Oral Answers to Questions

Sarah Teather Excerpts

Monday 11th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[The Minister of State, Department for Education (Sarah Teather)]

Schools are best placed to decide how to spend the pupil premium in ways that they judge to be most effective in helping their most deprived pupils. We will learn from those schools that are making the most effective use of the premium. From this year, performance tables will publish data showing the attainment gap between disadvantaged children and their more affluent peers. From September 2012, schools will provide information to parents about their use of pupil premium funding.

[Eric Ollerenshaw]

I am not sure that that was quite the answer to my question. Given the importance of this policy, the fact that we are at last beginning to target extra resources on some of the most disadvantaged pupils in all our schools and the fact that there have been so many failed policies in this sphere, how are we going to assess this policy?

[Sarah Teather]

The hon. Gentleman is correct in saying that I did not answer his point about Lancaster and Fleetwood, so I will respond to him in writing about it. As I said, schools will be held accountable for their use of the pupil premium by the detail in the performance tables, which will be published from this year, and by the requirement from September 2012 to make it clear how they are spending their pupil premium money in respect of the progress made on the attainment of the pupils it covers. We are also very committed to providing advice on best practice and we will be doing that soon.

[Mr Speaker]

The motto is that Ministers should look at the question on the Order Paper before answering, rather than afterwards, but I appreciate what the Minister has said and I think that the House is grateful for it.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith) (Lab)]

15. What assessment he has made of the effect of changes in funding for Sure Start children’s centres in the London borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.

[The Minister of State, Department for Education (Sarah Teather)]

The Department for Education does not collect detailed information on Sure Start children’s centres in individual local authorities. Local authorities have a statutory duty to ensure that there are sufficient children’s centres in their area to meet local need, so far as is reasonably practicable. It is for local authorities to commission Sure Start children’s centres and to monitor and evaluate the use and impact of their services.

[Mr Slaughter]

There have been 45% cuts in the Sure Start budget in one year; nine centres deregistering because they have had more than 90% cuts and cannot function; and parents taking and winning judicial reviews to restore a basic service. In February the Minister said that she was monitoring the situation in Hammersmith and Fulham because there were particular concerns. Will she do more than monitor now and take some action while we still have any Sure Start centres left?

[Sarah Teather]

I know that the hon. Gentleman has raised this issue on many occasions. He might also be aware that last week we announced some changes to the Sure Start programme so that we will be piloting payment by results, for example. We will also require local authorities to publish information about what they are spending and on what services. If local authorities are systematically downgrading services, as he suggests, they will obviously not be eligible to benefit from payment by results, and we will be able to see that clearly from the transparency requirements that we are putting in place.

[Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con)]

The Minister is right to be careful when faced with the wild misrepresentations on the issue from the Opposition Benches. Is she aware that Hammersmith and Fulham council has announced that it is committed not only to maintaining its existing 15 children’s centre venues, but to expanding them by a further one centre?

[Sarah Teather]

I thank my hon. Friend for making that clear and putting it on the record.

[Mrs Sharon Hodgson (Washington and Sunderland West) (Lab)]

I know that the Minister wants parents to be more involved in their local children’s centres, but I am not sure that parents taking their council to court is exactly what she meant. Will the Secretary of State and the Ministers accept that it was their choice to slash the funding and remove the ring fence that led to the present chaos? If so, will they use the imminent early years statement finally to set out how they will keep their promise and the Prime Minister’s numerous promises to protect Sure Start from cuts and closures?

[Sarah Teather]

That was an awful lot of waffle. [Interruption.] I will have to wait until everybody stops yelling because I have not got enough voice to yell over everybody else today—[Interruption.]

[Mr Speaker]

Order.

[Sarah Teather]

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

The hon. Member for Washington and Sunderland West (Mrs Hodgson) will just have to wait with bated breath for our early years statement, which will be out shortly and in which we will make further announcements about Sure Start and how we intend to improve the quality of early years.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

16. How many schools in (a) Harrow East constituency and (b) England have converted, or applied to convert, to academy status.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mrs Helen Grant (Maidstone and The Weald) (Con)]

18. What steps he is taking to promote family-friendly policies.

[The Minister of State, Department for Education (Sarah Teather)]

The Government are committed to promoting family-friendly policies that can support better child outcomes, help parents to balance work and family life and deliver real benefits to employers. The Department is funding a scheme to support organisations to adopt more family-friendly services and working environments for clients and employees. The Government are consulting on proposals to introduce more flexible parental leave and extend the right to flexible working to all employees.

[Mrs Grant]

Lack of good child care can consign many capable women to the family home or to not having children. What action will the Minister take to improve this situation?

[Sarah Teather]

I am very aware of the difficulties that many families face in accessing suitable child care, which is one of the reasons why we announced last week that we will consult on a more flexible arrangement for adopting the free entitlement so that families can access it a little earlier and a little later in the day, for example. That is exactly why we extended the free entitlement to 15 hours.

[Nicky Morgan (Loughborough) (Con)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

--- Later in debate ---

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

T7. How can parents of children with special needs be more involved in the education of their children? I recently met parents at Ripplevale school in my constituency who say that they must not only battle the difficulties and challenges that are obvious to all but battle the education authority, time and again, to get a fair, decent and proper education for their children.

[The Minister of State, Department for Education (Sarah Teather)]

We finished our consultation on the Green Paper on 30 June and received 2,300 responses along similar lines to those my hon. Friend has outlined. I feel very passionately about the need to involve parents better, particularly if their child has special educational needs. That is one of the reasons we are rolling out Achievement for All—a programme that does exactly that.

[Mr David Hanson (Delyn) (Lab)]

When do Ministers expect to come to a conclusion with the devolved Administrations on the replacement for the child trust fund for looked-after children, which was promised by the Chancellor of the Exchequer some months ago but which, as far as I can see, is still yet to reach its final stages?