Birmingham Schools

Debate between Henry Smith and Michael Gove

Monday 9th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

On specific concerns about specific institutions for under-16s that do not fall within my remit, I infer from that that the hon. Gentleman is thinking about independent schools or even, possibly, supplementary schools. As far as independent schools are concerned, we are consulting on toughening independent school standards, as I mentioned to my hon. Friend the Member for Chippenham (Duncan Hames). In respect of supplementary schools, sometimes known as madrassahs, we will shortly publish a code governing how madrassahs should operate. At the moment, the plan is that the code should be voluntary, but I am, of course, open to debate and contribution in the House on how to make it as effective as possible.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Yesterday I had the privilege of speaking at the opening of the new Langley Green mosque in my constituency, which was a multi-faith event. Does the Secretary of State agree that that illustrates the importance of inclusivity, which the vast majority of the Muslim community want in our education system, both in Birmingham and across the country?

[Michael Gove]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for the active role he plays in ensuring that all the faith communities in his constituency are effectively represented and can contribute to modern Britain.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Henry Smith and Michael Gove

Monday 6th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

A feasibility study is being undertaken, and building work should commence within 12 months. I should say that thanks to the reforms introduced in our free schools programme, schools are being built more cheaply and faster than ever before under this Government.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

As was previously mentioned, Discovery new school in my constituency had its funding withdrawn last month. Would my right hon. Friend consider a reapplication for continued funding from a reconstituted trust?

[Michael Gove]

We will look at any proposition to open a free school to ensure that it will provide welcome additional capacity. The decision that we took with respect to Discovery was difficult, but it emphasises one thing about this Government: we acknowledge that some schools will fail and some will fall into difficulties, but we have been faster and more determined than any previous Government in turning around or closing failing schools. The fact that things will go wrong in the education system is an inevitability, but having an Education Secretary who is prepared to act quickly and determinedly to deal with that is not an inevitability, it is the dividing line between the Government and the Labour party.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Henry Smith and Michael Gove

Monday 9th September 2013 Commons Chamber

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

The first 24 free schools to open have been inspected by Ofsted and three quarters were judged to be either good or outstanding. One school was judged to be inadequate and we expect it to take urgent action to bring about rapid improvement. It is being closely monitored by Ofsted and the Department.

[Henry Smith]

What advice has my right hon. Friend given to Ofsted on the assessment of free schools, such as the Discovery New School in my constituency, given that they do not always meet the rigid national criteria of other schools?

[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”.

Exam Reform

Debate between Henry Smith and Michael Gove

Monday 17th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

The hon. Lady is right. In January, in response to the Livingstone-Hope review, I announced that we would disapply the current ICT curriculum, which did not provide the sorts of skills that the hon. Lady mentions, and that we would develop new computer science specifications. That announcement was widely welcomed, and I have been working since then with Ian Livingstone, Microsoft and others to ensure that we can provide people with the coding skills with which they were not provided in the curriculum that we inherited.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

I seek reassurances from my right hon. Friend that students who have been diagnosed with dyslexia will be afforded the additional time and appropriate assistance needed during a more rigorous exam process.

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend makes a characteristically acute point on behalf of those students who labour under the disadvantage that comes from having special educational needs. We want to ensure that all students are capable of sitting the examination and that, if they have a particular disability, or live with a condition such as dyslexia, appropriate support is provided.

New Schools

Debate between Henry Smith and Michael Gove

Monday 10th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

In that order.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating Andrew Snowdon and his dedicated team in Crawley, who set up the new Discovery free school, which has been successfully open now for just over a month? Will he say how free schools and academies will help to increase admissions choice and capacity in my constituency, where that has been a problem in recent years?

[Michael Gove]

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend, who was a very distinguished leader of West Sussex county council. In Crawley we need additional capacity and people also need proper choice. The Discovery free school provides both.

Sure Start Children’s Centres

Debate between Henry Smith and Michael Gove

Wednesday 27th April 2011 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

First, we are entering the financial year in which cuts would have been made if we had stuck to the plan of the previous Chancellor of the Exchequer, the right hon. Member for Edinburgh South West (Mr Darling). However, I have heard not a single word from the hon. Lady or anyone else about where those cuts would have been made. Secondly, she and others—I understand that she is electioneering, which is fair enough—said that children’s centres would close, but in fact they have remained open.

Thirdly—I did not want to repeat this but the hon. Lady compels me to do so—the Audit Commission said that Hull was one of worst local authorities in the country when Labour ran it, and it is now the most improved local authority. I know that those three points are uncomfortable for her to deal with as she tramps the streets of the east riding attempting to drum up Labour votes, but they are undeniably true. That is why she is shaking her head—in anger at Labour’s record.

I specifically wanted to address some of the questions on the importance of outreach raised by the hon. Member for Walsall South (Valerie Vaz). The broader question is this: what do we want to achieve in the early years? A consistent theme in constructive questions from Opposition Back-Bench Members has been that the bricks and mortar are being preserved—that concession, for which I am grateful, is in stark contrast to the scaremongering that we have heard from Opposition Front Benchers—but what is happening in Sure Start children’s centres? Are we improving the quality of service that is provided to children and young people? That is a tough challenge.

One thing that we are doing—the right hon. Member for Leigh did not refer to this—is increasing resources to ensure that early education and child care are provided not just for three and four-year-olds, which the previous Government introduced. We have already extended the number of hours of free early education and child care from 12.5 to 15 hours for all three and four-year-olds—we implemented that and increased expenditure to do it—but we are also increasing the number of hours for the most disadvantaged two-year-olds. The plan under the previous Government was for 30,000 of the most disadvantaged two-year-olds to receive 15 free hours, but we are ensuring that 130,000 do so. That is an investment of up to an additional £300 million in the early years at a time when we have to make uncomfortable budget reductions elsewhere because of the desperate economic mess that we inherited. That is a sign of our determination to do best by the early years. It would only be fitting for the right hon. Gentleman to acknowledge that.

[Henry Smith]

The state of the country’s finances that was bequeathed to us by Labour was appalling. Is it not remarkable that the amount of interest that we are paying on Labour’s deficit is 39 times the Sure Start budget?

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend is absolutely correct that the interest we are paying on our debt is 39 times the Sure Start budget under the previous Government. If we really cared about our children’s future, would we have saddled them with a debt at that level? Clearly not. I am afraid, however, that the right hon. Gentleman and his colleagues in the last Labour Cabinet were happy to spend, spend, spend without any thought to whether future generations would be saddled with an enormous debt. It is to the great credit of the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister that they were prepared to ensure that a coalition Government took the responsible steps necessary to deal with the dire economic mess, and it is to the discredit, I am afraid, of the current shadow Cabinet that not a single constructive suggestion has come forward for how to deal with the deficit. In just a few days’ time, when people think about how to cast their vote, I hope that they will reflect on which parties are acting responsibly in dealing with the national crisis, and which parties prefer posturing, irresponsibility and the emptiness of eternal opposition.