Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stella Creasy and Michael Gove

Monday 21st November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

It is a great pity that Enfield Labour council is not as supportive of free schools as it should be. Both the hon. Member for Liverpool, West Derby (Stephen Twigg), the shadow spokesman for education, and I have visited superb free schools in Enfield, and I hope the Labour local authority there moves with the times and supports those free schools in doing a fantastic job for children in disadvantaged circumstances in a borough that deserves better.

[Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)]

Inevitably, the provision of school places in neighbouring boroughs such as Enfield will have a knock-on effect in places such as Waltham Forest. The Secretary of State is aware that a quarter of all responses to his consultation on the national schools funding formula came from Walthamstow, from parents and governors in my constituency who are desperately concerned that we are facing a shortage of 1,200 places as a result of the cancellation of the Building Schools for the Future project. Will Ministers agree to meet parents and governors from my constituency to talk about the desperate shortage of places in Waltham Forest and what can be done?

[Michael Gove]

I am not surprised that we had so many representations from Waltham Forest, and Walthamstow in particular, given that the constituency representative for Walthamstow is The Spectator parliamentarian of the year award-winner as campaigner of the year.

School Funding Reform

Debate between Stella Creasy and Michael Gove

Tuesday 19th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

That is absolutely correct. What I want to do is make sure that the schools in greatest need receive the funding. Resources are limited and it will be difficult to prioritise, but we must be fair.

[Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)]

On Thursday I will meet school governors from Walthamstow. The Secretary of State has just, again, cruelly dashed their hopes that our fears about the lack of school places and the condition of our schools in Walthamstow will be acknowledged. Will he join me at the meeting on Thursday and explain for himself why he will give Waltham Forest the money for its legal fees but not the money to fix the leaky roofs and the asbestos problem that we have in our schools, or for the school places that we so desperately need?

[Michael Gove]

That was a passionate case well made, but I have to emphasise that I need to be fair to all local authorities. That means that we will look at the condition of schools in all local authorities, and the evidence will be sifted objectively. I am aware that Walthamstow, like many London boroughs and many areas in the south-east, is facing particular pressure on primary school places. Because Building Schools for the Future was primarily about secondary school places, we need to ensure that the absolute need for every child to secure a school place is at the front of everything we do.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stella Creasy and Michael Gove

Monday 11th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I note that the hon. Gentleman has promoted me from Marty McFly to Pontius Pilate in just 30 seconds. Far from washing my hands, however, I have been actively intervening to ensure that, across Government, we make certain that pensions for valued public sector workers such as teachers are protected, while at the same time being fair to all taxpayers and reflecting the reforms that Lord Hutton, in his excellent report, suggested we pursue.

[Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)]

6. What recent representations he has received on the benefits of year-round youth services.

Building Schools for the Future

Debate between Stella Creasy and Michael Gove

Monday 14th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend makes a very fair case. As I mentioned earlier, some local authorities and schools in the Building Schools for the Future scheme were badly in need of investment, and I, like all right hon. and hon. Members, am sorry that the money simply is not there to invest in every school that needs it. But, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Sir Alan Beith) quite rightly makes clear, the school estates of many local authorities outside BSF were also in need of renovation.

[Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)]

Regrets will not solve the problems of many Walthamstow schools affected by the judgment—problems including asbestos, leaky roofs and a lack of space for the curriculum. It was for precisely those reasons that on 12 July I asked the Secretary of State to come to Walthamstow himself. Will he now, finally, in the light of the decision, make good on that and see for himself the issues that BSF was trying to deal with in Waltham Forest? Then, we might finally have schools that are fit for purpose in our borough—unlike the Secretary of State, who it appears is not fit for purpose, according to the judge.

[Michael Gove]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for making her case. Waltham Forest, as an effective and efficient local authority, has already been in touch with my Department, and I am delighted to say that we will be in conversation with it to ensure that the right judgment is made in due course. But, with respect to the hon. Lady and all Opposition Members, although many schools are in desperate need of rebuilding, the question that must be asked is, “Why weren’t those schools rebuilt effectively in the last 13 years, and why did the Building Schools for the Future scheme operate in such a wasteful and inefficient fashion?”

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stella Creasy and Michael Gove

Monday 15th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend, and I want to underline that we have been consulting on moves to a national funding formula. The former Prime Minister and Member for Sedgefield was himself keen to move towards a national funding formula in order to eliminate some of the inequities within the schools system. We want to ensure that, as we move towards such a formula, schools themselves have their voices heard, so that we can do everything possible to eliminate the inequities that existed under the previous Government.

[Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)]

6. What funding his Department plans to provide for schools in Waltham Forest for 2011-12; and if he will make a statement.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stella Creasy and Michael Gove

Monday 11th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for making that passionate case, as so many representatives from F40 authorities do. In the context of the comprehensive spending review and the forthcoming schools White Paper, we are now looking at how exactly we can ensure that schools funding is more equitable across the country. We are of course looking particularly at how we can ensure that disadvantaged children, wherever they live, receive what they deserve.

[Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)]

Back in January, one of the Ministers stated that there was a question mark over whether local authorities were the best people to run youth services. Given that, how does the Department now justify the removal of ring-fencing for the youth opportunity fund and youth capital fund and the cuts to Connexions and the youth sector development grants? Those cuts mean that many organisations that the Department would like to see running youth services, such as the excellent Soul project in Walthamstow, are facing a very uncertain financial future.

Will the Minister agree to visit the Soul project with me to discuss with the young people and volunteers who run it the contingency plans that he has in place to ensure that there is not a big voluntary sector youth-shaped hole in the big society?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Stella Creasy and Michael Gove

Monday 12th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

It was a pleasure to meet my hon. Friend and the teachers who were doing such outstanding work at St Michael’s. It was a fantastic school, and a pleasure to visit.

If a head teacher were to ask me why the last Government spent so much money on consultants rather than on teachers, for once I would be dumbstruck.

[Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)]

I recognise that there are many pressing issues in Ministers’ diaries, but may I beg the Secretary of State to take seriously the request by Willowfield school in Walthamstow to host a meeting for him, for parents from the Walthamstow area, and for parents affected by the decision to stop all the wave 1 school projects in Walthamstow, including those involving William Morris school and Holy Family college? There could then be a discussion about how we can meet our urgent need for school places in the locality, given that all those buildings have been condemned as not fit for purpose—a bit like the present Government.