Multi-academy Trusts

Debate between Baroness Watkins of Tavistock and Lord Agnew of Oulton

Wednesday 10th July 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Agnew of Oulton]

I am afraid it does not, my Lords, because the Harris trust is delivering the most extraordinary level of education improvement in the country. If you take the cost of that senior management team and divide it by the number of pupils in that trust, you will see that it is extraordinarily good value.

[Baroness Watkins of Tavistock (CB)]

My Lords, I declare my previous interests as chair of two academies, but I am very concerned that we are not monitoring the length of stay of chairs in certain academies. It becomes very difficult for them to manage some of the resources in relation to very competent and articulate principals. Is the Minister reviewing how long some governors have been in post?

Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education, and Health Education

Debate between Baroness Watkins of Tavistock and Lord Agnew of Oulton

Monday 25th February 2019 Lords Chamber

[Lord Agnew of Oulton]

To reiterate, the right to withdraw is in the parent’s gift until the three terms before the child is 16. It is extremely difficult to predict what an exceptional circumstance would be, but paragraph 41 shows how clearly it is entrenched in this guidance:

“Parents have the right to request that their child be withdrawn from some or all of sex education delivered as part of statutory RSE. Before granting any such request it would be good practice for the head teacher to discuss the request with the parent and, as appropriate, with the child to ensure that their wishes are understood and to clarify the nature and purpose of the curriculum”.


Schools will want to document this process to ensure that a record is kept.

[Baroness Watkins of Tavistock (CB)]

My Lords, I warmly welcome this new legislation, particularly in relation to mental health. However, I am very concerned that independent schools will not have to conform. People who go to independent schools are just as likely to suffer from mental health problems as those in state-funded schools. We should review this situation, because the demands are far more likely to fall on the NHS than on the private sector, if we have a group of people in independent schools who have not had what we are declaring is sound health promotion. I ask the Minister to consider this issue seriously.

[Lord Agnew of Oulton]

Let me clarify the definition of an independent school: while academies are defined as independent schools, they fall within these regulations, so I can reassure the noble Baroness on that point. We are still in the stages of finalising the independent school guidance, and will address the issues raised.

Academies: Gender Pay Gap

Debate between Baroness Watkins of Tavistock and Lord Agnew of Oulton

Wednesday 25th April 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Agnew of Oulton]

My Lords, perhaps I should address the Inspiration Trust first, as I was indeed its founder. The chief executive took on 14 schools, seven of which were in special measures when we took them on. All are now out of special measures. Thousands of children are getting a better education than they were five years ago, and that is the essence of what autonomy of pay is all about. Where we have excess pay and there is poor performance, as I said to the noble Lord, Lord Storey, I am bearing down on that. No one is more messianic about the misallocation of taxpayers’ money, but we need to strike a balance between autonomy, where good teachers and good leaders are given the chance to develop and improve schools, and those who are not good are held to account.

[Baroness Watkins of Tavistock (CB)]

My Lords, how does the Minister think that some of the questions that we have heard so far address the gender pay gap? I believe that the gender pay gap in academy schools—I declare my interest, having been a chair of two and currently a trustee of one—is associated with the subjects that each gender teaches; in other words, people who teach physics are traditionally paid significantly more than those who teach arts. That shows that we undervalue some subjects in these schools.

[Lord Agnew of Oulton]

My Lords, unfortunately there is a market in different skills and professions. We know that we have a shortage of good physics teachers, and in order to bring physics teachers into the profession we need to offer additional incentives. However, looking more broadly across the gender pay gap, academies do not look as bad as people might suggest. For example, while in the top quartile men occupy 23% of the total workforce but have 32% of the jobs, the situation in the middle quartile is almost even, with men occupying 23% of the workforce and only 25% of them having upper-middle jobs. Therefore, I think that we are seeing great progress on this. It is also worth pointing out more generally that in 1997 the gender pay gap stood at 17.4%. Today, it has been reduced to 9.1%. I do not suggest that that is enough but it shows that we are making progress across our economy.