Schools: Substance Abuse Education

Debate between Lord Howarth of Newport and Lord Nash

Monday 2nd February 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Howarth of Newport]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to improve teaching in schools about the dangers of substance abuse.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools (Lord Nash) (Con)]

My Lords, drugs education is a statutory part of the new national curriculum for science. Pupils should be taught about the effects of recreational drugs, including substance misuse, on behaviour, health and life processes. Provision in this area can be further strengthened through PSHE education. To support teachers, we have provided funding to the drug and alcohol information service Mentor-ADEPIS to produce resources and guidance.

[Lord Howarth of Newport (Lab)]

My Lords, is the Minister aware that evidence was given to the Home Affairs Select Committee that most schools provide drug education on just one occasion in the school year, or even less? Is he aware that the charity Mentor said:

“We are spending the vast majority of the money we do spend on drug education on programmes that don’t work”?

Is he aware that his department told the committee that it did not monitor the programmes and resources that schools use to support their teaching in this very important area? What steps have been taken since the publication of the Select Committee’s report to improve this state of affairs, and does he agree that very much more needs to be done if Education Ministers are to fulfil their proper responsibility to help to protect young people against the dangers of substance abuse in general and the consumption of drugs in particular?

[Lord Nash]

Ofsted tells us that the drugs education in schools is good. There are a great many charities working with schools, not necessarily during formal curriculum time. Attendance is at an all-time high at schools. Absence has fallen substantially. We have strengthened the national curriculum to cater for more drugs education.

Education: Citizenship

Debate between Lord Howarth of Newport and Lord Nash

Wednesday 14th January 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Nash]

I can assure the noble Baroness that we have an active programme of co-operation with the Home Office to ensure that these matters are covered and that young people are not subject to radicalisation.

[Lord Howarth of Newport (Lab)]

My Lords, does the Minister agree that education for democracy should not merely be about the mechanics of the political and governmental system, but should permeate the curriculum extensively? For example, the study of literature should assist young people to discern whether language is being used with integrity and should illuminate the nature of responsible choice. Does the Minister also agree that good teachers understand this very well, but that teachers in all schools need the professional autonomy, encouragement and practical scope to use that understanding in their own way?

Schools: Classics

Debate between Lord Howarth of Newport and Lord Nash

Thursday 27th November 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Nash]

My noble friend refers to an excellent programme, which I would like to hear more about. I hope that, after the election, there will be a further round of independent/state school partnerships, which have been promoted by this Government. I would welcome an application in that regard.

[Lord Howarth of Newport (Lab)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as having spent a disproportionate amount of my childhood studying Latin and Greek. Is it not obvious that learning to decline the pluperfect subjunctive and to tell the difference between a gerund and a gerundive is a good preparation for modern life and that study of the classics may indeed enable citizens to know what the plural is of “referendum”—whether it is “referendums” or “referenda” or neither?

[Lord Nash]

Ita vero.

Schools: Free Schools

Debate between Lord Howarth of Newport and Lord Nash

Wednesday 14th May 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Nash]

Or, worse, the situation that we have in Wales. The party opposite seems to have gone remarkably quiet on free schools recently and I can only assume therefore that, reluctantly, qui tacet consentire.

[Lord Howarth of Newport (Lab)]

My Lords, will the Minister point out to his noble friends Lord Forsyth of Drumlean and Lord Hamilton of Epsom that there is another 12 months to go before the election and that they are getting prematurely overexcited. Does he agree that in this House at least we should try to sustain an intelligent conversation for as much as possible of the next 12 months?

[Lord Nash]

I take note of the noble Lord’s point. I think it is very unlikely that my two noble friends to whom he referred would ever get prematurely overexcited. However, I note the point that he makes on timing.

Schools: Independent Schools

Debate between Lord Howarth of Newport and Lord Nash

Thursday 16th January 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Nash]

If one had such a scheme, I think there might be ways of avoiding that. I agree entirely that we should be increasing social mobility for all pupils. Although the independent sector does a fantastic job, according to the Sutton Trust, which promotes the open access scheme, its 7% of pupils get 50% of the top jobs. Pupils from grammar schools, which educate 5% of the population, get more than 20% of the top jobs. We are focused on ensuring that the 90% of children who go to other schools, who currently get only somewhere between 25% and 30% of those jobs, get a much higher share of that take in the future.

[Lord Howarth of Newport (Lab)]

Does the noble Lord agree that, if the parents of the 7% of the nation’s children who attend independent schools were to apply their zeal for educational excellence to the maintained sector, we would see a vast improvement in social cohesion and educational performance?

[Lord Nash]

The noble Lord makes a very good point; that may be the case. If the Labour Party had abolished state education, that would have happened, but we are where we are. We have an excellent independent sector and we should learn from it and collaborate with it.

Schools: Curriculum

Debate between Lord Howarth of Newport and Lord Nash

Wednesday 30th October 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Nash]

All good schools seek to develop their children’s character through a PSHE programme. We do not feel that the programme should be legislated for in its content. Circumstances of the different schools and pupils in them vary greatly, and we should leave it for teachers to decide exactly the approach that they take.

[Lord Howarth of Newport (Lab)]

My Lords, given that the charity Mentor said, to cite the Home Affairs Select Committee report, Breaking the Cycle:

“We are spending the vast majority of the money we do spend on drug education on programmes that don’t work”,

and given that his department said it does not monitor the programmes or resources that schools use to support their teaching, is the Minister content with such a casual and laissez-faire approach on the part of the Government in an area where young people are so vulnerable?

[Lord Nash]

The noble Lord implies that casual equals laissez-faire; we do not accept that. As I said, we accept that most schools should do what all good schools do, which is to have an active programme of promoting their children’s interest, including drugs education, which they must be taught about in science classes anyway. Often, the best way to engage those pupils with those difficult issues, such as forced marriages or gangs, is not for teachers to do that—they often will not open up to their teachers—but for outside agencies and charities with skilled people in those difficult areas to talk to them about that.

Children: Speech and Language

Debate between Lord Howarth of Newport and Lord Nash

Tuesday 29th January 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Nash]

My Lords, I know that the noble Lord has vast experience in education and I am grateful for his question. We are sharing widely the good practice in the better communications research where speech and language therapists work with teachers and teaching assistants to provide support. He is absolutely right about a divergence in provision around the country and the shortage of funds, but it must be for local authorities and their partners to assess local needs and to make better use of resources so that they are directed where they are needed. Our proposal for a local offer will do this and will put parents and young people at the heart of decisions.

[Lord Howarth of Newport]

My Lords, the Minister told us just now that the Department of Health and the Department for Education are working closely together in this area. With respect, for many years the two departments have claimed to be working closely together but when it comes to determining who pays for what, they have been quite unable to agree. Can the noble Lord assure us that he will personally use his own best endeavours to ensure that, in future, there is a proper complementarity of responsibilities in terms of how the funding is found for special needs education and for speech therapy in particular?

[Lord Nash]

I thank the noble Lord for his question, and he is absolutely right about the poor record in cross-departmental work, particularly in this area. I shall investigate the matter and write to him further about it. I think he will be pleased with what he sees in the forthcoming Bill on this.