Oral Answers to Questions

John Bercow Excerpts

Monday 27th October 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

That was five questions from a very experienced Member—and exceptionally cheeky chappie.

[Mr Gibb]

What parents want is every local school to be a good school, and that is what the academies programme is delivering. Sponsored schools that have been open for four years are showing a 5.7 percentage point improvement in their GCSE results compared with their predecessor schools, so it is a programme that is working. I am afraid that in the past too many schools were left languishing under local authority control.

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[Mr Laws]

I am delighted to hear that my hon. Friend has been enjoying the free school meals in his constituency and sampling them in different establishments. He is right that pupil premium registration is extremely important, which is why we have given guidance to all schools in the country. From the pilot areas, we know it is achievable to ensure that pupil premium registration continues. In the medium term, we will explore data-sharing arrangements so that schools no longer have to deal with this burden themselves.

[Mr Speaker]

I am sure we are all glad that the health and nutrition of the hon. Member for Cambridge (Dr Huppert) are assured beyond doubt.

[Guy Opperman (Hexham) (Con)]

Wylam first school is a big supporter of the free school meals programme. It has purchased the specific equipment needed, but has still not received the funding it is entitled to, given the guidance from the Department for Education. I have a meeting on this matter fairly soon with the Minister, but will he expedite it with his civil servants to ensure a resolution in weeks, not months?

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[Mr Speaker]

There is probably a picture of the right hon. Gentleman on the wall of the school—as there is, in my experience, in most restaurants around the United Kingdom.

[Mr Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) (Lab/Co-op)]

T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.

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[The Minister for Skills and Equalities (Nick Boles)]

It is right—I think my hon. Friend would agree—to focus funding on school-aged children below 16, because that is the stage in life at which education has the most dramatic impact on the young person’s chances. That is why he is a supporter of and part of a Government who protected school funding up to the age of 16, but was unable to extend that protection to sixth forms—

[Mr Speaker]

Mr Steve McCabe.

[Nick Boles]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. You cut me off in my prime!

[Mr Speaker]

I am always disappointed when I do so. I think that the “War and Peace” version should be lodged in the Library of the House for the delectation of hon. and right hon. Members in the long winter evenings that lie ahead.

[Steve McCabe (Birmingham, Selly Oak) (Lab)]

The Minister has decided to establish a second independent trust to provide children’s services in Slough, following the experiment in Doncaster, but what evidence is there of the success of that approach? Will he place such evidence in the Library and will he, like me, call for a rigorous independent evaluation of the experiment?

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Mr Edward Timpson)]

The hon. Gentleman will know that the formation of the Doncaster trust was carried out over a long period with much reflection on what was the best solution for Doncaster, bearing in mind the specific issues it faced. Part of that has been making sure that the lessons we learn from Birmingham, and from Slough and other local authorities where there has been too much failure in children’s services over too many years, will form the picture of understanding of what works best. There is no “one size fits all” solution. The Hackney education trust was an extremely effective example of how standards can be raised over a 10-year period of stability. Our thinking reflects much of the result that came out of Hackney, but we have worked closely with the relevant local authorities and found the best solution for each individual local authority.

[Mr Speaker]

Mr McCabe.

[Steve McCabe]

I will just come back on that—[Laughter.]

[Mr Speaker]

I am not forcing the hon. Gentleman!

[Steve McCabe]

That is perfectly all right, Mr Speaker. Does the Minister want an independent evaluation of the experiment?

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[Mr Laws]

As the hon. Lady will have heard, we have allocated £5 billion in basic needs funding across this Parliament and we have fully reversed the massive decline in primary school places that took place under the last Labour Administration.

[Mr Speaker]

Last but not least, Mr David Burrowes.

[Mr David Burrowes (Enfield, Southgate) (Con)]

There are reports that Ofsted is demanding that a Christian school invites an imam to take collective worship and that Jewish schoolchildren have been asked intrusive questions about their views on sexuality. Does that really promote British values?