Education Funding

Derek Thomas Excerpts

Tuesday 13th November 2018 Commons Chamber

[Derek Thomas (St Ives) (Con)]

Everyone will be aware that it is Parliament Week. Schools up and down the country, in west Cornwall and on Scilly are doing an incredible amount of work to raise awareness about what we do here, our amazing democratic system and politics throughout the country. I commend my local schools on their work to raise awareness about such vital issues.

I also commend the schools in my constituency, particularly St Mary’s Church of England School, on how they have engaged in the world war one commemorations. They have done amazing work. In Penzance, we could not get full access to the cenotaph, so instead the school children made a poppy for every person who lost their life in the first world war and named each poppy in remembrance of that individual. Thousands of people are aware of the commemoration and are visiting Penzance this week.

Every week, I make time to visit a local school, where I find great teachers, committed staff and happy and keen pupils. In fact, some 89% of primary schools throughout Cornwall are good or outstanding, and 83% of secondary schools are good or outstanding. I recognise the pressures on funding and know that they are accepted in the Department for Education. As we look towards next year’s strategic spending review, it is imperative that we really understand how funding is distributed so that we can teach our children and give them the best start in life.

Since I was elected in 2015, I have met various Education Secretaries and Ministers on a number of occasions, and I have always found them to be helpful and that they listen. In fact, I was able to bring teachers all the way from my constituency in west Cornwall to meet a Minister so that they could talk through some of the challenges that they face. That opportunity was well received and appreciated. The Minister has visited my constituency several times, and he has listened, engaged, and even opened a new building.

The national funding formula is welcome in west Cornwall and throughout Cornwall, because we have traditionally had low funding for schools. It is right that the money is fairly distributed throughout the country for every child. We look forward to the formula being fully delivered so that our children receive a fair share of the money available for schools. Even today, a large amount—millions of pounds—is being spent on improving buildings throughout my constituency and building a new school.

I listened carefully to the shadow Secretary of State for Education, but I did not hear her set out any ideas about how we could improve the present situation as it is today, so I thought I could help. There are practical measures that the Government could take today to help schools. This is about understanding not only what money schools have, but how they can use their money better and how we can help them with it.

For example, a multi-academy trust in my constituency started 18 months ago and has 19 schools. It has to show in its end-of-year accounts the value of its buildings, even though it is not allowed to realise its assets—the trust is not allowed to do anything with the buildings, which do not belong to it. Were we to look at its accounts, we would think that it was extremely well off, but in fact the money available to spend is a much smaller amount. Will the Minister or the Secretary of State look into how schools’ accounts are presented so that they will truly represent the money available to schools and no one will be confused about the pressures they are under?

[James Cartlidge]

My hon. Friend is being helpful with his ideas, so perhaps I might pitch one. When I meet firms in my constituency, they tell me that they are terribly worried about skills shortages. Schools have an even more critical role to play in helping local firms and liaising with them to see what they can do to encourage children’s ambitions to work in those local companies.

[Derek Thomas]

I shall address that issue when I talk about the apprenticeship levy, but my hon. Friend is absolutely right. There are real pressures on skills in my rural area, so it is imperative that we work with schools to help teachers to understand the jobs and skills that are available and how we can keep people in the area, because it is extremely important in rural areas that we do not have what we describe as brain drain.

I am looking forward to the strategic spending review, because there is no doubt in my mind that more money is needed. However, as I said, there are things that can help schools today. For example, the apprenticeship levy has been mentioned. My local schools are contributing to it, but find it difficult to access apprenticeships, because although they have apprentices, when they go to college the schools have to cover the work that the apprentices do, and therefore have to spend even more money on supporting people. My local schools’ request to me was that their contribution to the levy be scrapped, which would help their budget.

Another idea is about cash flow. It is really important that the Government understand—I know that they do—that if a child starts school in September, they are registered for funding in October and the funding arrives the following April, but if a child turns up at school after October, the funding for that child comes 18 months later. There are schools in my constituency that have very few children leaving. For example, about six children left one school in July, but 31 joined its reception in September. No money will be given to that school for those 31 children until April next year. It is very difficult for a school that is building up, that is becoming popular and that is a school of choice for parents when the money just does not follow the child. I say to the Government that, rather than putting more money into the system, they could make things much fairer for schools if the money could follow the child, rather than be allocated in the April after the intake.

Another area that is proving to be a problem, which is not unrelated to what I have just said, is support for special educational needs. One school in my constituency supported children with special educational needs to such a great extent that nine children joined it after the October date, which meant that £56,000 had to be found to support those children for 18 months.

My time is running out, but I just want to say that I am so in awe of all the teachers and teaching staff in my constituency. They do a fantastic amount of work, but they face challenges, such as finding money to provide sports facilities such as all-weather pitches. I also wish to make a quick plea. If we remember all that we have just said about post-16 pupils—about making sure that we have the skills that we need and that we do not lose children out of the county—we should probably look at plus-16 funding and make sure that our young people can get the skills they need in their own area.

Apprenticeships Funding

Derek Thomas Excerpts

Tuesday 1st November 2016 Westminster Hall

[Derek Thomas (St Ives) (Con)]

I thank the right hon. Member for Tottenham (Mr Lammy) for securing this debate. When we consider the skills gap in pretty much every vocation going, a debate on apprenticeships and on ensuring people have the skills they need is timely indeed.

With your permission, Mr Streeter, I would like to briefly talk about my own experience. I left school at 15 and served a traditional apprenticeship as a Cornish mason in the construction industry under a Conservative Government. That skill has enabled me to feed my family and build my home, and it has supported me during a very long journey to become an MP. The apprenticeship also enabled me to stay in west Cornwall, where I grew up. That can be a significant advantage of serving an apprenticeship.

During the previous Parliament, I had a small construction business and took on an apprentice site carpenter. While I enabled him to get a trade, I also saw how the modern apprenticeship programme works in practice. More recently, I have taken on an apprentice in my constituency office and, even in those few years, I have noticed an improvement in the advice and support available to employers.

As Members can tell, I am a big fan of the apprenticeship programme. It is an important part of our young people’s journey to skilled employment. In spring this year, I hosted an event with the Cornwall Apprenticeship Agency. Local employers could come along to my constituency office and quiz a representative of the agency to find out about the pros and cons of offering that form of on-the-job training. I was very pleased to hear the speech from my hon. Friend the Member for North Swindon (Justin Tomlinson). During his time as Minister for Disabled People, he encouraged me a great deal to look at how we can support people with learning disabilities, and I ran one of his reverse job fairs just two weeks ago, so I thank him for that.

In a rural part of the country such as west Cornwall, a modern apprenticeship really is an important part of a local young person’s career path. For so long, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly have suffered because our young people have found they must leave the county to find the skills and jobs they need. That has left us in a situation where we have a chronic shortage in many sectors, especially construction, farming and engineering. Quite often, these potentially well-paid jobs have disappeared because we have not had the people to fill the vacancies.

[Rebecca Pow]

My hon. Friend is making a passionate case. I come from Somerset, which is not unlike Cornwall in terms of its skills shortages and gaps. We are below national productivity levels. It is important that businesses design these apprenticeships, and that is what the Government’s new scheme is all about. We do not want bland apprenticeships in any skill; we want them tailored to business, which is what my local businesses are all coming to me and saying. I, too, am going to run a course, because people want the knowledge to go forward.

[Derek Thomas]

That is a fantastic point. When I stood in the election and finally won, I met and worked with local businesses, and they kept telling me that they need courses provided by the college to provide the workers they need and the training their young people need. It is important that businesses lead the way in ensuring that they have the skills they need to move forward.

We have massive vacancies in Cornwall, and clearly we cannot continue like this. The modern apprenticeship programme, if communicated properly and successfully delivered, gives young people the opportunity to train locally, work locally, live locally, shop locally—in my part of the world, it is important that we look after our local retailers—and go on to raise a family locally. Rather than just welcome the Government’s ambitious target regarding the number of apprenticeships, it is essential that we meet it, simply because we do not have the people to do the jobs whom we need at the moment.

I heard the points that the right hon. Member for Tottenham made about funding. However, the great challenge we face is to engage more small businesses to take on apprentices. It makes sense that the Government are focusing on and prioritising funding, meaning that 90% of all funding for small businesses will be met by the Government. It makes sense that small businesses do not pay anything towards training people under 18 years of age. The real challenge is not so much the amount of money but how it is spent, as well as improving links between our schools and employers, so that young people and their families are aware of the opportunities available to them in the areas where they live. That would have a significant impact on the skills gap in west Cornwall and across the country. I welcome this debate, but I argue that we should concentrate on how we equip and enable young people to do apprenticeships, rather than fall out about the money available.

[Mr Gary Streeter (in the Chair)]

I call the one and only Jim Shannon.

School Penalty Fines and Authorised Absence

Derek Thomas Excerpts

Monday 11th July 2016 Westminster Hall

[Steve Double]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. We are hitting the wrong people with this policy. The children of families who, because of the economics and the price, can afford to take them on holiday only during term time are possibly the ones who need such holidays the most in order to enrich their experience of the world, to strengthen their family relationships and to expand their knowledge and appreciation of the world, but they are the ones who are being excluded from such highly valuable experiences by this policy.

By stating that a family holiday is not a valid reason for an authorised absence from school, we are not addressing the real issue of persistent truancy. The assumption that absence is the main cause of falling attainment is just that—an assumption that has no evidence to support it. Stephen Gorard, professor of education at Durham University, has said:

“There is an association between the proportion of absence and the aggregate level of attainment of students who’ve had that level of absence but it would be wrong to assume that it was necessarily causal. We don’t know that the absences are the reason for the lower attainment. They could both be indicators of something else such as background characteristics and of course it’s also possible that children who aren’t doing well at school after a time begin to drift away and perhaps take time off. It could be that the causal mechanism is the other way around.”

This policy cannot be considered in isolation. We cannot just take a narrow approach that says, “This is the way to ensure that children attend school regularly,” without considering the wider impact on other aspects of family life and society.

[Derek Thomas (St Ives) (Con)]

I thank my hon. Friend for pursuing this good cause. Does he agree that the policy has an adverse impact on NHS services? The population of areas such as Cornwall increases significantly during the summer holiday months, which places extra pressure on health services at the very time when medical staff are forced to take their holiday.

[Steve Double]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point on an issue I am only too aware of. In Cornwall, and I suspect in other parts of the country, families are forced to take their holiday just at the time when we need more NHS staff. Hospitals and other services struggle to maintain staffing levels for that very reason. The Government need to take a joined-up approach and consider the impact not only on the Department for Education but on other organisations, such as the NHS.

We are still waiting for the Government’s response to the recent court ruling, and it would be helpful if the Minister could provide an update today. If, as he has previously stated, his intention is to reinforce the rule, can he confirm that that will require primary legislation, as the court indicated? If so, will he confirm that the process will include a full impact assessment of both the economic and the social impacts and that the family test will be rigorously applied? Will he confirm that he will consult widely not only with schools but with family groups and the tourism industry?

Along with families across the country, I hope that the Minister will now choose a different response. The petition calls for 10 days of authorised leave each year for a family holiday, but I am not sure whether that is necessarily the correct approach. The right approach is to return the decision to the discretion of headteachers, who should be allowed to make the decision based on their knowledge of the children and families involved. Headteachers should be given the flexibility to decide, in co-operation with parents, what is right and best for the children in their school. Once again, I ask the Minister to reconsider the Government’s position on this issue, to recognise the very real concerns of parents and to accept that this policy was rushed through without the consultation and assessment that it should have had. Take this opportunity, in light of the recent court ruling, to think again. Accept that truancy and persistent absence are different from a family holiday. Repeal this ruling and return flexibility and common sense. Allow families who want nothing more than to spend a week on holiday with their children the right to do so without the fear of being made into criminals.

Oral Answers to Questions

Derek Thomas Excerpts

Monday 7th March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gyimah]

Let me explain the policy to the hon. Lady. She should be familiar with it by now. Our eligibility criteria make absolute sense. To get 30 hours of free childcare, someone needs to be in work and earning more than £107 a week and not more than £100,000 a year—it does not matter if they are a lone parent. That means that if anybody in the family earns more than £100,000 a year, they will not be eligible. I know that Labour Members do not want to hear it, but Labour’s childcare voucher scheme meant that parents earning more than £1 million could get childcare subsidies but the self-employed could not. We are not allowing that to happen in our childcare scheme.

[Derek Thomas (St Ives) (Con)]

3. What steps her Department is taking to support provision of STEM subjects in schools.

[The Minister for Schools (Mr Nick Gibb)]

The Government are determined to make Britain the best place in the world to study science, technology, engineering and maths. Our reforms to the curriculum and qualifications are designed to raise standards to match the best internationally. Our networks of maths hubs and science learning partnerships are supporting schools with the aim of improving the quality of maths and science teaching, and a £67 million package will train up to 17,500 maths and physics teachers by 2020.

[Derek Thomas]

In my constituency, there are a number of new skilled and well-paid jobs in engineering, space, renewable energy and other highly skilled, high-tech sectors, including the Navy. What further message can I take back to employers to assure them that schools have the resources and expertise to inspire and prepare our young people for these jobs in west Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, and what more can the Department do to ensure that we have the engineers we need as a nation for the future?

[Mr Gibb]

My hon. Friend, as a member of the Science and Technology Committee, is a keen advocate of the high-tech sector and particularly of the Goonhilly satellite earth station in Cornwall. He is right to share the Government’s determination to improve STEM skills in this country. That is why the Government fund the Cornwall and West Devon maths hub and the Cornwall science learning partnership, which provide support to schools in west Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly to improve maths and scientific education. We are also reforming technical and professional education and taking steps to improve the quality of careers advice to young people.

Term-time Leave

Derek Thomas Excerpts

Monday 26th October 2015 Westminster Hall

[Derek Thomas (St Ives) (Con)]

I thank my fellow Cornish MP, my hon. Friend the Member for St Austell and Newquay (Steve Double), for introducing the debate so well.

I fully understand the Government’s intention behind the legislation on taking children out of school during term time. I am sure that every Member present and throughout the House understands the need to address absence from school and to reassure people that the education of their children in school is hugely important. I am glad to live in a country where education is free, good and easily accessible. We do not want to do anything to undermine that value and the priority given to education. It is fantastic that our children have the opportunity to go to school and learn and grow into young people who are able to enter the world of work.

I also understand how children being absent and not taking part in their normal class or group at school can affect the learning of the whole class and its progress over the school year. We are not trying to undermine the Government’s intention to support schools in dealing with absence, and we recognise the contribution that children make to their class. Nevertheless, we are asking for change.

I too am a Cornish MP, and we have seen a huge problem in Cornwall. Part of the problem is how the legislation is interpreted. I have two small children in school. They have cousins of a very similar age, but their schools interpret the law differently. My children’s school is very strict. I have to confess that I took them out of school without permission so that we could go to a family wedding. I needed to take them out on the Thursday to travel to a Friday wedding, and we were not permitted to do that. My children’s cousins’ school, however, regularly allows holidays and provides educational material for the parents to use while they are away. That different interpretation causes tension among schools and among families. Whatever the Government choose to do after this debate, they should provide clear guidelines to schools about their intention for the legislation.

I think something has been lost. Before the legislation and guidance on school holidays were introduced, schools worked very well on this matter. I took my son on holiday for a week away from school, and the school provided a stuffed toy—if I remember correctly, it was an elephant called Elmer, although I may be wrong about that. We were encouraged to take Elmer to different places during the holiday, take photos and send postcards back from Elmer. When my child went back to school, he was able to talk about the experience. The class discussed where Elmer had been and learned important and interesting things about each visit he made. That has been lost, because that can no longer happen.

I am glad that we have a former teacher here who is able to confirm that in parts of the school year, learning—certainly formal learning—drops off. I have done a lot of school assemblies and been involved with schools for probably 20 years, and I have often been frustrated, because there used to be a time in the school year, often after the SATs finished, when formal education changed and parents could take advantage of it to take their children on holiday. That is no longer allowed, yet some schools still have a more informal attitude towards teaching in the latter weeks of the summer term. There are good reasons for that, but it is a shame that parents are not allowed to take their children out of school during that time.

I am concerned because, although the Conservative party does not want to intrude on families—we often say that families know best—I believe that this legislation does so. Some families in Cornwall, as we have heard, are not able to take their children on holiday during peak school holiday time because of their jobs. They may work in the public services or run business that rely heavily on the school holidays for their income. By introducing this legislation, we have intruded on those families and told them that they are not able to take their children on holiday.

My hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Neil Carmichael), who has left the Chamber now, spoke about weekend holidays, but that would not work in Cornwall because families would spend the whole weekend stuck on the A30, which would be a completely inappropriate and unfortunate way of spending their holiday. I therefore do not accept the argument that weekends can be used to go on holiday; that would not work. I have to travel for longer than any other MP to get here on a Monday, and we cannot assume that weekends are an alternative.

As my hon. Friend the Member for St Austell and Newquay said, the cost of taking a holiday during the school holidays is prohibitive for many families. Like my hon. Friend, my constituency neighbour, I come from one of the poorest areas in the country. Our average wage is considerably less than the national average.

That brings me on to the disruption to business. Businesses in my constituency have closed since the legislation was introduced because the owners are no longer able to run them all year round. The business they get in the summer, at half-term and even at Christmas is not enough for them to continue their work, so they have had to close their business and lay people off as a result. The impact on our local economy is considerable, and I am sad that the Government were unable to look at that before they introduced the current advice.

Last summer was phenomenal for the holiday industry in Cornwall. We had more visitors than we have had for many years. Our summer season has been compressed into the six-week school holiday period, and I do not know how long the holiday industry will survive in Cornwall, because the A30 was gridlocked pretty much continuously every day. If I travelled to Cornwall, using the precious holiday I have with my children, and got stuck on the A30, I do not know whether I would choose to do that again next year and the year after. The situation indirectly affects the potential of Cornwall’s tourism businesses, because if people cannot go on holiday to Cornwall because of the increased traffic on the roads, they will choose to go elsewhere. The holiday companies that cannot operate during the summer will close, and the businesses that rely on the summer trade will lose business and may not be able to continue.

I urge the Government to look carefully at this issue. We are not asking for parents to be able to compromise their child’s learning. We are asking the Government to look at the impact that this measure has on our tourism and family life. We seek an agreement that would allow holiday to be taken outside holiday time in a way that contributes to the child’s learning. We are asking the Government to relax the legislation, not to backtrack on their good efforts to address habitual absenteeism. It is very important that we address the issue of parents who regularly take their children out of school for no good reason; we recognise that that has a detrimental effect on the classroom. However, we ask the Government to recognise that parents are able to complement their child’s education with a school holiday. We need a change in the law, and schools need clear guidelines and absolute clarity about the Government’s approach. All schools need to use the same guidelines for their children.

[Melanie Onn (Great Grimsby) (Lab)]

Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the National Association of Head Teachers surveyed its members, and 90% said that they would welcome additional guidance?

[Derek Thomas]

That has already been discussed, but the hon. Lady is absolutely right to bring it up. The headteacher at my children’s school would love the Government to say, “This is what we want from your school,” and for Ofsted to reflect that in how they judge the school. I believe that an allowance of up to two weeks a year would not be detrimental if, as has been said, it is at a quiet time for formal learning. Children’s holidays should be celebrated and made part of the learning of the child who goes on holiday and of the class, which, the following week, is able to look at where that child and Elmer have been.