Levelling Up Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateLord Boateng
Main Page: Lord Boateng (Labour - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Boateng's debates with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
(2 years, 10 months ago)
Lords ChamberMy Lords, I first pay tribute to my current boss, the Secretary of State, for his role in building on the substantial achievement of the noble Lord, Lord Adonis. I served in local government when the noble Lord pioneered the academy programme, and I worked very hard to open up the first academy in my council, which transformed the lives of people in Hammersmith. Then the free school programme, like a lot of government policy, built on that thinking. We know that schools are the engines of opportunity, and in this White Paper we see a real commitment to continuing that programme of introducing more academies and more free schools.
My noble friend is quite right: it is far harder to achieve success if you do not have that strong foundation in early years. People’s potential is often almost set for them. If you do not get—
Sorry, I just heard a bit of chuntering. I am not sure it was adding very much.
The noble Lord is throwing out words such as “Sure Start”. That was an example of how not to govern: to throw loads of money in an incontinent way, set things up and then see it slowly withdrawn. That is not the way to transform people’s lives.
I will respond to my noble friend in writing on how we deal with the issue, because it obviously involves DfE and others.