Birmingham Schools

Bill Esterson Excerpts

Monday 9th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I absolutely agree. One strength of the United Kingdom is that it has provided a safe and warm home for people of every faith over hundreds of years. It is critical that we ensure that our traditions of liberty and tolerance are protected so that everyone, whatever their background, can feel that sense of pride in this nation and allegiance to other citizens, which all of us would want to celebrate as the best of British.

[Bill Esterson (Sefton Central) (Lab)]

Thousands of schools report directly to the Secretary of State with no formal opportunity for local oversight. Will he accept that what happened in Birmingham shows how important it is to have full local oversight? That is the only way to look after the interests of all children and young people in our schools up and down the country.

[Michael Gove]

I agree that local representatives, whether in local authorities or as local MPs, should play a part in helping to ensure that children are safe. It is also important to recognise that the local authority in this case failed in the past, and that when the specific allegations in the Trojan horse letter were shared with the Department for Education, it was rapid in seeking to deal with those problems and ensuring that appropriate inspection and action was taken.