Schools: Pupil Premium

Lord Touhig Excerpts

Wednesday 24th October 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Hill of Oareford]

My answer makes a similar point. It is important that we learn lessons from the ones that are spending it effectively. We will do that through the work of the Education Endowment Foundation, which was set up specifically to spread good practice and help other schools learn the most effective ways of tackling disadvantage. It is early days, but as more information is published, the fact that from this September schools are having to account for how they have spent their money and what they have spent it on, and demonstrate a linkage between that money and results, will help us achieve the goal of my noble friend Lord Storey.

[Lord Touhig]

My Lords—

[Baroness Whitaker]

My Lords, is the Minister aware that almost all Roma children, no matter how poor they are, do not qualify for the pupil premium because their parents may not have been here long enough. What can the Government do to remedy this manifest inequality?

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Avebury]

My Lords—

[Lord Touhig]

My Lords—

[The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Lord Strathclyde)]

My Lords, noble Lords cannot speak at the same time. I think it is my noble friend’s turn.

[Lord Hill of Oareford]

My Lords, as I think I said to the noble Baroness, Lady Whitaker, the focus of the Ofsted inspection is particularly on children suffering from economic disadvantage—those on free school meals—and those are the criteria and judgments that Ofsted will be using.

[Lord Touhig]

My Lords, three tries for a Welshman. Many parents, including those with autistic children, are told that schools do not have funding to support their child’s special educational needs. I do not think they are helped by the fact that the Government have failed to publish guidance to schools on the use of the pupil premium. Can the noble Lord tell us whether the reforms of the SEN system will ensure that the pupil premium is now better used to help children with special needs?

[Lord Hill of Oareford]

My Lords, generally the reform to the special educational needs system through the Bill that the Government will be bringing forward next year will help tackle the needs of all children with special needs more effectively than the current system. Not all those children will be suffering from economic disadvantage, so, in addition, the pupil premium will, I hope, help to tackle that issue. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Touhig, that we need to make sure that we spread good practice. The Government have a role through things like the Education Endowment Foundation, which is an independent organisation that can spread good practice. We certainly need to make sure that best practice on how money is spent on children with special educational needs is spread through the system.