Knight also pointed out the crucial work that the SSSNB was doing in protecting schools from equal pay claims. As he said, rightly, it is the luck of the draw as to how well people are paid from one school to another, from one local authority to another, and that cannot be right.

The noble Baroness, Lady Perry, and others talked about the need for flexibility. I do not think that I was denying that need. This was never going to be something that was handed down from on high as a prescription. It was always meant to be a resource that schools could access. The Minister has said that there would have been a lot of time taken working through and implementing it. My answer to that is that that time is going to be taken anyway, and may even be duplicated over and over again if schools do not have this core resource.

The noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, quite rightly picked up the point that the Minister seemed to quote whichever of the employers are in favour at the moment. I quoted the ASCL. The Government found another employer which is said to have a different view to quote back at us. I found that interesting. Without getting into a competition as to who is on top among the employers, there is nevertheless a need to complete this work. The Minister seems to me to be saying, “Okay, the copyright has been handed over to another group of people. If they want to, they can carry on that work”. My question is, why stop and start again? We are already half way on a journey, in a particular way of doing it. It seems unnecessary to stop and start again with a different group of people.

Nevertheless, I realise that I am not going to persuade a number of Members on this matter, and I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.

Education Bill

Debate between Baroness Jones of Whitchurch and Baroness Garden of Frognal

Tuesday 18th October 2011 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

My Lords, I take the point the noble Baroness makes. However, we have to accept that schools take massive care of the children in their care and do not take these measures lightly. We are talking about short periods of detention after school for pupils who can get home safely; those who do not need to catch the school bus and so on. All those are already enshrined in the care and the regulation. We seek—and we hear the very grave concerns being expressed by noble Lords—to make quite sure the guidance is strengthened to ensure that child safety is never compromised by the school’s actions. We feel that the safeguards already in place strike the right balance between ensuring that children are safe and allowing schools to take proportionate action—to use their discretion and professional judgment—to establish the arrangements that work best for them.

We hope that my noble friends and the noble Baronesses will agree to work with us to see how we can strengthen the guidance that goes with these measures and meanwhile will feel able to withdraw their amendments.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch]

Before the noble Baroness sits down, I want to clarify when she is proposing now. We were sent a copy of a draft document on detention, which says:

“When judging whether a detention outside school hours is reasonable teachers should consider whether it is appropriate to give notice to parents”.

Is the noble Baroness now saying that is going to be strengthened or is that the wording that is on offer? I want to clarify that point.

Education Bill

Debate between Baroness Jones of Whitchurch and Baroness Garden of Frognal

Wednesday 20th July 2011 Grand Committee

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch]

My Lords, our names have been added to Amendments 115 and 118, so I will speak very briefly. First, I agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Walmsley, about the narrow focus on educational achievement which ignores the wider role of education in providing a safe and happy environment where all children can thrive and be healthy and confident. We believe that well-being should include such things as nutrition, exercise, relationships, respect for each other and how to overcome low self-esteem. A good school will include all this in the curriculum, but it does not mean that we should exempt all schools from having that assessed and checked from time to time.

The noble Lord, Lord Ouseley, gave a very coherent case for why Amendment 118 is important. It is important that we check that the Government’s rhetoric when they introduced the pupil premium can be backed up by independent assessment in the longer term, particularly in light of the new autonomous school structures. If we are not careful, disadvantaged children will get left behind. We need independent assessment to double- check that all is going well with the way that the money is being spent. I sense people’s frustration at the late hour and I will say no more at this stage.

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

My Lords, I shall try to speak very quickly, which in no way reflects the seriousness and importance of the group of amendments we have just been discussing. The existing arrangements for inspection have become cluttered and crowded. Inspectors face the challenge of having to form a discrete judgment on just about everything schools do. The cumulative effect of this is that we have lost the sharp focus—which my noble friend referred to and the noble Lord, Lord Ouseley, picked up—on those things that are the fundamental responsibilities of schools.

Clause 40 seeks to address this by streamlining the reporting arrangements so that they focus on four key areas: pupils’ achievement, the quality of teaching, the effectiveness of leadership and pupils’ behaviour and safety. In doing so, inspectors must consider pupils’ spiritual, moral and cultural development and how the needs of all groups of pupils, including in particular those with SEN or a disability, are being met.

As far as Amendments 115 and 116 are concerned, schools themselves remain under a duty to promote pupil well-being and community cohesion. The provisions in Clause 40, including the specific requirements around behaviour and safety and spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, provide the right structure.

Education Bill

Debate between Baroness Jones of Whitchurch and Baroness Garden of Frognal

Monday 18th July 2011 Grand Committee

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch]

My Lords, I want to make a couple of comments. First, much of the anxiety about the current grading system is because people have lost confidence in the way that the examinations are marked at the moment. I remember that, when I was doing O-levels and such-like many moons ago, there was much more confidence in the marking system and the legitimacy and accuracy of the examination boards. Maybe that was misplaced but that was certainly how I was brought up. Perhaps the scandals in recent times about the quality of the marking and so on have raised concerns and people want to dig deeper to know the underlying marks, which is understandable.

I am anxious, however, as to how this would work in practice. If the grades and the marks are published and if some children will only be two or three marks below the next grade up, if you run that parallel system of marks and grades, you will engender a lot of new appeals because anyone who is a short step away from the next grade up will flood the market with appeals. Unless we have a mechanism for managing that, therefore, there will be more discontent than satisfaction. I am not sure the system can run in parallel in the way the noble Lord is proposing. It may be, however, that the famous e-mail, which I should have seen but have not, spells out what the Government intend and will satisfy those points.

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

My Lords, my noble friend has made strong arguments for making comprehensive, transparent information on exam results and school performance available to all and we are committed to increasing the amount of information available so that people can build their own measures and reach their own views about progress in the education system. We have already published more information than ever before.

The 2010 tables enabled users to download the school-level data underlying the table so that they could carry out their own analyses. In January 2011, school spending data were published alongside performance information. In March 2011, we published school-level information on attainment in individual GCSE subjects. As has been stated, in relation to exam marks, the candidates do have the right to request their marks. In practice, awarding bodies do provide marks—and, where requested, exam scripts—to schools and candidates. That means, for instance, universities can ask applicants to provide individual marks in order to differentiate performance within a grade.

In relation to publication of marks in data sets, we want to make as much information as possible available about exam results, and we are happy to commit to considering the practicality of obtaining and publishing marks as part of the national school-level data we are releasing. I understand my noble friend will be speaking to officials about this at a meeting on 25 July.

However, as the noble Baroness, Lady Jones, has said, there will be practical issues that we need to consider. Collecting individual marks rather than just grades would mean a significant increase in the quantity of data that the department would need to collect and process, which we would need to ensure we could manage without undue cost. That said, although it is the Government’s intention to collect and publish as much information on qualifications as we can, in relation to having both marks and grades it is the case that the same mark on a harder paper would represent better performance and it would not always be fair to candidates simply to add up the raw marks to give the overall result. A uniform mark scale puts all those raw marks on the same scale, which is then converted into the grade boundaries.

The noble Baroness, Lady Jones, mentioned confidence in exam awarding bodies. Ofqual was established by the previous Government to improve and strengthen confidence in the standards of exam awarding bodies. Ensuring that that confidence is restored is what Ofqual has at its heart. It may of course be that our memories of the olden days when everything was so much better have somehow managed to make us feel that it was better; I seem to remember from my days of A-levels that there were still quite a lot of queries to the boards, but we were much more intimidated in making those queries.

I hope that, with the assurance that we will give serious consideration to the practicality of publishing marks as part of the school-level data that we are making available to all, my noble friend will feel able to withdraw his amendment.

Education Bill

Debate between Baroness Jones of Whitchurch and Baroness Garden of Frognal

Wednesday 6th July 2011 Grand Committee

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

They do not need NQT status in free schools or independent schools. That is not a change.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch]

I am sorry to dwell on this, but I want to pick up the point that the noble Baroness made earlier about induction periods. She has confused me because the legislation states that regulations will be made,

“as to the number of induction periods that a person may serve, and the circumstances in which a person may serve more than one induction period”.

As I said in my original speech, that sounds perfectly sensible. The Government are now saying that they have already decided, and that it is one. The legislation implies a level of flexibility that the Minister is now saying does not exist. It is one induction period—end of story.

Education Bill

Debate between Baroness Jones of Whitchurch and Baroness Garden of Frognal

Monday 4th July 2011 Grand Committee

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch]

Before the noble Baroness sits down, I want to be clear what she is saying. Is she saying it is okay to have short-notice detention and not to tell the parents, because that seems to be the message? That raises all the concerns that people around the Room have raised. By all means have short-notice detention but make sure the parents are told. It seems she is saying it is not necessary. All our amendment is doing is to make sure the parents are told. That is a safeguard—the check and balance that is needed. I have not heard a convincing case why we should not insist that parents are told.

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

We are talking here about a detention which might be as short as 10, 15 or 20 minutes after school. In that case there would not be time to get hold of most parents to tell them their child was being detained. If all the safeguards were in place to indicate that there would be no danger or damage to that pupil in detaining them, it might be a short, sharp shock that would just rectify a situation that was getting out of control. It is simply an additional power that the school would have, without all the delays. It will build up into a much bigger issue if you then wait and send a letter back to the parents or try to contact them. The whole thing might escalate into a much bigger punishment than giving a brief and immediate punishment on the spot to a young person who had committed some misdemeanour where all the safeguards were in place to make sure that that child would not be at risk for being kept back for a few minutes at the end of school.

We are obviously taking account of transport and all the other circumstances where this type of detention would not be appropriate. We are doing so in response to head teachers, who have indicated that they would welcome this power. As the noble Baroness, Lady Howarth, said, this is, in a way, a message about something that could be available to them should they need it in very specific circumstances and when appropriate with all the safeguards surrounding it.

We hear the strength of feeling around the Room about this measure but I hope that noble Lords will see that it is a very measured proposal. Teachers would not be inclined to abuse the system but it could be extremely helpful in some circumstances to give an immediate punishment. It would show a young person that they had stepped out of line and that such a punishment was appropriate.

With that explanation, I hope that the noble Baroness will feel able to withdraw the amendment. However, we certainly have taken on board the debate on this matter in Committee and the strength of feeling that it has aroused.

Media: Ownership

Debate between Baroness Jones of Whitchurch and Baroness Garden of Frognal

Monday 4th April 2011 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

My noble friend asks another key question on this. Certainly, the Secretary of State has indicated that there is a potential weakness in media plurality. The forthcoming Bill will indeed provide an occasion to consider this again.

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch]

My Lords, does the noble Baroness recognise the weight of opinion against the proposed acquisition? Not only does the latest opinion poll show that 64 per cent of the respondents think that it will give News Corporation too much power, all the media organisations are opposed to it, and virtually all media commentators are against it. Following the consultation, who actually is in favour of this acquisition?

[Baroness Garden of Frognal]

My Lords, my right honourable friend the Secretary of State has conducted this matter in a totally transparent way and has published all the documents that he could at the time that they could be published. It has been out to consultation and more than 40,000 responses have been received, most of them through an internet campaign. My right honourable friend is considering all those responses, after which he will make a statement. He has not gone into this with a closed mind; he is open to the views that will come in.