Oral Answers to Questions

Tristram Hunt Excerpts

Monday 20th July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Nicky Morgan]

I know just how important this is from my own constituency experience and the work of the Joe Humphries Memorial Trust. My Department is encouraging schools to purchase automated external defibrillators as part of their first aid equipment. New arrangements to make these life-saving devices more affordable were launched in November last year as a result of collaboration with the Department of Health. We might make a special arrangement for the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent, who said last week that his party’s leadership debate needed shock treatment with a form of defibrillator.

[Tristram Hunt (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Lab)]

It is Stoke-on-Trent Central.

I join the Secretary of State in thanking teachers and headteachers for all their hard work this academic year and wish pupils the best of luck with their exams. Last week Her Majesty’s chief inspector of schools warned of serious safeguarding concerns resulting from inadequate systems for tracking in-year transfers of pupils. There are 350 cases where the destinations of pupils were not clearly recorded. Will the Secretary of State confirm that she has confidence in the system for reporting and tracking in-year transfers, and is entirely satisfied with the regulations as they relate to faith-based independent schools?

[Nicky Morgan]

I am grateful to the chief inspector for raising these issues. These are concerning matters. That is why we are going to amend the current regulations on the information that schools collect when a pupil is taken off the register, to make it easier for local authorities to identify children who are missing education. We are also stressing the importance of schools and colleges following their existing procedures for dealing with children who go missing from education, particularly on repeat occasions. If we need to do more, we will do more.

[Tristram Hunt]

Does that mean that for the purpose of ensuring the safeguarding of children the Secretary of State is no longer happy with generic descriptions such as “moved abroad”? Are those the regulations she will be changing? As we enter summer there is a risk that more young people could be drawn to travel abroad to Syria. The Labour party welcomes the Prime Minister’s announcements on children’s passports this morning, but what discussions has the right hon. Lady had with the Home Secretary and the Communities and Local Government Secretary about preventing young people from travelling to Syria? What actions are being taken by Ministers across Whitehall Departments to mitigate this risk to young people over the school holiday period?

[Nicky Morgan]

I have had extensive discussions with fellow members of the Cabinet, including the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, on those important issues. The hon. Gentleman is right to highlight that this is a difficult time of year, in relation both to young people who might go abroad to places such as Syria, and in particular to vulnerable girls, who may be persuaded to undertake some sort of forced marriage or female genital mutilation. We will take—and, indeed, have taken—action by issuing guidance to schools and working with other authorities to ensure that we know where young people are and that we work with parents and communities to make sure that they are not going abroad unnecessarily.