Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Caroline Lucas and Michael Gove

Monday 10th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend is right. The statistics bear him out. It is important, of course, to acknowledge that across the board our schools are improving—local authority schools, academies and free schools—but it is critically important to recognise at the same time that, particularly for disadvantaged children, academies are seeing fantastic results.

[Caroline Lucas (Brighton, Pavilion) (Green)]

Does the right hon. Gentleman agree with me and the many Brighton teachers who have been in touch with me that all sorts of things affect performance in our schools, including pupil-teacher ratios, selection and financial resources? Following his recent announcement that state schools should be more like private schools, if he will not or cannot even up the resources, will he at least summon up the academic rigour to compare like with like? There is plenty of evidence that state schools outperform private schools in many cases.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Caroline Lucas and Michael Gove

Monday 6th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

There were just over 200 academies in May 2010—203, I believe—and there are now more than 3,000. As Ofsted reported in its most recent annual report, the biggest increase in the quality of good and outstanding lessons ever in the history of the inspectorate has occurred under this Government.

[Caroline Lucas (Brighton, Pavilion) (Green)]

2. How many applications his Department has received to establish free schools; and what proportion of such applications have been successful.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Michael Gove)]

The Government received 1,103 applications to establish free schools in the first four rounds of applications and 27% of those applications were approved.

[Caroline Lucas]

I am grateful to the Secretary of State for his response. Why has his Department been using all its legal might to prevent the release of free school applications and decision letters, even after the Information Commissioner ruled that there was a strong public information argument in favour of releasing them? Surely if public money is being used, in the public interest there has to be an absolute right for that information to be put in the public domain.