Term-time Leave

Debate between Dan Poulter and John Pugh

Monday 26th October 2015 Westminster Hall

[Dr Daniel Poulter (Central Suffolk and North Ipswich) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr McCabe. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for St Austell and Newquay (Steve Double) for securing this debate and for raising the issue of the petition. I commend my other hon. Friends and hon. Members who have spoken for their thoughtful contributions. There have been a number of contributions, and the issues and arguments appear to me to be as follows.

Several points were made about the guidance given to headteachers on how to implement the regulations. Hon. Members discussed the potential impact on tourism and the seasonality of work—in Cornwall, in particular, but also in other areas of the country with a tourist trade. Hon. Members mentioned the potential impact on public sector workers who may have their leave cancelled during those periods. Although that is certainly true during the summer holiday period, other holiday periods are available to public sector workers—I speak from experience. Hon. Members also spoke about the issue of affordability and the effect that inflated holiday prices during school holidays can have on certain families.

I want to talk about the educational case that underpins the current regulations. Although there are clearly concerns about the regulations, I will talk about why they are in place and outline some of the issues at stake. Fundamentally, they are about doing the right thing by children. There is clear evidence that absence from school is detrimental to school performance and leads to lower levels of attainment. Absence data from the academic year 2012-13 and previous years indicate that pupils with no absence from school during key stage 4 were nearly three times as likely to achieve five A*, A, B or C grades at GCSE. Even a small amount of absence from school can reduce performance. Indeed, 44% of children with no absence at key stage 4 achieve the English baccalaureate, which is the gold standard package of GCSE qualifications including English, maths and science. That figure falls by a quarter to 31.7% for pupils who miss up to 14 days of lessons over the two years that they study for their GCSEs—that equates to about one week per year.

There is therefore clear and well-established evidence that missing lessons equals lower achievement in schools, and that is why the policy is in place. The policy is well intended and is there to ensure that all children have a good education.

[John Pugh]

The hon. Gentleman is talking about absence generically, but the evidence clearly includes two sorts of absence: the occasional absence, which people talk about and has extenuating circumstances, such as holiday absence; and systematic, regular absence. Do the data show any difference? The data will show clearly—I am only guessing; he may correct me if I am wrong—that children who are underperforming because of absence are not those who are taking the odd week off in exceptional circumstances because their parents have asked, but children who are repeatedly absent for one reason or another throughout the term and the year.

[Dr Poulter]

The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. The data are generic—we know that there is a link between absence rates for all reasons and lower attainment at school. Of course we would expect pupils who are missing school regularly and not turning up for reasons such as truancy to do less well at school than those who attend regularly—there is other evidence to support that. That is the hon. Gentleman’s point, but my understanding of the data is that, generally, higher rates of absence equal lower levels of attainment.

When putting regulations in place—perfect ones are difficult, but they are there for the right reasons—we need to look at something the Minister alluded to in an intervention on my hon. Friend the Member for St Austell and Newquay. Were we to facilitate routinely two weeks of holiday for pupils during term time, over a pupil’s school career that would represent about 24 weeks of extra holiday in school time—almost half a year of extra holiday and of lost learning time being facilitated by law. That is not something that anyone ought to want to facilitate in Government regulation. Such a situation would clearly be detrimental to a child’s development, future life chances and chances at school.

Regulations are difficult to make, but there is a reason why they are in place. We have failed to discuss the level of discretion available to headteachers at the moment and I will come on to that. It is right to have given discretion to headteachers, who may look at the circumstances involved, but there might be an issue to do with refreshing some of the guidance. Perhaps the Minister will talk about that in his response.

The background to the legislation is that parents are not now able directly to authorise absence themselves; they must do so with facilitation from the headteacher. The initial framework of the regulations was put in place by the then Labour Government in 2006 and changed by the coalition Government in 2013. Under the new regulations, headteachers may not grant leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances.

The matter is therefore one for the headteacher. A fine for an unauthorised absence is possible, but discretion has been given to the headteacher to look at the circumstances, and they have done so in a number of cases. Clearly, in our increasingly multicultural country—something we celebrate—different religions have certain celebrations at different times of the year. Certain schools and headteachers recognise that and use those exceptional circumstances of religious celebration to exercise their discretion.

We need to look at what we want in regulation—a duty that is in effect permissive, allowing such absence, or one that allows the headteacher to look at the circumstances, making it the rule that leave should not be given without exceptional circumstances. A permissive duty would in effect allow an extra half year of holiday and missed school in pupils’ lives, so the legislation has probably come down on the right side of the argument: in support of the headteacher’s having discretion.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dan Poulter and John Pugh

Tuesday 16th April 2013 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health (Dr Daniel Poulter)]

That is an absolutely extraordinary question given that it was the previous Labour Government’s decision to contract out out-of-hours services in the first place, which has led to the massive pressure on so many A and Es. The regulations in place for many of these arrangements were laid by the previous Labour Government.

[John Pugh (Southport) (LD)]

T9. What is the Department doing to deal with the difficulties presented by poor data sharing between health and social care agencies and the threat to integration that that presents?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dan Poulter and John Pugh

Tuesday 15th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[John Pugh (Southport) (LD)]

Can the Minister update the House on the roll-out of the 111 service and its effect on A and E admissions and 999 calls?

[Dr Poulter]

As my hon. Friend knows, we are developing the 111 service further to improve triage and take pressure off accident and emergency services when that is appropriate. I am sure all Members agree that when patients do not need to go to A and E, it is best for them to be treated in the community or properly triaged.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dan Poulter and John Pugh

Tuesday 27th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Dr Poulter]

It is worth reminding the hon. Gentleman that, as I outlined in my first answer, it was the previous Government who gave foundation trusts additional freedoms to set their own pay terms and conditions outside national frameworks. This Government are working closely with NHS employers and the trade unions to make sure that we maintain “Agenda for Change” and national pay frameworks as fit for purpose, and we are very pleased with that. If the hon. Gentleman wants to ask why there is regional pay and freedoms for employers to set regional pay, he should ask those on his own Front Bench, some of whom were Ministers when these freedoms were set.

[John Pugh (Southport) (LD)]

Does the Minister recognise that the recent progress in national negotiations over greater flexibility is very encouraging and makes the efforts of the south west consortium and others both disruptive and pointless, in context?

[Dr Poulter]

We have had encouraging results from national pay negotiations at the recent NHS Staff Council, and unions are to consult their members on those results. There is general agreement that we need to maintain national pay frameworks, provided they are fit for purpose. I hope my hon. Friend will find that the south west pay consortium, which has been somewhat heavy-handed in the way that it has conducted its affairs, also sees the benefit of maintaining national pay frameworks. That is why we would like to see a quick resolution of the matter at a national level.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Dan Poulter and John Pugh

Tuesday 23rd October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Dr Poulter]

I remind the hon. Lady that it was the previous Government who set up the current national pay framework in 2004, and that framework has been amended 20 times to support employers over that period. The previous Government gave foundation trusts the freedom to amend those pay terms and conditions. Regional pay does exist in the NHS. On the basis of what she has said, does the hon. Lady wish to remove the London weighting for those workers who live in London? I am sure she would not want to do that because we recognise that it is more expensive to live in certain parts of the country, and workers should be rewarded for that.

[John Pugh (Southport) (LD)]

The Lib Dem conference rejected regional pay entirely, but not the London weighting, and 25 honourable colleagues endorsed a submission to the pay review body. With that in mind, is it not odd that the south-west consortium remains part of national pay bargaining?

[Dr Poulter]

My hon. Friend makes a good point and it is important that we support national pay bargaining where we can. There is an agreement in principle, endorsed by NHS employers, that national pay bargaining is supported throughout the NHS. It was supported throughout the NHS under the previous Government, who set up the “Agenda for Change”, and during their tenure, that agenda remained fit for purpose. Twenty changes during the previous Government’s tenure benefited employees in the NHS, and rightly so. The current Government believe that we must continue to ensure that the system is fit for purpose.