School Funding Reform

Nadhim Zahawi Excerpts

Tuesday 19th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

We want to make sure that all schools are capable of bidding under the scheme, and we want to make sure that the gateway into such bidding is fair. I will come back to the hon. Gentleman to make sure that there are no anomalies that mean that any institution that educates children is excluded for any reason. I shall seek to work with him, given his experience as a distinguished former further education principal.

[Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)]

I welcome the Secretary of State’s announcement of more basic need funding. I urge him and the Government to focus on Stratford town, where there is a severe shortage of primary school places.

[Michael Gove]

There are many parts of the country that have serious problems with population growth, including Stratford-on-Avon, not least because it is such an attractive town that has enjoyed effective representation for many years.

Academies (Funding)

Nadhim Zahawi Excerpts

Thursday 16th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gibb]

This is an important part of raising standards in our school system; indeed, it is a crucial element. When 9% of boys leave primary school with a reading age of seven or under—they are basically unable to read—it cannot be said that applying staff in the Department to deliver the academies programme is a waste of taxpayers’ money. This is good money that is being diverted to a programme designed to raise standards in our least-performing schools, and I think that it is a good use of taxpayers’ money.

[Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that it is extraordinary for the Opposition to quibble about accounting errors? Is this not a smokescreen to distract attention from Tony Blair’s comments during the past two weeks supporting this Government’s policies on academies and primary schools?

St George’s Day and St David’s Day Bill

Nadhim Zahawi Excerpts

Friday 13th May 2011 Commons Chamber

[Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)]

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time.

We often hear from parliamentarians in this and the other place that radical and controversial ideas and legislation should be piloted before being introduced, so I am delighted to tell the House that 50% of my Bill was piloted this year. A quirk of the calendar meant that the nearest working day to St George’s day—23 April—was a bank holiday. Furthermore, thanks to the royal wedding and the Prime Minister’s generosity to the nation, we shall have nine, not eight, bank holidays this year.

Why should we make St George’s day an extra, permanent bank holiday? St George became the patron saint of England 661 years ago; his chivalry, values and story were seen by King Edward III as a better fit to the England he wanted to rule than the previous patron saint, Edward the Confessor. St George lived more than 1,000 years before that date. He was an immigrant, a Roman soldier born in Turkey, or possibly Kurdistan, perhaps with colouring a little closer to mine than most would imagine. We know him most famously as the dragon slayer, a man whose bravery freed a town from the tyranny of a vicious dragon. He was a man whose Christianity led him to be persecuted and eventually executed on the day we now celebrate in his name. He was adopted and taken into the hearts of the English people for the values he represented, not for who he was or where he was from.

Although celebrated before 1350, it was only after St George’s adoption as patron saint that he became ingrained in England’s national psyche. It is said that his popularity and the celebration of his name day increased substantially after Henry V rallied his troops by invoking St George before victory at the battle of Agincourt: “Cry God for England, Harry and St George” wrote the great bard William Shakespeare, in commemoration. It is perhaps fitting that the great bard himself was born on St George’s day in 1564, in my constituency of Stratford-on-Avon; he died on the same date 52 years later.

Today, St George represents part of our often under-celebrated national identity.

[Mr Greg Knight (East Yorkshire) (Con)]

When I first saw that my hon. Friend intended to present the Bill, I rejoiced, and I agree with everything he has said so far, but when I saw the contents of the Bill I became alarmed. Does he not agree that the Bill is actually quite divisive? In clause 1, he tells us that the Welsh, but not the English, can celebrate St David’s day and that the English, but not the Welsh, can celebrate St George’s day. Is it not a nationalist measure that is likely to increase friction between England and Wales, rather than a Unionist policy, as I want, because I support the Union? Is the Bill not likely to be very divisive if passed in its present form?

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his intervention, although I remind him that Scotland celebrates St Andrew’s day and Ireland celebrates St Patrick’s day. I do not believe that it is divisive in any way for England or Wales to uphold their saints. In fact, the more we can deal with such things positively, recognising their importance, the closer and stronger the Union becomes. When things are forced down people’s throats, they begin to become rejectionists. I am afraid that I therefore disagree with my right hon. Friend.

[Mr Christopher Chope (Christchurch) (Con)]

Something concerns me about the Bill. I am all in favour of celebrating St George’s day or St David’s day, but why does the Bill suggest that it is necessary to have a bank holiday to celebrate them on another day? Surely, if those days fall on a weekend, the celebrations can take place then, without the need the for anyone to give up work on the previous Friday or the subsequent Monday.

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. If I understand him correctly, he suggests avoiding bank holidays and celebrating at the weekends, but that is precisely my point: if we had a bank holiday, we could celebrate on whichever date the saint’s day falls, not necessarily on a Saturday or Sunday.

[Mr Chope]

My hon. Friend misunderstand my point. If St George’s day was to fall on a weekday, I could understand the case that he makes for having a bank holiday. If St George’s day falls on a weekend, I cannot understand the case for having a bank holiday on the previous Friday or the subsequent Monday.

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I hear what my hon. Friend says, but it is important to have a bank holiday, because what a bank holiday would do to the nation’s psyche is to deliver a permanent reminder of St George’s day, rather than people casually saying, “Well, if it falls on the weekend, it’s fine.” Otherwise we cannot do the thing that we most want to do, which is to recognise it permanently and specifically.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

I saw an example just last month—as my hon. Friend says, St George’s day coincided with a bank holiday this year—in my constituency, where the scouts and guides paraded to Queens square in the centre of the town and sonnets were read to celebrate the bard’s birthday on St George’s day. There was an extra sense of community spirit in celebrating St George, precisely because of the coincidence with the bank holiday. Certainly, enshrining such a bank holiday in law would aid that sense of community in both England and Wales.

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I thank my hon. Friend. He is exactly right; that is why I believe that the Bill should have a Second Reading.

[Ian Austin (Dudley North) (Lab)]

I support the proposal and have supported such campaigns in the past. I am keen that we do everything we can to celebrate St George’s day and what it means to be English and British, as well as to celebrate the Union. I can assure the hon. Gentleman that there is nothing casual about how we celebrate St George’s day already, despite the fact that there is no bank holiday. Just a couple of weeks ago, I proudly took part in the celebrations of St George’s day in Dudley—we have them every year—and there is a nothing casual about them, but the point about the date is an interesting one. There is already a series of bank holidays— Whit and Easter, and so on—at this time of the year. Of course, the Welsh celebrate St David’s day with an Eisteddfod festival. I am not an expert on the Welsh, but I think that that takes place during the summer—

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle)]

Order. We must have shorter interventions.

[Nadhim Zahawi]

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. The hon. Gentleman makes a valid point. I would just remind him that because of a quirk this year, we have had a number of bank holidays, and the nation found them positive. There were some economic benefits too. It may be preferable to have a bank holiday at a different time of the year, but for me the importance of St George’s day overrides that consideration.

[Mr David Nuttall (Bury North) (Con)]

I entirely agree that we should have a bank holiday on St George’s day. Could not the problem be solved by moving the existing bank holiday on May day to 23 April? If we need to create an extra bank holiday, one could be created on, say, Trafalgar day.

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. My Bill calls for an additional bank holiday, not the movement of an existing bank holiday. I hope those on the Treasury Bench are listening and taking note of such suggestions. I am pleased that my Bill is provoking debate and such good ideas.

To many, St George’s day is a celebration of all that is great about our nation. At the last election, every major party vowed to promote national integration and social cohesion. A national day celebrated by all, regardless of their background or heritage, would only help that process. As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education has said, we must all encourage our children to learn about our nation’s past, the bad and the good, and we must celebrate our shared history. What better way to do that than a national day, officially recognised by the Government?

There are those who say that St George’s day is a Christian holiday and not representative of our multicultural nation, and those who say it plays to the fringe right of this country. I disagree. St George, after all, is the only Christian saint to appear in the Koran and the only saint to have a mosque bearing his name. Even in the world of faith, he is not uniquely Christian. Yes, the fringe right may well have hijacked our symbol of patriotism, which should sadden all of us in the Chamber, but today in the House we can go a long way towards reclaiming it.

Let us remember what our Prime Minister said on St George’s day last year:

“Today we are celebrating St George’s Day, and we are reclaiming St George’s Day as an important day . . . for good reasons.

And one of the most important reasons is that we should be reclaiming the flag from the BNP and saying the flag belongs to the English people, all of them.”

He went on to say:

“People come to our country and want to feel part of our country.

They want to feel part of something and celebrating St George’s Day will help them feel that sense of belonging.”

As the son of immigrants to this country, a son of parents who fled persecution to find safe haven here, I could not have put it better myself.

It is important to lay another myth to rest—that an extra bank holiday would affect our productivity and be economically damaging. As a businessman and an entrepreneur, I have built up a strong and enduring business and I totally reject the idea that one extra bank holiday would have that effect. The working people of this country will get done the work that they need to get done, regardless of an extra day away from the office. The concept of work has changed. It is no longer about turning up at a particular time and leaving at another time. It is, instead, about outputs and what is done, not how long it is done for.

[Ian Austin]

On the point that the hon. Gentleman made about reclaiming the flag from the far right, this is a campaign that I have run ever since I became a Member of Parliament in 2005, calling on Dudley council and all other public bodies to fly the Union Jack, our national flag, which contains the flag of St George, on all public buildings all year round. Will he endorse that call? Does he agree that we should fly the Union Jack proudly, as a symbol of the values that make this the greatest country on earth, all year round and not just on the so-called special days of the year?

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I do agree with the hon. Gentleman. He may recall that during the World cup I urged the Prime Minister to fly the flag of St George over Downing street, although, sadly, it did not fly for very long, but his point is well made.

[Christopher Pincher (Tamworth) (Con)]

I commend my hon. Friend’s patriotic zeal, but if he wants a truly national public holiday, why do we not choose 21 October, Trafalgar day, as my hon. Friend the Member for Bury North (Mr Nuttall) suggested, given that it celebrates an event in which 4,000 Irishmen, 6,000 Scotsmen and 600 Welshmen, and even the odd American and French volunteers, fought on the British side, and a true-born Briton gave his life? Why do we not celebrate that day rather than the day of a mythical Greek who went around slaying mythical beasts?

[Nadhim Zahawi]

My hon. Friend will not be surprised if I disagree with him on that point.

This April obviously included an extra bank holiday, and retail sales increased by 5.2% as shoppers took advantage of the additional holiday.

[Dr Thérèse Coffey (Suffolk Coastal) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend have similar data for Wales on 1 March?

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I do not, but I am happy to source more data for Wales. However, I would not be surprised if something similar happened throughout the country, as when people have an additional day off, they use it to visit retail outlets.

The other beneficiaries would be our local pubs and great British breweries, especially the micro-breweries, which would undoubtedly attract many who wish to toast St George, and in Wales, St David, just as many already toast St Patrick and St Andrew. With the creation of special events building on those that already occur throughout the country, our leisure and tourism industries would also do very well.

[Rebecca Harris (Castle Point) (Con)]

There has already been some discussion about whether we want an extra day. I entirely support the Bill, but is my hon. Friend aware that the Government are already considering another bank holiday later in the summer to extend the British tourist season? That would not be as welcome as my Daylight Saving Bill in achieving that end, but perhaps we could consider both options.

[Nadhim Zahawi]

My hon. Friend is quite right; the Government are considering that. As I cast my eye towards the Treasury Bench, I see no better champion of this country’s patriotism than my hon. Friend the Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, who is a great patriot himself.

[Jonathan Edwards (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr) (PC)]

I apologise for missing the start of the hon. Gentleman’s excellent speech; I was mid-way through my lunch, but I am delighted to be here strongly to support the Bill. Is not the crux of the matter that it would address a grave injustice? The Scots can celebrate St Andrew, the Irish in the north of Ireland can celebrate St Patrick, but the English cannot celebrate St George, and, of course, in Wales we cannot celebrate St David. I want to put it on the record that the entire Welsh nation strongly supports the Bill.

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. He was a champion in helping me to draft the Bill and putting his name to it right at the outset. I am sure that his constituents and the people of Wales in general will recognise his commitment to putting this Bill on the statute book.

I spoke about the special events that could be developed by the leisure and tourism industries. In Stratford we already celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday on the weekend nearest the 23rd April. I am sure that the turnout would be all the larger and that local businesses would do all the better if the date were set in stone—the same every year—rather than having to be moved around.

We must also put the proposal in context. With only eight a year, the UK ranks 16th in Europe when it comes to bank holidays; France and Sweden have 11 a year and Germany has 12. Even the notoriously hard-working Americans have 13, although I accept that they take shorter summer holidays than we do in Europe. Are critics really saying that these extra bank holidays are pulling down those countries’ economies? Figures today from Germany and France demonstrate the growth in their economies, yet they have more bank holidays.

Finally, this policy has true cross-party support and, more important, huge public support. On St George’s day this year, I teamed up with Facebook’s Democracy UK page to ask users whether they supported the Bill. I am told that the response rate was 800% higher than usual, and I am delighted to say that an incredible 89% of respondents supported the Bill. My hon. Friend the Member for Erewash (Jessica Lee) has been presented with a petition, to be presented to the House, with the signatures of 3,674 constituents asking for a St George’s day bank holiday. Other Members have received e-mails from constituents asking that they support the Bill. In the world of research, where I hail from, YouGov found that 68% of people thought it appropriate for the country to have an extra bank holiday, with St George’s day being the most popular option.

Today we have an opportunity to do something great for this nation. It is an opportunity to tell the public that we are listening to what they want, and it is an opportunity to deliver real social and economic benefits. I hope that colleagues will join me in supporting the Bill in order to turn those opportunities into reality. I commend the Bill to the House.

[Dr Thérèse Coffey (Suffolk Coastal) (Con)]

I rise to make a short contribution to the debate. I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Nadhim Zahawi) for bringing the debate to the House. I am sure that the campaign he is spearheading is very popular, if not populist. However, I have some slight concerns about the international comparisons that have been made. The reality is that across most of continental Europe, bank holidays, which are normally associated with particular feast days or national events, are not transferred to the following Monday or previous Friday when they fall on the weekend. For example, if Christmas day falls on a Saturday, in Germany that is it and they do not get the following Monday off. That happens in most continental European countries, if not all. My hon. Friend alluded to America, and I appreciate that they tend to take shorter holidays in the summer, with 10 days' statutory entitlement being quite normal.

I applaud my hon. Friend’s patriotic stand in seeking to ensure that we have holidays that celebrate our country, but I would like him to consider the point made by the hon. Member for Dudley North (Ian Austin), which I agree with, that people do not require a holiday to be able to celebrate our wonderful country, as happens in our civic parade in Saxmundham and in similar events elsewhere in Suffolk Coastal.

In reference to the point my hon. Friend the Member for Castle Point (Rebecca Harris) has just made on how the Government are considering other bank holidays, I see that as a really important contribution to establishing why we need 1 May to be a bank holiday—I know that that may be controversial on the Opposition Benches. Why not choose a day of national celebration? It could be the Queen’s birthday or, as my hon. Friend the Member for Tamworth (Christopher Pincher) suggested, Trafalgar day.

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I applaud my hon. Friend for thinking through some of the issues surrounding the Bill, but does she agree that, whichever day we settle on, it should be one that the nation supports as the right day to celebrate?

[Dr Coffey]

That is a fair point, and there is no more popular day than a day celebrating one’s country, although, with reference to what was aid by my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Mr Chope), who is no longer in his place, I am conscious that we have always to support the United Kingdom. We have had the royal wedding day, and with the diamond jubilee next year I think that such moments of unity may be more appropriate dates on which to build.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Hayes]

In response to that, I should say that a nation that forgets its past is likely to neglect its future. As a conservative—with every kind of “C”—I fully understand that we are part of a continuum, and unless we learn from what we have done, we are unlikely to do well now or as we move forward, so it is right that we mark the occasion that the hon. Gentleman describes. It is important that we celebrate that victory and also pay proper respect to those who were part of it. I do not know what the official plans are, but given the hon. Gentleman’s intervention, the least I can do is ask the Ministers responsible to drop him a line. I think it would be wrong if that passed without any comment or note. Such occasions are worth marking in an appropriate and measured way.

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I stand in awe of my hon. Friend’s powers of oratory and sound and clear thinking. On the cost and the point that he has just made about a similar event next year—an extra bank holiday to celebrate, quite rightly, the Queen’s diamond jubilee—could we not in the intervening time assess the cost of an additional bank holiday? We would therefore be able to make a sound decision about whether my Bill’s proposal for a permanent bank holiday could be supported in future.

[Mr Hayes]

My hon. Friend is certainly right. Although we cost such proposals in a clear and empirical way—and notwithstanding my comments about utility—it is right that we should consider the matter in the round. We should assess the effects, both good and bad, on business, because clearly many businesses will benefit from an additional holiday. The tourist business, many of our resorts and parts of our leisure industry would benefit. However, there would be other costs to business, and it is right to listen to what business organisations say. Indeed, I will describe what they have said as we progress through this short but important debate.

The history of bank holidays will help us to draw some conclusions. Bank holidays are a relatively new phenomenon, of course. Before 1834, the Bank observed about 33 saints’ days and religious festivals as holidays, but in 1834 the number was reduced to just four: 1 May, 1 November or All Saints day, Good Friday and Christmas day. Frankly, in my view, that was rather a meagre ration. In 1871, the first legislation relating to bank holidays was passed when the banker and politician, Sir John Lubbock, introduced the Bank Holidays Act 1871, which specified the days as holidays.

I understand that Sir John Lubbock was an enthusiastic supporter of national and local cricket, and was firmly of the belief that bank employees should have the opportunity to participate in and attend matches when they were scheduled. Dates of bank holidays are therefore dates when cricket games were traditionally played between villages in the area where Sir John was raised. It is that rather partisan approach to bank holidays, built around Sir John’s personal tastes, which forms the basis, or at least the origins, of the matters we are speaking of today. Nevertheless, people were so glad to be given time off, whether it was to watch cricket or not, they called the first bank holidays St Lubbock’s days for a while. That did not perpetuate, but I hope that politicians of note might consider that, at least in popular if not official terms, special days could be named after them; one never knows, but if my hon. Friend’s Bill were to be successful, his name might, at least colloquially, be attached to the day’s holiday that people enjoyed. However, that rather self-interested motive of course has nothing to do with his bringing the Bill to our attention.

As is often the case, Scotland was treated separately because of its separate traditions, and so, for example, new year’s day was a holiday there whereas Boxing day was not. The 1871 Act did not specify Good Friday and Christmas day as bank holidays in England, Wales and Ireland because they were already recognised as common law holidays, and common observance had meant that they had become customary holidays since before records began.

Exactly a century after the 1871 Act, the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971, which currently regulates bank holidays in the UK, was passed. The majority of the current bank holidays were specified in the 1971 Act, but holidays for new year’s day in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and for May day were introduced later. From 1965, the date of the August bank holiday was changed to the end of the month. Curiously, there were a few years—for example, 1968—when the holiday fell in September, but this no longer occurs, presumably reflecting a change in the way of defining the relevant date. The Whitsun bank holiday, Whit Monday, was replaced by the late spring bank holiday, which was fixed as the last Monday in May in 1971.

Under the 1971 Act, certain holidays are written into legislation. Those which are not are proclaimed each year by the legal device of a royal proclamation. A royal proclamation is also used to move bank holidays that would otherwise fall on a weekend, so adding an additional one-off holiday, as was the case this year. In that way, holidays are not lost in years when they coincide with weekends. These deferred bank holidays are termed bank holidays in lieu of the typical anniversary date and in the legislation are known as “substitute days”. Although we have fewer public or bank holidays than many other European Union member states, they do not always have substitute days and so, in some sense, the comparison is misleading. That point has been made by a variety of speakers today, including the hon. Member for Newcastle upon Tyne Central.

To give those north of border a chance to have a longer celebration at new year, 2 January was made an additional bank holiday in Scotland by the 1971 Act—the rest of the country was given the chance to celebrate, less enthusiastically perhaps, by having new year’s day off instead. May day is the most recent of the eight bank holidays and is thought by some to be a controversial choice. It was introduced by the then Employment Secretary, Michael Foot, in 1978, just before he went on to lead the Labour party. At the time many opposed the move, saying that the May day holiday was essentially a communist idea because most countries behind the iron curtain enjoyed it, but it is now in the calendar and a fixture in bastions of communism such as the United States. I think we can assume that those charges did not bear as much weight as their advocates suggested.

The first bank holiday Act was a welcome innovation—

--- Later in debate ---

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I thank my hon. Friend the Minister for his response and the positive news that a consultation on a St George’s day bank holiday will definitely be forthcoming. I shall obviously push hard to ensure that the option of an entirely new bank holiday, rather than just moving May day, is included as an option in that consultation and I hope that my hon. Friend will meet me and supportive colleagues to discuss the matter in the near future.

In the light of that fact and of my hon. Friend’s response, I think it would be quite right to withdraw the Bill in order to give the Department time for consultation and an opportunity properly to collect public opinion as well as to give the Government time to respond to that opinion. I am quite sure that the English, Welsh and indeed entire British public will continue to show their strong support and that, in the near future, we will be able to deliver a St George’s day bank holiday for our nation. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion.

Motion, by leave, withdrawn.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nadhim Zahawi Excerpts

Thursday 31st March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call Mr Zahawi, on the subject of the north-east from the vantage point of Stratford-on-Avon.

[Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)]

Like the North Eastern local enterprise partnership, Coventry and Warwickshire local enterprise partnership would very much like to talk to the Minister about our proposal for an enterprise zone—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. That was a nice try but the hon. Gentleman’s question must specifically relate to the north-east, about which I thought the hon. Gentleman probably had extensive knowledge.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Davey]

The hon. Gentleman will know that the OFT is an independent body, and I am sure that he would not want the Government to breach the law by intervening in that way. However, I am sure that the OFT has heard his question.

[Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)]

The excellent Coventry and Warwickshire local enterprise partnership is considering imaginative ways to make an offer for the next tranche of enterprise zones. Will the Minister meet it and me to discuss its imaginative ideas?

[Mr Prisk]

Mr Speaker, I think we have both now got our maps out and are sorting out the geography. However, the important thing is that the LEPs will be able to talk to the Government. The policy is led by the Department for Communities and Local Government, but we are working with it, and I am sure that the Government would be happy to hear from my hon. Friend.

Post-16 Education Funding

Nadhim Zahawi Excerpts

Monday 28th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady, who worked very hard before she came into this House to shine a light on the difficult circumstances faced by children growing up in poverty. That is why we are spending £2.5 billion more over the lifetime of this Parliament on the education of the very poorest five to 16-year-olds. Of course the amount of money available for this support fund will mean that some students who currently receive cash will no longer do so, but it will also mean that more money is being spent on the education of the very poorest 16, 17 and 18-year-olds, as well as there being more money for their support. I believe that the progressive approach we are taking to education funding will mean that those she has spent her political career fighting for will benefit more from this Government than from the previous one.

[Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)]

Vocational learning will be crucial for us in rebalancing the economy. Can my right hon. Friend confirm that the all-age careers service will radically change the quality of advice on vocational learning?

[Michael Gove]

I can confirm that because, thanks to the brilliant work carried out by the Business Secretary and the Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning, we have an exciting new approach to providing support and advice for those in careers. In addition, thanks to the changes that we have made to accountability measures, through such things as the English baccalaureate and the Wolf review, we will ensure that students who in the past were not able to progress on to college and on to worthwhile jobs at last have the chance to succeed.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nadhim Zahawi Excerpts

Monday 21st March 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning (Mr John Hayes)]

In short, I would be happy to meet the hon. Gentleman and his representatives. He knows, as does the whole House, that I am a champion for sixth form colleges and FE colleges, and I would be happy to make that clearer when we meet.

[Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)]

T9. Has my right hon. Friend read the OECD’s latest report on the state of the UK education system? It says that “educational performance remains static, uneven and strongly related to parents’ income and background”and:“Despite sharply rising school spending per pupil during the last ten years, improvements in schooling outcomes have been limited in the United Kingdom.”Is that not a sad indictment of the past 13 years of Labour?

[Michael Gove]

I read the OECD report with a mounting sense of sadness. It made the case forcefully by the deployment of facts and argument in a remorseless fashion that under the previous Government, for all the welcome additional spending on schools, standards had not risen to anything like the expected level. It was also striking that that report endorsed the case for the coalition’s commitment to spending more on the disadvantaged, the coalition’s commitment to creating free schools, and the coalition’s commitment to overhauling the league table system. For a respected international institution to give such a resounding thumbs-down to the previous Government and thumbs-up to the coalition Government is—

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (Performance)

Nadhim Zahawi Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

I will proceed.

I referred to the core problem of the Budget. One difficulty we have had in debating this subject with Opposition Members is the state of denial not just about the big problem, but more specifically about the Business, Innovation and Skills budget. Our preoccupation has been to deliver for the coalition our contribution to deficit reduction. That has been our major task over the last year, and we have done that. There was a 25% cut over the spending period in the BIS spend. What makes engagement in debate with Opposition Members difficult is the fact that we know—because of the ring-fencing decisions made by the last Government and because of the Institute for Fiscal Studies analysis—that they also planned to cut the BIS budget by 25%. Whenever we hear these appeals to have more money for industrial support, more money for the regions, more money for universities and science and more money for further education, we ask this simple question: where would the money have come from in the midst of those 25% cuts? Opposition Members have a basic problem, although I am not quite sure what it is. It is either an acute problem of amnesia or one of fundamental economic illiteracy.

[Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that this goes beyond mere deficit denial, as it is political opportunism of the worst kind? It is also irresponsible, because talking down our manufacturing base and all the hard-working businessmen and women in our country does no good in helping us get out of the mess that Labour left behind.

[Vince Cable]

I will come on to manufacturing in a moment. We are trying to recover from a position in which there was active de-industrialisation for the best part of a decade—[Interruption.] I shall come to the figures shortly.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lorely Burt]

In a moment.

There is also the national insurance contributions holiday for the first 10 employees in the first year of business for new companies outside London and the south-east. The regional growth fund has been much maligned today, but I think it will play an important part in stimulating growth.

[Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)]

When providing help to business, one of the most important things is to check that it is administered correctly. One need only look at the Export Credits Guarantee Department to see the symptoms of the previous Government’s failures: 90% has gone on aerospace help, which is wonderful for that industry, but the 10% for other industries has dropped by 40%. Such funding is obviously not fit for purpose, compared with other countries where it is going up. That is a perfect example of the previous Government’s failures of administration.

[Lorely Burt]

I totally agree with the hon. Gentleman. The big companies that shout the loudest often benefit disproportionately from Government funding. On that point, I note that the Government have an aspiration to procure 25% from small businesses. With regard to exports, it is important that small businesses receive their fair dues. I also welcome the technology and innovation centres, which will bridge the gap between good ideas and their implementation and the readiness to bring them to market.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Binley]

My hon. Friend is right. There were 236,000 cases last year—a record figure. That suggests that something needs to be done. This Government are doing something about it and I am grateful.

The cost burden of regulation on business increased by £10 billion a year under the previous Government. That money could have been used for investment, but instead it had to be spent on complying with regulation after regulation, which the previous Government had gold-plated.

[Nadhim Zahawi]

My hon. Friend has a long and respected record in business. Does he agree that there is a lack of recognition that regulation is one of the major factors that holds back small business, along with access to finance? The lack of the word “regulation” in the motion demonstrates the lack of understanding among those on the Opposition Benches of the pain of small business.

Education Maintenance Allowance

Nadhim Zahawi Excerpts

Wednesday 19th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)]

I echo the words of my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford East (Mr Ward) and thank the Opposition for this debate on EMA. Historically, they have been vexed about how to pay for the scheme.

If we are to have a credible debate today—[Interruption.] I apologise, Madam Deputy Speaker. My tie to support the campaign against bowel cancer was making that noise—it is a musical tie that the campaign was giving out.

[Madam Deputy Speaker]

Order. Perhaps next time the hon. Gentleman will be more selective in the ties that he wears in the Chamber, and then we will not need to have the musical accompaniment.

[Nadhim Zahawi]

Your words of wisdom are taken on board, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I apologise to you.

If we are to have a credible debate, we must look at this issue in the round, and that means that we must look at the economic legacy we inherited from the previous Government. Our structural deficit is one of the largest in the world, and it is simply unsustainable. We are having to borrow £500 million a day. Every time we go to sleep and wake up in the morning, we rack up another £500 million. The debt interest—the money that we have to pay in interest to foreign banks and foreign countries to build their own hospitals and schools with—is £120 million a day, every single day.

I come from a rural constituency with some areas that have no post-16 provision, so I am all too aware of the additional costs that students will have to bear. Shipston high school in my constituency has lobbied me very hard on this subject, as has Martin Penny, the head of Stratford-upon-Avon college—a fantastic institution in my constituency with 5,000 students and 450 staff. I addressed the students during the week of the tuition fees debate, and after we had cut through the misinformation they understood why we were having to make these decisions.

[Charlotte Leslie (Bristol North West) (Con)]

I apologise for missing the beginning of this very important debate.

I thank my hon. Friend for setting out the economic realities. Does he agree that when there is a dire economic reality, the correct moral thing to do is not to bury our heads in the sand and carry on spending unsustainably, which will end up damaging the very people we want to protect because in the long term it will do the country no good, but to be really rigorous and focused in ensuring that the resources that we do have are absolutely focused on the most vulnerable?

[Nadhim Zahawi]

That is exactly right. In fact, the right hon. Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (Mr Brown), when he was Prime Minister, hoped to pay for EMA by reducing the debt on the young people of this country.

Transport is an important issue that was raised with me by Martin Penny from Stratford-upon-Avon college and has been aired by Members on both sides of the House. As my hon. Friend the Member for Nuneaton (Mr Jones) said, it is an issue not only for rural constituencies but for urban areas too. I am pleased that the Secretary of State has made some encouraging remarks about opening up the discretionary fund to allow such colleges as Stratford-upon-Avon college—which are best placed to judge because they are closest to students and their families—to target some of that money on those who most need it.

In the spending review, the Government committed to refocus the support, because all the data show that the £560 million spent on EMA every year was not well targeted. I am pleased that the Secretary of State confirmed in his opening remarks that the Government will target the money on those with special educational needs. I was a governor of a special educational needs school that was shut down by the previous Government and I know how important it would be to those families if the money was targeted in that way.

I ran a research company for 11 years, and I am passionate about evidence-based strategy. The National Foundation for Educational Research report commissioned by the previous Government, which we have heard about today, found that almost 90% of young people who receive EMA would have completed their education or training course if they had not received it. In an interview, the shadow Secretary of State admitted that some of the money went towards students buying drinks and partying. He therefore probably agrees with me that the money is not well targeted. I see him leaning forward, and am happy for him to intervene.

[Andy Burnham]

I will intervene, because I did not say that, and I would be grateful if the hon. Gentleman corrected the record. I said that young people should be able to play a full part in the life of the college. If that means trips to musical events, the theatre or political events in the evening, they should be supported to play a full part in them. I would be grateful if he was a bit more careful with his language in future.

--- Later in debate ---

[Nadhim Zahawi]

I thank the shadow Secretary of State, but let me quote him:

“Yes, they may spend some of it on food and even the occasional time out with friends… But part of being in a college means taking part in the whole life of a college, and why should we say to young people from the least well-off backgrounds, well, ‘you can’t have those things’.”

That settles that one. We also know that almost 50% of students are in receipt of EMA. That fact demonstrates that it is not well targeted.

In my old profession, when the research has been done and there is evidence for a strategy, if one does not like the findings, one should not throw them away and go into denial about them. Several Opposition Members have trashed the research because it does not suit their argument. As well as saying that he hoped to pay for the EMA through a reduction in debt, the right hon. Member for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath said that he would pay for it by scrapping post-16 child benefit. I wonder whether that will become Opposition policy.

The Government have demonstrated their commitment, as we heard clearly today, to invest in the young people of our country. They are investing £7 billion in a fairness premium designed to support young people of all ages. The introduction of the all-age careers service will improve the information, advice and guidance that the National Foundation for Educational Research said needed to be improved. The Government are continuing to invest in providing apprenticeships, and have committed to improving the apprenticeship package so that level 3—the A-level equivalent—becomes the level to achieve.

In government, tough choices have to be made. We on the Government Benches have made those tough choices. We have chosen to safeguard spending on the national health service and education. I urge the Opposition, if they want to have a constructive debate, also to safeguard the national health service and education.

[Mr George Howarth (Knowsley) (Lab)]

Unfortunately, I do not think I will be able to compete with the hon. Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Nadhim Zahawi) as regards our ties, but I rather hope that I will surpass the arguments that he made.

Before I get into the meat of my argument, I wish to express a debt of gratitude to Frank Gill, the principal of Knowsley community college, of which I am a governor; to the director of children’s services in Knowsley, Damian Allen; and to Jette Burford, the principal of Hugh Baird college in Bootle, which some students from my constituency attend.

The points that I wish to make have been shaped by a number of conversations and briefings that I have had, but also by a very interesting meeting that I had last year with some students at All Saints centre for learning in Kirkby, in my constituency. They talked about their hopes and aspirations and said that EMA had been a help to them and would continue to be. They also expressed their concern about the reduction in spending on Aimhigher, which had inspired some of them to go to university when they had not previously thought it possible.

The Secretary of State seems to have three arguments about EMA and his replacement for it, the pupil premium. The first is that EMA does not have any real impact on participation and on young people staying on in education. Unfortunately, the hon. Member for Stratford-on-Avon cited a piece of research that does not quite indicate what he thinks it does. It was based on a flawed sample, as several of my hon. Friends have said.

[Nadhim Zahawi]

Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

[Mr Howarth]

I will not. The hon. Gentleman has had his opportunity.

[Nadhim Zahawi]

You have mentioned me twice.

[Mr Howarth]

Okay then.

[Nadhim Zahawi]

The right hon. Gentleman claims that the sample was flawed. Can he explain why he believes that? It was a representative sample of at least 2,000 interviews, taken in a scientific way.

[Mr Howarth]

I do not know how long the hon. Gentleman has been in the Chamber, but several of my hon. Friends have gone through the flaws in the report’s methodology in great detail.

[Nadhim Zahawi]

What are they?

[Mr Howarth]

I am not going to repeat them. I do not want to make a speech about that particular issue, but I raised it because the hon. Gentleman used flawed research to support his argument.

On participation, I know that 80% of those attending Knowsley community college who are in the relevant age range receive EMA, and the figure is 84% for Hugh Baird college. Neither the hon. Gentleman nor the Secretary of State can gainsay that. Since 1997, the number of young people from Knowsley who have gone on to higher education has gone up by 187%. EMA was not in place for all that period, of course, but those figures indicate to me that it was part of the package of things that enabled people to stay on into further and higher education.

The Secretary of State’s second argument is that there are better ways to reward young people and improve attainment. When he first made his announcement about EMA, I was prepared to accept that that might be the case. I have waited patiently since October for him to explain how it might be, but he has failed to do so, including today. I sat and listened carefully to his speech, but as several hon. Members have said, he chose to make a speech that was more about economic policy than about EMA. Other ways of supporting young people might work better, but unfortunately we have not been told what his case is and nobody has yet demonstrated it.

My final point is that some on the Government Benches seem to believe the argument about the 90% dead-weight, but there is something wrong about saying to young people in less favourable circumstances, “You don’t need any support.” Actually, it is a real struggle for families on low incomes. It is a struggle for young people not only to get to college—there has been a lot of discussion of transport costs—but to live anything like a decent life without some support. I find it deeply offensive when people use phrases such as “dead-weight” when we are talking about people who are struggling to realise their potential and to gain academic qualifications and, in many cases, to go on into higher education when that would have been inconceivable a generation ago.

The hon. Member for Blackpool North and Cleveleys (Paul Maynard) said that he regretted the tone of this debate, but I regret how the needs of those young people seem to have been jettisoned without any real thought or debate whatever. The Secretary of State had to prove that the changes would work, but he did not do so, and he should now withdraw his proposals.

--- Later in debate ---

[Gavin Barwell (Croydon Central) (Con)]

The shadow Secretary of State was right to open the debate with his characteristic passion. I come from a borough that is diverse in every sense and in which there is a shocking gap between the educational qualifications and life chances of the haves and have-nots. I cannot think of an issue that is more worthy of being passionate about than widening access to education and closing that attainment gap.

The coalition Government have done good things in that regard already, such as introducing the pupil premium and school reform. The English baccalaureate will ensure that children from less well-off backgrounds will study academic qualifications that they will need in the workplaces of tomorrow, and the Government have also taken action on apprenticeships and investment in the early years. However, given the economic situation that we are in, not every budget can be protected, so the Government had to take a painful decision on education maintenance allowance. It was right in principle to examine that budget, but I have several concerns about the detail.

EMA is an archetypal Labour policy. Its aim, objective and principle were absolutely right. It is laudable to attempt to widen participation in education, so the previous Government should be congratulated on trying to do that. However, the execution of their policy was expensive and extremely centralist. People have talked about the impact on the poorest in our society, but EMA is paid to people in households earning up to £31,000, which is significantly above average national earnings.

There is some debate about the exact number of people who would not have gone on to further education if they had not received EMA. We have heard about the two reports that have been produced and there is a dispute about the figures. However, everyone to whom I have spoken accepts that some money is going to young people who would have stayed on in further education anyway.

[Nadhim Zahawi]

Does my hon. Friend agree that if the targeting were somehow linked to those who are closest to the students, the system would be much better?

[Gavin Barwell]

My hon. Friend neatly brings me to my next point, which is about centralism. I tried to make this point to the shadow Secretary of State. One of the points that has been effectively raised in speeches made by hon. Members on both sides of the House is the differences among students. Young people who have a caring responsibility, a special need or a long distance to travel to college, or who are young parents, have much greater needs than some other students, so a national scheme that makes a flat-rate payment to everyone who comes from a household that earns a certain amount is not necessarily the best way to address the problem.

Education Policy

Nadhim Zahawi Excerpts

Monday 18th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

It is our intention to ensure that Sure Start is a universal service. That is why we are investing additional money in securing 4,200 health visitors in order better to guarantee that the very poorest benefit from those services. One point that has been borne in on me is the fact that in the early years it is critical that children from poorer homes mix socially and learn the skills that come from being in a genuinely socially comprehensive environment, so we will ensure that Sure Start remains a universal service.

[Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)]

This announcement will come as welcome news to my constituents in Stratford-on-Avon, where we suffer from invisible rural poverty. I ask my right hon. Friend specifically what does the announcement mean for the current two-year-old pilot and will it continue until the expansion to all disadvantaged two-year-olds is introduced?

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend makes a good point and I know that he is absolutely committed to ensuring that pre-school education is delivered effectively to the very poorest. We will ensure that we move from the 20,000 children who currently benefit to around 100,000 as quickly as possible.

Education Funding

Nadhim Zahawi Excerpts

Monday 5th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

Again, I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her question. It would undoubtedly be helpful if she could tell me whether her local authority is in financial close or in close of dialogue. My understanding is that Walsall has not reached financial close, but I believe that her constituency benefits from an academy project.

[Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon) (Con)]

The court of public opinion will judge the shambolic way in which the BSF programme was administered by the previous Government. Does my right hon. Friend have an estimate of the number of teaching hours that were wasted by teachers and schools devoting time to the BSF programme?

[Michael Gove]

We know that thousands of teaching hours were devoted to it. In many cases, deputy and assistant head teachers had to take time out of school—often for as many as two or three days a week—in order to take part in the procurement process. Time that could have been spent on teaching and learning was instead spent entangled in bureaucracy.