Education: Return in January

Meg Hillier Excerpts

Wednesday 30th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Gavin Williamson]

I would certainly like to join my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour in thanking all those working in education settings in Derbyshire and right across the country. Many children in my constituency travel into Stourbridge to benefit from some of the brilliant schools in her constituency. Teachers and support staff have done an amazing job, and it is true to say that we are asking even more of them, but we are asking them to do more because we understand how vital it is to do everything possible to keep schools open and ensure that children continue to benefit from the education that we want every child to get.

[Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)]

We all know that children benefit from being in school, and we have seen the gap between those from the richest and the poorest households widen during covid. The Secretary of State’s permanent secretary put great store in the tutoring programme when she appeared before the Public Accounts Committee nearly two weeks ago. Could the right hon. Gentleman give us an update on that, as well as on the steering group in his Department that is looking seriously at this issue and at the impact on more vulnerable pupils? Can he be precise about what he is doing to ensure that that gap, which had been narrowing massively in some of the excellent schools in my constituency, will not stay wide and get wider still as we come out the other side of the pandemic?

[Gavin Williamson]

The hon. Lady is right to talk passionately about the brilliant schools in her constituency. We have seen a transformation in schools in London as a result of reforms that were introduced by this Government and changes that were made in the latter part of the last Labour Government. We have seen education as an incredibly powerful tool in closing the attainment gap and the disadvantage gap, and London has been one of the real powers in driving that forward. The roll-out of the national tutoring programme is going as planned and we are very pleased with it. I am sure she will have noticed that, as part of the spending review, we want to see this as something that happens not just for one year, but over multiple years, because we believe that that is where the real benefit will be had.

I must confess—I am a little bit old-fashioned about this—that I will constantly do everything I can, whether it is in the hon. Lady’s constituency or mine, and take quite extraordinary measures, to keep schools open wherever it is possible to do so. If they do have to close, I will ensure that it is for the minimum time, because we see children suffering as a result of isolation. Both my children have had to self-isolate as a result of being in contact with other children with covid. Whether it is the national tutoring programme, the covid catch-up fund or the continued reforms that have been made to education, which have driven up standards so much in her constituency and mine, we must not lose sight of the fact that these reforms have to carry on to continue to drive standards and reduce the attainment gap.