Laura Trott
Main Page: Laura Trott (Conservative - Sevenoaks)Department Debates - View all Laura Trott's debates with the Department for Education
(2 days, 7 hours ago)
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Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)
One of the key metrics for holding schools and trusts to account is pupil numbers; parents vote with their feet. Why is the Secretary of State stopping good schools from being able to expand in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill? That will stop competition and accountability, erode parental choice, and drive down standards.
Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)
How on earth can the Secretary of State justify spending £90 million on a one-year contract for advertising and media while cutting a £4 million Latin excellence programme mid-year that is helping to improve school standards in some of the most deprived areas of the country? Does that not show that the Secretary of State’s priorities are all wrong?
Bridget Phillipson
The right hon. Lady was a Minister in the Treasury, and she was responsible for leaving behind the black hole that this Labour Government are having to sort out. We face unprecedented challenges. When it comes to Latin, we are working with classics associations to ensure that children can continue to study Latin. It is important that children in our state schools have that opportunity, but the Conservatives designed the scheme to terminate in February. Maybe the right hon. Lady can tell us why that was.
Laura Trott
The Secretary of State is spending £90 million on advertising. She is cutting not just Latin programmes, but computing hubs, language hubs and advanced maths. Are those also less important than her advertising budget?
Bridget Phillipson
Yet again, we hear a lot of sound and fury from the right hon. Lady, but no recognition of the mess that the Conservatives left behind, which it falls to this Labour Government to resolve. We are investing more in early years, more into our schools and more into 16-19 education. Yes, some of the investment we need to make is about ensuring that people come forward to train as teachers, particularly because of the chronic issues we face around recruitment and retention because of the mess left behind after the last Conservative Government.