Birmingham Schools

Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston Excerpts

Tuesday 22nd July 2014 Commons Chamber

[Nicky Morgan]

There certainly is. Fundamental British values are defined as

“democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs”.

I have taken that definition from the Ofsted inspection handbook, but I suspect that it is in many other publications as well, and so it should be.

[Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)]

Because the problems in Birmingham were so long standing, I think that the solutions will not be straightforward. I was struck by the Secretary of State’s observation that Ofsted should be more sensitive to the signs of emerging problems, but, as problems emerge, who do governors and head teachers turn to? The difficulty in Birmingham was that they did not have anyone to turn to, and I am not sure that making Ofsted the organisation to turn to is the answer either. Will the Secretary of State flesh this out a little more? Where does she think the remedies for those emerging problems can be identified promptly, rather than at the late stage at which they would be identified by Ofsted?

[Nicky Morgan]

I agree with the hon. Lady. As I said earlier, I think that one of the tragedies was the fact that many very good head teachers, teaching at outstanding schools, were somehow removed from the system by the governors involved. They did not have anyone to turn to, and when they did turn to someone, they were not taken seriously.

The Government recently announced the creation of eight regional school commissioners. Below them will be elected head teacher boards, which will consist of outstanding head teachers. I suggest that they will be the best people for teachers to turn to in the first instance, but I shall be happy to consider the hon. Lady’s comments further.