David Nuttall
Main Page: David Nuttall (Conservative - Bury North)Department Debates - View all David Nuttall's debates with the Department for Education
(8 years, 10 months ago)
Commons ChamberI thank my hon. Friend for that. He rightly says that more than half of the free schools set up have been in the 30% most deprived areas of our country and that I am pragmatic, not dogmatic. We should all be focused on outcomes; this is all about making sure that every child fulfils their potential and gets the great education they need, as my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Worcestershire (Nigel Huddleston) said.
Can the Secretary of State explain why parents and pupils in my constituency should be denied the choice available to parents and pupils in places such as Trafford, Kent and Lincolnshire?
The reason is historical, in the sense that, as we know, there was a change and a number of grammar schools either closed or converted. I have made it very clear that this is not about setting up new grammar schools. I visited an excellent school in my hon. Friend’s constituency with him—I cannot recall its name off the top of my head, but he will remember it—and I want all pupils to have that same access to an excellent school that they have in the one he showed me.