Pat Glass
Main Page: Pat Glass (Labour - North West Durham)Department Debates - View all Pat Glass's debates with the Department for Education
(13 years, 6 months ago)
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Michael Gove
Yes. All schools—academies, community schools and voluntary-aided schools—and local authorities that are responsible for the maintenance of a number of schools will be able to apply this autumn.
Pat Glass (North West Durham) (Lab)
As a member of the Education Committee I was recently invited to a meeting with Lord Baker and Lord Adonis, who told me they had managed to secure £150 million from the Treasury for an experiment in university technology colleges. That £150 million would go a long way towards reinstating the education maintenance allowance, which is the one big thing I have seen in 30 years of working in education that has made a real difference to the participation of poor pupils and to narrowing the attainment gap. The Secretary of State tells us that we cannot afford EMA, which we know works, so how can we find £150 million for an experiment, when we have no idea whether it works or not?
Michael Gove
I am grateful to the hon. Lady for making those points, but we must agree to differ on EMA. I think that the new learner support fund that we are introducing with the discretionary capacity that local colleges and schools will have to support students will effectively meet needs. On university technical colleges, I do not believe that they are an experiment; they are on the ground and working well already. I was pleased to read a speech by the right hon. Member for Leigh (Andy Burnham) only last week in which he reflected on his visit to a university technical college that JCB helped to establish.