Oral Answers to Questions

John Bercow Excerpts

Monday 3rd September 2012 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Further Education, Skills and Lifelong Learning (Mr John Hayes)]

I should like to answer Questions 5 and 21 together, Mr Speaker, as they are identical, but I seek your permission to do so.

[Mr Speaker]

There was no request in advance for that, but my natural leniency may assert itself.

[Mr Hayes]

Your benevolence, Mr Speaker, is exceeded only by your sagacity.

[Mr Speaker]

I agree with that, too.

[Mr Hayes]

The proportion of young people not in education, employment or training has been too high for too long. It is a structural problem, reflecting wider changes in the labour market, which we are determined to tackle. This month sees the start of our £126 million youth contract programme for 16 to 17-year-olds supporting some 55,000 young people who are not currently participating. That is on top of our record spending of £7.5 billion on education and training places for young people.

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[Several hon. Members]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. The hon. Member for Derby North (Chris Williamson), who has Question 21 on the Order Paper, is not in the Chamber and is under no obligation to be as he had not been notified of any intended grouping. So no blame attaches to him, but I will call another Member to ask a supplementary.

[Jessica Lee (Erewash) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that the Erewash jobs fair that I have arranged for this Wednesday is an excellent opportunity to showcase to young people, and indeed to those of all ages, the employment opportunities and opportunities in training and skills that are currently available?

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[Michael Gove]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for asking that question. Let me take this opportunity to underline my admiration for the work done by York schools and York head teachers. I share the sadness that many teachers and students will feel about what happened with GCSE English this year. It is appropriate that we should all learn lessons about some of the mistakes made in introducing an examination, modular in style, that was not best equipped to ensure that all students could perform well and be treated fairly.

The hon. Gentleman invites me to tell Ofqual what it should do. I will not, because the Secretary of State for Education when the hon. Gentleman supported the Government, Mr Ed Balls, pointed out that Ofqual was an independent regulator of standards, independent of Ministers and reporting directly to Parliament and he said:

“I am not going to second-guess its work.”—[Official Report, 23 February 2009; Vol. 488, c. 27.]

I hold to that position.

[Mr Speaker]

I was reluctant to interrupt the flow of the Secretary of State’s eloquence, but I remind the House that the question relates exclusively to York—not even to Redcar, although Question 9 might present its opportunities to hon. Members.

[John McDonnell (Hayes and Harlington) (Lab)]

8. What plans his Department has for school meals; and if he will make a statement.

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[Tim Loughton]

Given the hon. Gentleman’s record on accounting for supposed children’s centres closures in his constituency, which turned out not to be the case, one needs to scrutinise some of his comments rather more closely. What I do know is that there is some very innovatory work going on in the youth field between the three boroughs in the tri-borough experiment. [Interruption.] Within the hon. Gentleman’s own constituency, in the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, they are leading the way in youth innovation zones, showing new, practical, innovatory ways of bringing services to young people that they need and will use. [Interruption.] He should go and visit them.

[Mr Speaker]

There is plenty of scope for an Adjournment debate on this matter, to judge by responses so far.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

Will my hon. Friend join me in congratulating Ifield youth services on providing a broader range of services to younger people through voluntary sector involvement? Does he agree that voluntary sector and faith involvement in providing youth services is extremely important for local communities?

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

As one of the MPs representing Hackney, which 10 years ago was one of the worst performing boroughs in education, I want to draw the Secretary of State’s attention to our excellent exam results, with more than 60% of pupils getting five A to C grades at GCSE, including maths and English. Mossbourne community academy gained a result of 89%, which is exceptionally good. However, within that there were real challenges for pupils sitting the English exam. At BSix college, for example, for the previous three years, 83%, 86% and 83% of pupils respectively gained a C or above, but only 36% did so this year—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. We are extremely grateful. We need short questions in topicals.

[Michael Gove]

Hackney is a model authority when it comes to educational reform. I mentioned earlier, and I underline again, that if MPs feel there are cases of specific schools that it is worth investigating, they should bring them to Ofqual’s attention.

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[Michael Gove]

Of course.

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Before I call the hon. Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn) to ask his urgent question, I should emphasise to the House that owing to the pressure of business, I intend to let the exchanges on the urgent question run for no longer than half an hour. I hope that is helpful to the House.