Child Sexual Exploitation (Oxfordshire)

Baroness Morgan of Cotes Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd March 2015 Commons Chamber

[Mr Andrew Smith (Oxford East) (Lab)]

(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State if she will make a statement on the serious case review into child sexual exploitation in Oxfordshire.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan)]

I thank the right hon. Member for Oxford East (Mr Smith) for his question. No child should have to suffer what the victims of child sexual exploitation in Oxfordshire have suffered. The serious case review published today by Oxfordshire’s local safeguarding children board is an indictment of the failure of front-line workers to protect extremely vulnerable young people over a number of years. Reading the details of what happened to them has been truly sickening.

The serious case review makes it clear that numerous opportunities to intervene to protect those girls were missed, as police and social workers failed to look beyond what they saw as troubled teenagers to the frightened child within. I welcome the publication of the serious case review. It is only by publishing such in-depth accounts of what happened, and what went wrong and why, that children’s social care systems locally and nationally can address the failings that have betrayed some of our most vulnerable children. That is why this Government have insisted that serious case reviews be published, and in full.

The children’s Minister, the Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mr Timpson), has also written today, with Ministers from the Home Office and the Department of Health, to the Oxfordshire safeguarding children board requesting a further assessment of the progress being made, and we will send an expert in child sexual exploitation to support the board this month.

Sadly, Oxfordshire was not alone in failing to address the dangers of child sexual exploitation. We now know from Professor Alexis Jay’s and Louise Casey’s  reports into Rotherham and the report by the hon. Member for Stockport (Ann Coffey) in Manchester that child sexual exploitation has been a scourge in many communities around the country. This Government have been determined to do everything within their power to tackle child sexual exploitation, and that is why we are today publishing an action plan setting out the action we have already taken to strengthen our approach to safeguarding children from sexual exploitation, along with the further steps that we think are necessary to address the culture of denial; improve joint working; stop offenders; support victims; and strengthen accountability and leadership.

We are setting up a national centre of expertise into tackling child sexual exploitation, to support local areas around the country, and there will be a new whistleblowing portal so that anyone can report their concerns. We have also prioritised child sexual exploitation as a national threat, so that police forces will now be under a duty to collaborate across force boundaries, and we will consult on extending the criminal offence of wilful neglect to children’s social care, education professionals and elected members.

This afternoon, I will be joining the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and other Secretaries of State in Downing street to discuss with local and police leaders how we will collectively take forward the actions set out in today’s plan. The experiences of the children set out in this serious case review should never have happened. We are determined to do everything in our power to stamp out this horrific abuse and to bring the perpetrators to justice.

[Mr Smith]

I thank the Secretary of State for her response. Does she agree that the victims, the 370 other children identified as at risk, their families and the public, who are horrified that these sickening crimes were allowed to continue for so many years, are owed answers to crucial questions which the serious case review could not address? How was it that there was a culture in the county council and the police whereby such serious incidents were not escalated to senior officers? How was it that a professional tolerance of under-age sexual activity developed, as the report says, to the extent that it contributed to the failure to stop the abuse?

Who takes responsibility for the catastrophic failings? The chief constable and the council chief executive have apologised, but they did not know what was happening. The chief constable is moving on; the former directors of social services and of children and families have left; the former leader of the council retired; the lead member for children’s services was reshuffled; and the chief executive of Oxfordshire council saw her position made redundant at the end of January, only for the council leader last week to admit that they had made a hash of it and so the situation has to be reviewed.

Does the Secretary of State agree that the highly commendable work done by the council, the police and other agencies to improve protection and prosecution since Operation Bullfinch cannot distract from the horrors of what went wrong? We saw failure to act on clear evidence of organised sexual exploitation; failure to provide protection to children; failure to draw serious issues to the attention of senior management; failure to heed the concerns of junior staff; chaotic arrangements for child protection; unminuted meetings; and a professional disregard for the illegality of young girls being forced to have sex with older men.

Should there not be wider, independent scrutiny of the internal management reviews which underpinned this serious case review? Do the public interest and redress for victims not dictate that those responsible for these failings should be fully held to account? Will the Government set up an independent inquiry into what went wrong and who made the mistakes that enabled this depraved exploitation of vulnerable girls to go on for so long, so that the lessons are learned from these awful crimes and from the failure of public bodies to provide the protection that it was their duty to provide to children who were suffering such unspeakable abuse?

[Nicky Morgan]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman very much for his questions, and I fully respect the emotion and passion with which he and other Members will be discussing these matters—these very serious matters, as he has set out. He talks about failures and he is right to do so. He is also absolutely right to say that at the heart of this are the young people who have been utterly let down by the system and whose lives have been blighted. It is important that we think about all the victims and their families, and I am pleased to confirm that part of today’s summit and the announcements thereof is a £7 million fund to support those who have been victims. Clearly, however, there is much more that we all need to do.

The right hon. Gentleman asks how the culture arose and why things were not escalated. He also mentions the so-called professional tolerance of these crimes and asked who takes responsibility. On accountability, he set out the position of various people working within Oxfordshire, some of whom are still in their positions and some of whom have moved on. It is not for me to apportion blame—that is a matter for Oxfordshire county council, the police and the health agencies locally—and the purpose of this serious case review is to understand what went wrong and why, and to ensure that we learn the lessons for the future. He is absolutely right to highlight another point, which Maggie Blyth, the independent reviewer, talked about this morning when she said that although

“there was no disregard of clear warnings at top level and no denial by those in charge, their lack of understanding of what was happening on the front line caused unacceptable delays. This allowed offenders to get away with their crimes. The review describes a culture in Oxfordshire where the value of escalation to the top was not understood.”

The review also contains some heart-rending comments from the victims. One that particularly stands out was:

“If a perpetrator can spot the vulnerable children, why can’t professionals?”

The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to say that many more questions will need to be answered.

The right hon. Gentleman asks about future reviews and inquiries, and the letter signed today by Ministers from my Department, the Home Office and the Department of Health makes it clear that we are proposing that the local safeguarding children board leads a specific piece of work on the impact of the multi-agency approach to tackling child sexual exploitation in Oxfordshire. We have appointed Sophie Humphreys to work alongside Oxfordshire county council to gather the evidence on the effect of its reforms to front-line practice.

The right hon. Gentleman correctly highlights the fact that the council has taken action since these allegations all first came to light. As has been recognised by the serious case review, there has been tremendous investment in services to support children at risk of sexual exploitation, including the establishment of the specialist Kingfisher team, a multi-agency front-line service for victims of child sexual exploitation; the training of thousands of front-line staff in raising awareness; and an increase in the number of front-line staff as a whole. The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to highlight the fact that lives have been blighted by these crimes. Questions need to be answered, some of which will be addressed this afternoon in the Prime Minister’s summit in Downing street.

The right hon. Gentleman says that lessons need to be learned, which is a phrase that is often used in these sorts of cases. But that is not enough. We want action. It was very clear that those who came across this information, not just in Oxfordshire but in other authorities, did not act on it—and that is unacceptable.

[Nicola Blackwood (Oxford West and Abingdon) (Con)]

Nothing more distressingly demonstrates how completely local agencies failed in this area than the words of survivors. One victim said, “I turned up at a police station at 2 am or 3 am with blood all over me, soaked through my trousers to the crotch. They dismissed me as being naughty and a nuisance. I was bruised and bloody.” Another victim said, “Social services washed their hands. ‘It is your choice’, I was told.”

We must not only pay tribute to the victims for their bravery in coming forward, but recognise that such serious abuse has long-term and complex consequences. I ask the Education Secretary today to make it a personal priority to ensure that these survivors get the long-term and sustainable support that they need.

[Nicky Morgan]

I thank my hon. Friend for her remarks. I know that she, as an Oxfordshire MP, has been deeply involved in these matters, and I pay tribute to her for her work. I can assure her that my Department and all relevant Departments will do all we can to help and support the victims of these crimes. She is absolutely right to talk about the culture of denial, and the unwillingness to look at the signs of physical and mental abuse inflicted on the victims, which will undoubtedly affect them for the long term. That is why dealing with these issues and ensuring that the front-line professionals take action is so important.

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

After Rochdale and Rotherham comes an account of the horrific events in Oxford. Let us be clear that it is the heinous crimes and the callous wickedness of Mohammed and Bassam Karrar, Akhtar and Anjum Dogar, Kamar Jamil, Assad Hussain and Zeeshan Ahmed that needs to be condemned again today. They are the ones responsible for the sadism, the grooming, the abuse and the torture that was inflicted on vulnerable girls in Oxford, robbing them of their adolescence, their health and their sense of worth. The serious case review report also reveals that both Thames Valley police and Oxfordshire county council completely let down those victims. In the words of one victim,

“The police never asked me why”

I went missing;

“I made a complaint about a man who trafficked me from a children’s home. He was arrested, released and trafficked me again.”

As we saw in Rochdale, the voice of victims was not listened to and prejudicial thinking around lifestyle choices blocked detailed investigation. These were young girls, exploited teenagers, suffering terrible abuse. Once again, we need to ensure that care homes, the police, social workers and health workers eradicate any cultural tolerance of the abuse of young girls. As Maggie Blyth from the Oxfordshire safeguarding children board said, there were “repeated missed opportunities” that could have been “identified or prevented earlier.”

Government have a role to play, so let me put these questions to the Secretary of State. Is she satisfied that the safeguarding arrangements in place for children in Oxfordshire today are right and proper and will prevent more children from being vulnerable to child sexual exploitation? Do the Government now intend to establish an independent inquiry into Oxfordshire county council to see whether it has the capacity to safeguard its children? We know that the work of Alexis Jay and Louise Casey in Rotherham was instrumental in sorting out that council in its approach to child sexual exploitation. Will the same approach be taken with Oxfordshire? Will further action be taken against those agencies and individuals who are found to have failed these children?

The Prime Minister is today setting out new measures to end “wilful neglect”. What is the Government’s definition of “wilful neglect”? Is the Secretary of State satisfied that the definition places sufficient onus on individuals who come into contact with children to report signs of abuse? Will she and the Home Secretary now support stronger laws on child exploitation and abduction? Will she look again at child abduction warning orders and the specific offence of child exploitation?

Finally, will the Secretary of State now join the cross-party consensus—the Labour party, the Liberal Democrats, the Education Committee and all professionals in the field—and support age-appropriate statutory sex and relationship education to teach young people about consent and healthy relationships? We need to give young people the armoury and the education to know that this kind of sexual abuse is wrong and needs to be stripped out of British society?

[Nicky Morgan]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his statement and his questions. I agree with his analysis that voices were not listened to. He points out that prosecutions have already taken place for crimes that have been committed. He is right to say that there should be no holding back on prosecutions because of the perpetrators’ background. As the Prime Minister rightly said this morning, that relates not just to Oxfordshire. There have been other terrible cases, as we have seen in the past few months, if not years. The Prime Minister said that a warped sense of political correctness had potentially prevented some investigations from taking place.

The hon. Gentleman asks about inspections. Ofsted inspected Oxfordshire children’s services last year and highlighted, as he did, the steps that had been taken in relation to Oxfordshire children’s services. I have already mentioned the letter sent by my right hon. Friends this morning in relation to the appointment of a senior children’s services expert to go back into Oxfordshire to look into the points raised in the serious case review.

The hon. Gentleman mentions the Louise Casey report. That was a wider report on council governance in Rotherham, in particular. In Oxfordshire we are looking specifically at the children’s services departments, but clearly this is an ongoing issue. He mentions the offence of wilful neglect, which we have said we will consult on. That concept is set out in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and has been proposed by my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary in relation to the lessons and the consequences of the Mid Staffs issues. It is a failure to act by a person who has a duty of care, in this case to children and young people.

The hon. Gentleman refers to the offence of child sexual exploitation. There are already many offences under which the perpetrators have been prosecuted, including, clearly, sexual relations with children and child rape. He mentions the education of young people in schools. I am fully in favour of excellent PSHE, sex and relationship education and education on consent, but it must be excellent. It cannot just be about ticking boxes. He talks about young people perhaps not knowing that what was happening to them was wrong. I think he knows that that is not the case, given the quotes from the victims in the serious case review. They knew that what was happening to them was wrong. They asked for help but they did not get it.

[Sir Tony Baldry (Banbury) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that every police officer, council official and social worker should consider whether a youngster is a child, and if they may be a child, they should be regarded as a child, listened to as a child and protected as a child, and that any professional who fails to provide that protection should risk disciplinary and criminal proceedings?

[Nicky Morgan]

My right hon. Friend is right. The offences in this case and in many others were committed against children. There can be no doubt that children of the age involved cannot give their consent to what was perpetrated against them. That should have made it much clearer to those who received reports or should have taken action that they needed to do so, and they were professionally incompetent for not doing so.

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

Does the Secretary of State agree that these ghastly crimes against children are a blight on any civilised society and that we must stop them occurring? Does she further agree that it is too often too easy to provide a fast knee-jerk response and get it wrong? Let us look very carefully at the evidence and consider how to respond. Let us look also at the way in which we are shrinking childhood in this country. Personally, I would like to see the age of consent raised. I oppose votes at 16 because that will bring the end of childhood closer. There is too much pressure on childhood and we as a society must look carefully at the preciousness of the childhood years.

[Nicky Morgan]

The hon. Gentleman is right that what we have seen in Oxfordshire and elsewhere are abhorrent, sickening crimes, and they are crimes. He is right to say that any of us in any position of authority feels that those are a stain on our society and must be eradicated. He is right to say that we do not want to rush into responding, but where immediate action must be taken, it is important that it is taken. That is what we have seen in Rotherham, for example, with the appointment of the commissioners. The Secretaries of State have been meeting since last autumn to discuss the Government’s response to Rotherham in particular, which will be announced at Downing street this afternoon. We have taken time and there will be further consultations coming out of the response. We have already announced reforms to children’s social work practice, and that is a long-term response about improving training. He will understand that there needs to be a mixture of responses to something as sickening as this.

[Mr Graham Stuart (Beverley and Holderness) (Con)]

We must do everything we can to reduce the vulnerability of the young people we have heard about today. Further to the question from the Opposition spokesman and the Secretary of State’s response, my Committee agrees about the need for excellent sex and relationship education in schools precisely to give resilience to young people, to enable them to talk about consent in a meaningful way, as one witness put it, and to tell them about age gaps and predatory behaviours so that they start to recognise those. We wrestled with how we would get the curriculum time and the investment in teacher quality if we do not make such education statutory—reluctantly, because we do not want to impose further duties on schools. We came to the conclusion that that had to be made statutory if we are to deliver it. If the Secretary of State thinks it should not be statutory, will she tell us why, or tell us what else could be done in lieu of what we suggested to make these things happen?

[Nicky Morgan]

I thank my hon. Friend the Chairman of the Select Committee for his remarks. The Committee produced an interesting report and I know that the Minister of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Mr Gibb), gave evidence to the Committee. We will consider the conclusions carefully. In relation to consent, it is important to know that the victims in these cases knew that they had not given consent. There was no question about consent being given. They knew that what was happening to them was absolutely wrong. Sex and relationship education is already compulsory in secondary maintained schools. Most academies and free schools also teach it, and I suspect that many primaries do so in an age-appropriate way. I was at Eastbourne academy last week talking to the students there about what they call SPHERE, which is like PSHE. The academy taught it in a fantastic way. It did not need to be told to do so; it did not need such teaching to be statutory. It was doing it because, exactly as the Chairman of the Select Committee said, it was preparing young people to be resilient.

[Helen Jones (Warrington North) (Lab)]

The whole House will be appalled at what has happened in Oxfordshire, but does the Secretary of State understand that we are appalled also that individuals who preside over these failing systems are not held to account? If there was a council where junior social workers have not referred these things up the system, where senior officers and senior councillors were unaware of them, that is a sign of a failing system within a council, and a proper independent outside inquiry is needed to get to the heart of why that system failed and to put it right, as was rightly done in Rotherham. Will the right hon. Lady explain to us why that is not happening now?

[Nicky Morgan]

The serious case review is an important step in what the hon. Lady calls for. It identifies the fact that, as she said, in Oxfordshire’s case there were junior people who were producing reports but those did not reach a senior enough level. There are other councils, as we know, one of which is Rotherham, where junior people did put in reports which were raised at a senior level, and the people at a senior level chose not to act on them. I have sympathy for the hon. Lady’s point about accountability and people taking responsibility. It will clearly be a matter for Oxfordshire county council, the police and others to think about who needs to take responsibility for these matters. We have already seen that in Rotherham my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has appointed a whole new set of commissioners to run that council. There are other councils where those in charge have taken responsibility and have resigned.

[Mrs Cheryl Gillan (Chesham and Amersham) (Con)]

I welcome the measures announced today and the Secretary of State’s indication that child sexual exploitation is now seen as a national threat, which shows the scale of abuse that I think is suspected. Thames Valley police suffered from many failings, but they have made some progress since 2013—I believe that 47 offenders have been successfully charged with 201 child sexual exploitation offences. What can she say at this stage about the support that she and her colleague in the Home Office, the Minister for Policing, Criminal Justice and Victims, will give to police officers and those on the front line who have to deal with these terrible offences?

[Nicky Morgan]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right that child sexual abuse will now be prioritised by every police force in England and Wales as a national threat, just like serious and organised crime, which means forces will now have a duty to collaborate to safeguard children, including through more efficient sharing of resources, intelligence and best practice. They will also be supported by specialist regional CSE police co-ordinators. I think that the national policing lead will be at this afternoon’s summit, where I expect to hear about much better training for all police officers.

[Kevin Barron (Rother Valley) (Lab)]

Sadly, this report echoes many of the examples of child abuse we have heard about in my own borough of Rotherham and elsewhere. I have two things to say to the Secretary of State. First, Ofsted also carried out an inspection in Rotherham and gave it a clean bill of health when that clearly was not the case. Secondly, she is right to say that Louise Casey’s report on governance went wider than child protection, but it was set up specifically because of the child abuse taking place in Rotherham. Is the Secretary of State satisfied that the scrutiny by elected members in Oxfordshire is up to the standard necessary to protect our young children? It clearly was not in my borough, and people are rightly having to take responsibility for that. Is she happy that that is being done in the elected Oxfordshire county council as well?

[Nicky Morgan]

The right hon. Gentleman is right to say that Ofsted inspected Rotherham before the issues came to light. The Ofsted framework has since changed, so the inspection carried out in Rotherham was based on a different framework and asked different questions from those of the inspection that we see today and the one that was carried out in Oxfordshire last summer. He is right to raise the issue of elected members, which is one of the questions that we will continue to go back to in Oxfordshire. He will be aware that the proposals on wilful neglect that the Prime Minister announced this morning will also apply to elected members.

[John Howell (Henley) (Con)]

I, too, pay tribute to the victims of these appalling crimes. Has the Secretary of State taken into account the fact that Operation Bullfinch, which brought the perpetrators to justice, has transformed the legal landscape in which cases can be heard? Have the good points that were brought out from Operation Bullfinch been taken into account across the country?

[Nicky Morgan]

I thank my hon. Friend, who is absolutely right to put support for the victims at the heart of all this. He is right that things have moved on as a result partly of Operation Bullfinch and partly of other operations and lessons learned from other cases. It is a different landscape but, as he will appreciate, that does not take away from the harm done to the victims.

[John Mann (Bassetlaw) (Lab)]

I called for the immediate removal and resignation of the Labour leadership of Rotherham council. Will the Secretary of State join me in calling for the resignation of the political leadership of Oxfordshire county council?

[Nicky Morgan]

I think that is a matter for the leaders and elected members of Oxfordshire county council to consider. The serious case review obviously covers failings from 2004 to 2011. We have today asked for a further locally led assessment of child sexual exploitation in Oxfordshire and for Sophie Humphreys to continue that work. Let me say to the hon. Gentleman that this work is ongoing.

[Sir Paul Beresford (Mole Valley) (Con)]

Two weeks ago I was with the Metropolitan police jigsaw unit and paedophile unit, and they will be delighted to a degree to hear her statement on education, because they feel that that is the answer, but they want it to be slanted more towards prevention. Teach what is normally taught, but also teach children about prevention, particularly on the internet. The Metropolitan police used to have a very good scheme that certainly worked for children and teachers, but it seems to have disappeared.

[Nicky Morgan]

My hon. Friend is right about the importance of education. It is all about the quality of the teaching materials and of the teaching that goes on in schools. There is no point having some sort of lip service paid to lessons about consent or anything else if the lessons do not sink in. The Government have invested in the PSHE Association, supporting improved teaching materials and improved guidance on consent.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

May I press the Secretary of State on the need for an independent inquiry? If the cultural issues that led to complaints and concerns not being escalated have not been addressed, why should there not be an independent inquiry?

[Nicky Morgan]

As I said earlier, the serious case review is an independent inquiry and, under this Government, it will be published in full so that we can all see what has been said. As I have said, we propose that there should be a specific piece of work led by Oxfordshire’s safeguarding children board on the impact of the multi-agency approach to tackling CSE, and we are appointing a children’s services expert to work alongside the council and gather evidence of the reforms it has already made to front-line practice.

[Damian Green (Ashford) (Con)]

I know that many police officers at all levels of the service are appalled at the policing failures that led to the wider failures in this terrible set of cases. I appreciate that this does not fall within the Secretary of State’s ministerial responsibility, but does she share my view that the key thing in the training of police officers now is to change the culture of disbelief so that they treat vulnerable young women no longer as a problem but as victims of crime?

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[Nicky Morgan]

My right hon. Friend is right to point to the culture of denial and disbelief. As we heard from the right hon. Member for Oxford East (Mr Smith), there was sometimes a reluctance to believe allegations, even when victims presented themselves in a state at a police station. The Minister for Policing, Criminal Justice and Victims is sitting alongside me, and I know that he is as appalled as we all are about this. As we have learned, there are lessons for the police that will be picked up at today’s summit.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State earlier said, “We on this side of the House are concerned”. May I take this opportunity to remind her that all Members on both sides of the House are united in their determination to drive out child sexual exploitation? I ask her to look at two particular proposals to increase resilience to such exploitation among children: first, to feed into the Home Office review of child advocates the lessons from this review; and secondly, to take up a suggestion made by worried mums in my constituency for parents’ PSHE so that they can better protect their children.

[Nicky Morgan]

The hon. Lady will appreciate that I cannot speak for Opposition Members, but I think that the tone of remarks from the shadow Education Secretary and others has shown that Members on both sides of the House are appalled by what has happened to the victims, and sadly not only in Oxfordshire, but in other local authorities. She will be well aware of what has happened to Slough’s children’s services and of the work that has been done there to set up the trust over the years. I understand her point about child advocates, which has already been taken up, and what she says about parents, whether in relation to PSHE or anything else. In this case, however, looking again at the serious case review, there were parents of victims also saying that they needed help, but they were not believed. That makes this case even more appalling.

[Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)]

As my right hon. Friend has said, child sexual exploitation has been a scourge in many communities across the UK. I am pleased that Lancashire police have taken a lead on those issues for a number of years now and regularly update me on local prosecutions. Will she say more about the level of support she can provide for the charities and non-statutory bodies that are doing such fantastic work to support victims but find themselves under increasing pressure at this time?

[Nicky Morgan]

Although many statutory agencies will be responsible for dealing with these issues in supporting victims and their families, my hon. Friend is absolutely right to pay tribute to the charities and the voluntary and community sector, which provide that support as well. This afternoon, for example, representatives from the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Barnardo’s and Rape Crisis are attending a summit on this. I know from my role as Minister for Women and Equalities—the policing Minister will appreciate this too—that smaller organisations often find very valuable support in communities. We absolutely want to help them to do their job.

[Bill Esterson (Sefton Central) (Lab)]

When the Education Committee carried out a year-long inquiry into child protection, we found that more needed to be done to support professionals in responding effectively and consistently to the early signs of neglect. Neglect causes long-term damage to thousands of young people every year. Therefore, should not prevention of neglect be as much of a priority as finding the perpetrators and supporting the victims, which the Secretary of State has talked about, and should that not include support for professionals, as recommended by the Committee and accepted by the Government two years ago in their response to our report?

[Nicky Morgan]

The hon. Gentleman talks about the need to deal with neglect, and I entirely agree. Sadly, there are many vulnerable children across our country. I am sure that we see them in our role as constituency Members of Parliament and work with them and their families. I mention to him the work that this Government have undertaken through the troubled families programme, which is turning round the lives of thousands of children. We also have the new knowledge and skills statement for children’s social workers that has been prepared by the chief children’s social worker, Isabelle Trowler, who does a fantastic job in my Department, and the wider reforms that I have announced in training for children’s social work. It all very well to have lots of children’s social workers, but it is also very important to ensure the quality of their training and of the work that they do in supporting vulnerable children and families.

Oral Answers to Questions

Baroness Morgan of Cotes Excerpts

Monday 2nd March 2015 Commons Chamber

[John Mann (Bassetlaw) (Lab)]

1. How many academies have reported a decline in exam results in the last year.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan)]

This year’s key stage 4 results are the first since crucial reforms to our qualification and accountability systems, which were designed to raise the bar for our children, came into force. Overall, the proportion of pupils achieving A* to C grades including English and maths in state schools fell across all types of school. There has been a 71% increase in the number of pupils taking the key academic subjects that will prepare them better for life in modern Britain.

[John Mann]

That was a bit of a non-answer. If an academy is successful, parents are happy and so am I, but what if an academy is getting bad results and is on the way down? What powers are there for local people to enable them to have any influence whatsoever on the future of that academy?

[Nicky Morgan]

I do not think that saying that 71% of pupils are taking the more academic subjects most highly valued by employers and universities could be described as a non-answer. In answer to the hon. Gentleman’s question, I am sure that as the local Member of Parliament he will be working closely with the regional schools commissioner, the head teacher, the teachers and the governors of that school. What we all want at the end of the day is the best possible education for our young people.

[Damian Green (Ashford) (Con)]

I was able to see for myself at Kennington Church of England junior academy on Friday the benefits of academy status in improving a school that has had serious weaknesses in the past. Does the Secretary of State agree that academy status increasingly benefits not just secondary schools but primary schools?

[Nicky Morgan]

I agree very much with my right hon. Friend. He will want to know that the first wave of sponsored primary academies, which opened in September 2012, has seen the proportion of pupils achieving levels 4 and above in reading, writing and maths increase by 9 percentage points, double the rate of improvement in local authority-maintained schools over the same period.

[Mr Geoffrey Robinson (Coventry North West) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State will be aware of the Grace academy in Coventry. She facilitated a meeting with one of her Ministers and we are grateful for that, but she will understand—and I hope will therefore follow it up closely herself—that the proof of the pudding will be in the effective action taken to deal with the situation. We have no indication that it is improving and the career prospects of 1,000 young children are being put at risk.

[Nicky Morgan]

I was pleased to facilitate the hon. Gentleman’s meeting with the Minister in question, one of my excellent team of Ministers. We will of course always maintain a close watch over all academies and their results. He might like to know that secondary converter academies perform well above average, with 64% of pupils achieving five or more good GCSEs in 2014 compared with 54% in local authority schools.

[Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)]

Late last week, it was announced that Pendle primary academy in Brierfield has been rated as good with outstanding features and outstanding behaviour by Ofsted, a big turnaround for a school deemed to be in need of major improvement just two years ago, before it became an academy. Will my right hon. Friend join me in congratulating the principal, Mrs Burnside, all the staff and the outstanding Nelson and Colne college, which sponsors Pendle primary academy?

[Nicky Morgan]

I thank my hon. Friend for that question. It is an absolute pleasure to congratulate the head teacher, Mrs Burnside, and all the staff, governors and pupils on their hard work in achieving those spectacular results. I greatly enjoyed my recent visit to schools in Pendle.

[Liz McInnes (Heywood and Middleton) (Lab)]

2. What recent assessment she has made of the effect of the cost of child care on the household disposable income of parents with disabled children.

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[Douglas Carswell (Clacton) (UKIP)]

3. If she will undertake a reassessment of the merits of grammar schools.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan)]

The law prohibits the establishment of new grammar schools, but we fully support the right of all good schools to expand, and that applies to grammar schools too. What is most important is that all children have access to a good local school, and we are committed to delivering that through our academies and free schools programmes.

[Douglas Carswell]

Does the Minister have much sympathy with the argument that academically selective schools in the state sector can enhance social mobility?

[Nicky Morgan]

I know that the hon. Gentleman’s party says that it has a clear policy on grammar schools—that is a relief, because at least it has a clear policy on something. Does he agree with his party’s leader, who said that the party was not going to publish its manifesto until as late as practically possible? May I suggest 8 May?

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

Why is the Secretary of State pursuing a policy that is attacking grammar schools with large sixth forms, which are being underfunded for their A-level provision?

[Nicky Morgan]

I am well aware of that issue, which has been raised in a Westminster Hall debate in recent weeks. We fully support sixth forms and want to see them continue, but the hon. Lady will be aware of the economic condition in which her party left this country.

[Heidi Alexander (Lewisham East) (Lab)]

How can the Secretary of State be so sure that expanding grammar schools will enhance opportunities for our most deprived young people and not just perpetuate and reinforce existing social privileges?

[Nicky Morgan]

The hon. Lady might have misheard my answer to a previous question. This Government are in favour of expanding all good schools. I think that she will want to recognise that we have 1 million more children in good or outstanding schools as a result of this Government’s education policies.

[Charlie Elphicke (Dover) (Con)]

13. May I welcome the Secretary of State’s announcement on extending grammar school provision in Kent? Does she agree that grammar schools are an important part of the diversity in our education system that gives parents the best possible choice of the kind of school that suits their children?

[Nicky Morgan]

I agree with my hon. Friend that parents being able to make the right choice for their child is exactly what we want to see, because they know their child best. I should make it clear that the Department is currently considering the proposals that have been put to us by a school in Kent, and I expect to reach a decision in due course.

[Craig Whittaker (Calder Valley) (Con)]

4. If her Department will publish a ranking of the property data survey programme of participant schools.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Graham Stuart (Beverley and Holderness) (Con)]

7. What assessment she has made of which of her Department’s policies since May 2010 has been most successful in achieving its original objectives.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan)]

There have been many outstanding achievements during this Parliament, but I particularly highlight our reforms to raise standards in schools as a key success. This has led to more children than ever before—as I said, almost 1 million pupils—attending a school rated good or outstanding by Ofsted.

[Mr Stuart]

We currently have the fastest expanding economy in the western world, which is obviously extremely welcome, but the improvement in standards in our schools has come about because of recruitment of the best possible graduates into the profession. What more can the Government do to ensure that these graduates come into our schools, particularly those in rural and coastal areas?

[Nicky Morgan]

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. We now need to see excellent teaching right the way across the system in every school. Every child’s life chances are only as good as the quality of teaching they receive. That is why the Prime Minister recently announced that our manifesto would include a national teaching service to encourage more good teachers to enter the profession and to be represented in all schools right across the country.

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

Any reputable organisation evaluating its success employs external consultants or impartial people, or at least consults its consumers. When I go round schools in this country, as I do very regularly, I find a devastated landscape. Does the Secretary of State agree? I find unaccountable schools, a top-down culture, a restricted curriculum, and a very low regard for this Secretary of State.

[Nicky Morgan]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his most charming remarks, but no, I completely disagree about the landscape that he finds. I find excellent schools up and down the country; brilliant, highly qualified teachers working incredibly hard; rigorous academic standards; and a tough but worthy new curriculum that is introducing subjects such as coding and computing, as we have heard. Now our task is to make sure that excellence is spread right the way across the country.

[Annette Brooke (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD)]

School sport partnerships were scrapped very early on in 2010 and have been replaced with various measures, which I am very pleased to welcome. May I have an assurance that something has now been set, that it will continue and that we can build back to where we were with the excellent partnerships?

[Nicky Morgan]

The introduction of the sport premium means that we have given substantial funds directly to heads and teachers to spend in their school. The number of sports and the amount of time that pupils are spending on physical activity are going up each week. The Prime Minister has made a commitment to keep that funding until 2020. On a school visit last week, I saw that a fantastic co-ordinator was being employed to get all the young people moving.

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

In 2010 the Conservative party manifesto promised to

“close the attainment gap between the richest and poorest”,

so can the Secretary of State tell the House whether, over the past two years, since the roll-out of coalition policy, the attainment gap between pupils on free school meals and their better-off classmates has narrowed or widened?

[Nicky Morgan]

I can say to the hon. Gentleman, without equivocation, that it has narrowed. The 2014 key stage 4 results show that the gap between disadvantaged and other pupils has narrowed by almost 4% since 2012.

[Tristram Hunt]

Oh dear, it is yet another reprimand for the Secretary of State from the UK Statistics Authority, because the attainment gap is widening on her watch. According to Teach First,

“things are getting worse for poorer children, instead of better.”

When it comes to education, at the end of this Parliament this Government have failed. There are more unqualified teachers, failing free schools, chaos and confusion in the school system, falling youth apprenticeships, a teacher recruitment crisis, class sizes rocketing and too many pupils taught in schools that are not judged good. Is that not the reason that, come 8 May, we will have a Labour Government ready to clean up this mess, invest in and reform our schools, and offer every child an outstanding education?

[Nicky Morgan]

It might have helped if the hon. Gentleman could have said any of that with a straight face, but he could not because he knows it is all utter drivel. We see fewer unqualified teachers, more children educated in schools rated good by Ofsted and the gap between disadvantaged and advantaged children falling. As we saw with the Labour party’s tuition fee policy announcement last week, Labour’s education policies are a farce, like scenes from “Nuns on the Run”.

[Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

8. What assessment she has made of the potential benefits to pupils of the expansion of the Troops to Teachers programme.

--- Later in debate ---

[Charlotte Leslie (Bristol North West) (Con)]

12. What support her Department is providing for the establishment of a college of teaching.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan)]

Nothing in schools matters more than good teaching, and we are proud to have so many dedicated professionals in our classrooms. An independent professional body could play a valuable part in raising the status and standards of teaching, and give teachers vital support. Our consultation, “A world-class teaching profession”, outlined our commitment to offer support to those seeking to establish such a body, independent of Government, and we will publish our response to the consultation shortly.

[Charlotte Leslie]

The Government’s offer of funding to help a college start up is welcome, but can the Secretary of State reassure me that it will come with no strings attached so that teachers themselves can drive what the college is, and that she will not seek to impose things such as teacher licensing schemes top-down, before this fledgling college has even left the nest?

[Nicky Morgan]

If my hon. Friend knows anything about me she will know that I am not in favour of anything that is top-down, and I agree that the proposed body must be established and owned by teachers for teachers. To be successful, a college of teaching must be free from Government control. Our recent consultation made a commitment to offer support—whether financial or otherwise—if that would be helpful, but the independence of the college from Government remains our overriding concern and our support must not compromise that.

[Julie Hilling (Bolton West) (Lab)]

14. What steps she is taking to ease teachers’ work loads.

--- Later in debate ---

[Sir Bob Russell (Colchester) (LD)]

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

[The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan)]

As this is the last Education Question Time of this Parliament, I thank colleagues in all parts of the House for their questions, though I particularly thank all staff and governors at the thousands of schools up and down this country who work so hard every day to prepare our young people for life in modern Britain.

In this Parliament, the Government have established more than 4,200 academies, 255 free schools, 37 studio schools and 37 university technical colleges. More than 100,000 more six-year-olds are able to read because of our focus on phonics, and we have introduced the pupil premium, worth £2.5 billion this year. Our plan for education is working.

[Sir Bob Russell]

I am grateful to the Secretary of State for that answer, but one thing that the Government have not done is introduce a holistic approach to education for life. If we are talking about positive values and life skills, is it not time that first aid training was made a requirement in the school curriculum?

[Nicky Morgan]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for spotting one of the things that we have not yet achieved in this Parliament. I agree with him that first aid skills are very important, and I was discussing that only this morning with Natasha Jones, who has been named Tesco community mum of the year for setting up a baby resuscitation project. We also welcome the work of expert organisations such as the British Heart Foundation to support schools in this aspect of teaching and we have been working with the Department of Health on helping schools to procure defibrillators at a reduced price.

[Heidi Alexander (Lewisham East) (Lab)]

T7. Today is national secondary offer day, yet 24% of the country’s secondary schools are full or over capacity. Given that this Government have wasted £240 million on free school places in areas without any real need for them, what does the Secretary of State say to parents whose children are being crammed into schools that are over capacity?

[Nicky Morgan]

What I say to the hon. Lady, and therefore to anyone who wants to ask questions about this, is that when her party was in government, it stripped 200,000 places at the time of a baby boom and allowed uncontrolled immigration. At the last national offer day—[Interruption.] I suggest that she waits to find out what the offers are this year, but at the last national offer day, 82.5% of pupils were offered a place at the highest preference school and 95.5% were offered a place at one of the top three; and of course, seven out of 10 free schools have been opened in areas of basic need.

[Charlotte Leslie (Bristol North West) (Con)]

T2. Little Fatima at Fonthill school in Southmead made two years’ reading progress in just 16 weeks thanks to the “Read on. Get on” scheme. What support are the Government giving to reading recovery schemes such as this?

[Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)]

Given that two secondary academies in my constituency have recently been judged inadequate by Ofsted—one having previously been judged as outstanding, the other as good—the Secretary of State will understand that many of those parents would like to see her working closely and quickly with those schools to get them back to where they need to be. What action is she going to take to ensure that those children in Stockport and in Tameside receive the life chances they deserve?

[Nicky Morgan]

I entirely agree with the hon. Gentleman that a good education is exactly that: it is all about enhancing the life chances of all the young people at those schools. If he wants to let us have the names of those schools, I am of course happy to follow the issue up with DFE officials and the regional schools commissioner, as well as working with the heads directly.

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

T3. On that subject, does the Secretary of State agree that improving the links with local businesses and schools is key? Will she therefore welcome the interest that David Nieper Ltd has shown in sponsoring Alfreton Grange arts college?

[Nicky Morgan]

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend’s points, and I would like to congratulate the company he mentioned on its sponsorship. Professional standards of governance in schools are vital, and we want to make sure that governing boards are focused on recruiting people with the skills for the role. People from business have valuable transferable skills and benefit from board-level experience. I want to see more employers encouraging and supporting their staff to volunteer as governors. This is something I have discussed with the CBI.

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

Why does the Conservative party not value education? Why is the Secretary of State happy to see her budget slashed under any future Tory Government? Why will she not make a commitment, as the Labour party has done, to protecting the education budget in real terms rather than delivering a 10% cut to schools over the next Parliament?

[Nicky Morgan]

Why will the hon. Gentleman not secure from his party leader a per pupil funding? Under our spending plans, the next Conservative Government will be spending £590 million more on schools than his party will.

[Ian Swales (Redcar) (LD)]

T4. All Durham’s secondary schools were rated good or outstanding in 2013, and there was such a surplus of places that one school closed. That school became the home of the Durham free school, and I noticed that the Secretary of State was in Durham confirming its closure just last week. Why does she think her Department allowed this waste of taxpayers’ money, and what lessons has it learned?

[Nicky Morgan]

I was pleased to meet some of the parents from the Durham free school, and we discussed various interests. I made it clear to them that my Department operates on the basis of putting the interests of children absolutely first. We will of course look at all the lessons to be learned from the way in which the application was processed and considered in the first place. Nevertheless, 24% of open or free schools have already been judged outstanding by Ofsted, and more have been judged as good. This is a successful programme, but there will inevitably be some issues, and we have taken swift action to deal with problems in this case.

[Kate Hoey (Vauxhall) (Lab)]

What help can the Minister give to the Archbishop Sumner primary school—a school in my constituency that has been rated outstanding by Ofsted—which has been trying to become a two-form entry school for some years? Lambeth seems to have taken against that idea, despite it not affecting any of the local schools. Will the Secretary of State get involved in this issue?

[Nicky Morgan]

I thank the hon. Lady for raising the matter with me. I would be happy to take a look. We can take further details, arrange a meeting and work out ways to raise this issue with the local authority. On the basis of previous conversations, I think both she and I want the same thing, which is for all young people to get the best possible education to set them up for life.

[Adam Afriyie (Windsor) (Con)]

We have some of the best schools in the country in my Windsor constituency—and perhaps one or two of them are slightly over-represented here in the House of Commons! I speak, of course, of Windsor Boys’ school. Will the Secretary of State commend Windsor Girls’ school for forming a joint academy status with Windsor Boys’ school?

[Nicky Morgan]

I add my congratulations to the two schools on becoming academies. On this side, we firmly believe that academy status puts power in the hands of heads and teachers who know how best to serve their pupils and give them the best possible start in life.

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

Does the Secretary of State agree that all our children should have a full chance of exploiting all their talents in our educational system? If so, why is she cutting further education again when FE is so important to the less privileged in our country? Why has nothing been mentioned in this Question Time about special educational needs or autism or about the fact that so many parents in this country have no chance of help?

[Nicky Morgan]

The hon. Gentleman raised an important point at the end of his question, but to be honest, I am here to answer the questions, not to ask them. It is up to hon. Members to raise the issues, whether they be about special educational needs, autism, disability or any other topic. The Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Mr Timpson), would answer any such questions brilliantly, as he always does. On FE, I have already explained that this Government have had to take difficult financial decisions as a result of the legacy that we inherited. I think that the hon. Gentleman would agree that the decision to prioritise spending on early years and on schools for children up to 16 is right because that will be of most benefit to our young people.

[Mr Nigel Evans (Ribble Valley) (Con)]

T5. We may not have Eton in the Ribble Valley, but all our schools are of an incredibly high standard. To make parental choice effective, we must ensure that parents are not stung when youngsters decide to go past their nearest school to a grammar, a faith-based school or, indeed, a non-faith-based school. They might want to go and learn Russian. Will the Secretary of State ensure that she talks to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government so that we make parental choice effective?

[Nicky Morgan]

My hon. Friend has raised this matter before. I know that he has campaigned on it, and that he feels passionately about it. I should be happy to talk to Ministers in the Department for Communities and Local Government. I believe that faith schools play an important role in our education system, and I support them. As my hon. Friend is aware from discussions that we have had, I want to encourage all local authorities to arrange school transport flexibly, creatively and innovatively, and to make the best possible use of any gaps in their existing school bus provision.

[Kelvin Hopkins (Luton North) (Lab)]

I understand that the Minister recently visited Shanghai to look at the education system in China. In this respect, the Chinese are more successful than we are in many ways. What is the key difference that makes China’s socialist state system so much more successful than our system, in terms of classrooms, culture and teaching methods, and what did the Minister learn from that?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Graham Stuart (Beverley and Holderness) (Con)]

T6. Will the Secretary of State commit himself to maintaining a focus on social justice and rooting for those who do not go to university? Will he reject out of hand a policy that has been described by the New Statesman as “dire”, by Martin Lewis as “financially illiterate”, and by The Times as Labour’s worst policy? Tuition fees cuts amounting to £2.7 billion would subsidise the very richest at a time when we need to do more for the very poorest.

[Nicky Morgan]

My hon. Friend has hit the nail on the head. We are taking money from the welfare budget to pay for apprenticeships that will set our young people up in life, while the Labour party is taking money away from pensioners in order to fund a misguided policy on tuition fees. According to the vice-chancellor of my own university, Loughborough, that policy would make 500 people redundant. Which 500 people in Loughborough does the shadow Secretary of State think should be made redundant?

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

I have had a letter from the head teacher of the excellent Baylis Court secondary school in my constituency, pointing out that the cost of payroll changes involving, for instance, national insurance will be £222,000 next year, without funding. Moreover, the education support grant is to be cut by £53 a head. What difference will that makes to the girls’ learning?

[Nicky Morgan]

As we have seen during the current Parliament, schools have been able to raise standards at a time of straitened budgets. I have every faith in them. I believe that they will continue to raise their standards, and that all the young people in that school will benefit.

[Mike Freer (Finchley and Golders Green) (Con)]

The Secretary of State has been very supportive of the protection of schools against terrorism attacks, and my constituents and I are very grateful for that. Will she update the House on progress in the funding of counter-terrorism measures at independent Jewish schools?

[Nicky Morgan]

My hon. Friend has raised an extremely important point. I do not want any young people to feel frightened of attending school or of their journey to and from school, and, sadly, that applies particularly to members of the Jewish community at present. I have had discussions with a number of Jewish organisations about the funds that are required and the estimates that they have provided.

[Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)]

Given that 30% of Birmingham’s population are under the age of 15, there are enormous pressures on school places, which will continue. However, there is no correlation between teacher training places and demand in regions where that demand will increase. Will the Secretary of State address the problem, and ensure that the availability of teacher training places matches regional demands?

[Nicky Morgan]

That is a very interesting point. I shall need to look into exactly how the teacher supply model is calculated each year, but I can tell the hon. Lady that, during the current Parliament, the Government have invested £5 billion to create new school places, and that, because we continue to recognise that there is pressure on the system, we have announced further funding up to 2021.

[Robert Jenrick (Newark) (Con)]

We were delighted to see the Orchard special school in Newark added to a list of 16 schools in Nottinghamshire to which funding was provided last month for classrooms. Those of us who know the Orchard school believe it may be beyond repair; this school really is in bad condition. Will the Secretary of State agree to review this case and get back to us?

[Nicky Morgan]

I was delighted last month to be able to announce £6 billion of investment in school buildings for school blocks in the worst condition, but of course, sadly, demand always outstrips supply. If my hon. Friend would like to send me further details, I shall ensure that I or one of the Ministers respond, and perhaps meet him to have a chat about it.

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement that she is against top-down imposition. Will she therefore admit that her predecessor made a huge mistake when he ordered the decoupling of AS and A-levels, and put that right before it is too late?

[Nicky Morgan]

I like the hon. Gentleman very much indeed, but I am afraid I am going to have to disagree with him on this, because the evidence shows that having linear exams, where students have much longer to study the subject, benefits them as they understand the subject in depth. This is an important reform and I wait to see the progress it makes.

[Mr David Heath (Somerton and Frome) (LD)]

This Government have protected school budgets, yet those at the secondary school in my constituency who wrote to me last week say that they are facing a cut of nearly 3% in their funding next year. Is that a result of the long-standing unfair budget formula, is it because of an imbalance between secondary and primary schools, or is it because of decisions taken by Somerset county council locally?

[Nicky Morgan]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. I suspect that it is a combination of factors, and I am sure that Ministers will be happy to look into this further, but he makes an important point about the need to push on with restoring the national fairer funding formula. Too many areas and too many authorities in this country have suffered from funding falling back over many years. We are making progress—small progress—in this Parliament and we hope to make greater progress in the next Parliament in restoring that fairness.

Oral Answers to Questions

Baroness Morgan of Cotes Excerpts

Thursday 26th February 2015 Commons Chamber

[Jo Swinson]

indicated assent.

[The Minister for Women and Equalities (Nicky Morgan)]

indicated assent.

--- Later in debate ---

[Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough) (Lab)]

4. What assessment she has made of the effects on employed women who are victims of domestic violence of means-testing when they attempt to access a refuge.

[The Minister for Women and Equalities (Nicky Morgan)]

Employed people entering refuge accommodation can claim help with their housing costs through housing benefit, which is both an in-work and out-of-work benefit. When paid to claimants who are in work, it is calculated on the basis of their earnings. The Government have provided £6.5 billion in housing-related support over this spending review period so that when someone enters a refuge the support element of the provision will not be means-tested.

[Andy McDonald]

Does the Minister agree that the safety of women suffering domestic violence ought to be prioritised over their ability to access funds at a time of personal crisis? If so, will she support my call for means testing to include an assessment of the economic impact of abusive and controlling relationships?

[Nicky Morgan]

I know that the hon. Gentleman has done a lot of work with the charity My Sister’s Place, based in his constituency, and I agree that at a time of personal crisis the first thing refuges do—this will be the case for most of the refuges I have spoken to—is offer security, not ask how somebody will pay. He will have seen the ministerial letter to My Sister’s Place making it clear that where a victim of domestic violence takes up temporary accommodation, while also making arrangements to return to their home, housing benefit for both properties can be payable. Discretionary housing payment is also available.

[Adam Afriyie (Windsor) (Con)]

The Berkshire women’s refuge serves my constituency incredibly well. We all abhor domestic violence, particularly towards women, so does my right hon. Friend, like me, welcome the victim surcharge, which ensures that those who commit these acts contribute to making reparations?

[Nicky Morgan]

I absolutely welcome the victim surcharge, which results in important payments being made. I am sure that he will also want to welcome the announcement by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government just before Christmas of an extra £10 million to secure refuge accommodation for the next two years.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

5. What estimate she has made of the potential benefit to working families of the extension of the childcare business grants scheme announced in the autumn statement 2014.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan)]

Working families benefit from a thriving child care sector, with the scheme supporting up to 3,000 new child care businesses in the next financial year. I am pleased to inform the House that, from this April, we are doubling the value of the grants available to childminders and nurseries. We will also extend the scheme to existing child care businesses that have been trading for less than a year.

[Bob Blackman]

In my constituency, there is a huge demand from mothers with young children for safe and secure childminders from a diverse background. What further measures is my right hon. Friend able to take to ensure that those young mothers can return to work knowing that their children are safe and secure?

[Nicky Morgan]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that childminders are a crucial part of the child care sector. We want to see more of them, which is why we have enabled the establishment of childminder agencies. To date, the childcare business grant scheme has benefited more than 4,000 childminders, including almost 30 in my hon. Friend’s constituency. The scheme has also benefited seven nurseries in Harrow, East—MiniSteps, for example.

[Tom Greatrex (Rutherglen and Hamilton West) (Lab/Co-op)]

7. What assessment she has made of the effects of Government policies on disabled people’s access to work.

--- Later in debate ---

[Kate Green (Stretford and Urmston) (Lab)]

8. What change there has been in the number of people bringing discrimination claims since the introduction of tribunal fees.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan)]

Although the number of people bringing discrimination claims to the employment tribunals is not collected centrally, the number of complaints of discrimination from ET claims is collected. From July to September 2014, there were 5,475 complaints of discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation, or of having suffered a detriment or unfair dismissal due to pregnancy, or complaints relating to equal pay. This compares to just over 18,000 in the quarter from April to June 2013, a fall of 71%.

[Kate Green]

There has been a particularly shocking fall of more than 90% in the number of sex discrimination cases, including those involving pregnancy-related discrimination. Many women on low incomes cannot apply for fee remission in order to go to an employment tribunal, not because of their own incomes, but because of their partners’ incomes or savings. Does the Minister think that that system is giving those women fair access to justice? Furthermore, is it not penalising good businesses that do not try to get away with poor, discriminatory practices, unlike others which know that there will be no danger of a challenge if they do so?

[Nicky Morgan]

Pregnancy discrimination in the workplace is unacceptable and unlawful, and the Government have recognised the need to tackle it. In November 2013, we announced an extensive programme of research on perceived pregnancy and maternity discrimination in Great Britain. We have made a commitment to conduct a review of the introduction of the fees, and we will do so, but we think that this is a matter for the next Administration and the next Parliament.

School Places

Baroness Morgan of Cotes Excerpts

Thursday 12th February 2015 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan)]

Today, my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Schools and I are announcing £1.6 billion of capital funding to support the creation of the new school places needed by September 2018.

Ensuring that every child is able to attend a good or outstanding school in their local area is at the heart of the Government’s comprehensive programme of reform of the school system. We know that our growing population means that new school places are needed in many parts of the country so the Government are absolutely committed to providing capital investment to ensure every child has a place at school. We have more than doubled funding for new places to £5 billion in this Parliament. By May 2014, this investment had already helped to create an additional 445,000 school places with more still to come.

Today we are announcing £1.3 billion of funding for local authorities in 2017-18. This is in addition to the £5 billion allocated over 2011-15 and the £2.35 billion already announced for 2015-17. In doing so, we recognise that good investment decisions require certainty. Announcing allocations for 2017-18 today means local authorities will be able to plan effectively and make good strategic investment decisions to ensure they deliver school places for every child who needs one in the coming years.

As well as local authority allocations for 2017-18, we are also announcing how we will allocate the £300 million top-slice held back from our 2015-17 allocations. This funding will be targeted at local authorities experiencing significant and unexpected increases in their pupil numbers over the next few years, with payments starting in the coming financial year so that local authorities can benefit from this funding straight away.

In making these allocations this Government are continuing to target funding effectively, based on local needs, using data we have collected from local authorities about the capacity of schools and forecast pupil projections. Later in the spring we will also be publishing updated information on the number of primary places each local authority is creating, as well as their cost and quality.

This will help ensure greater accountability and transparency around the places provided and at what cost.

Details of today’s announcement will be sent to local authorities and be published on the gov.uk website. Copies will be placed in the Library of the House.

[HCWS288]

School Estate (Investment)

Baroness Morgan of Cotes Excerpts

Monday 9th February 2015 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan)]

Today, my right hon. Friend the Minister for Schools and I have announced over £6 billion of investment to improve the condition of the school estate. Investing in our school buildings is a key part of the Government’s long term economic plan to secure Britain’s future. It will help to ensure children across the country can enjoy schools which are safe, good quality and fit for learning, and it will help to build a fairer society.

First, we will invest around £2 billion in rebuilding and major refurbishment projects, to address the needs of school buildings in the very worst condition. We can confirm today that 277 schools will have the condition need in one or more of their buildings addressed under the second phase of the Priority School Building Programme. As a result, thousands more pupils will see their learning environments transformed. This is in addition to the 260 schools being rebuilt or having their need addressed under the first phase of the programme.

Secondly, we are announcing today over £4 billion worth of allocations to schools, local authorities, academy trusts and voluntary aided partnerships to fund the improvement and maintenance of our schools. For the first time in years, we have reliable information on the condition of school buildings from the Property Data Survey—the most comprehensive survey of the school estate ever undertaken. All of those responsible for schools will now receive funding in proportion to the size and condition of their schools. Where necessary, we are providing additional support to those responsible for schools with the most severe condition need.

We know that being taught in school buildings in poor condition can have an adverse effect on pupil attainment. The reforms we are announcing today are a major step towards ensuring that all children have access to a learning environment which is safe and fit for purpose, no matter where they live.

We recognise that good investment decisions require certainty and stability. This is why the funding we have announced today will cover, for the first time, three years, from 2015-16 to 2017-18, giving local authorities, academy trusts and voluntary aided partnerships some much-needed certainty. They can now plan effectively and make good strategic investment decisions that deliver the best possible value for their schools.

Investment decisions have a direct and significant impact on local schools and their pupils and it is important that those decisions are open and transparent. We want to do more to empower local schools and communities to engage with and hold local decision-makers to account for their investment decisions. So we are announcing today that we will collect information from all bodies responsible for the maintenance of the school estate on how they have used their funding. The information will be simple, high-level and easily accessible to the public.

Today’s announcements bring us much closer to delivering the aims of Sebastian James’ Review of school capital—to ensure that our capital investment in the school estate provides excellent value for money and, ultimately, gets money to those schools and pupils that need it most.

Details of today’s announcements will be sent to those who will be receiving funding or investment and be published online at: http://www.gov.uk. Copies will be placed in the House Library.

[HCWS262]

Birmingham Schools

Baroness Morgan of Cotes Excerpts

Thursday 29th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan)]

With permission, I should like to update the House on progress in implementing the recommendations contained in Peter Clarke’s report on Birmingham schools.

The Government have accepted every one of Peter Clarke’s recommendations, and I am today placing a document in the Libraries of both Houses outlining the progress that has been made on each. I am pleased to report that since I last updated the House in July, all the recommendations have been implemented or are on track. As a result, I am confident that if the events we witnessed in Birmingham were repeated again, they would be identified and dealt with more quickly and far more effectively.

However, let me be clear that there is no room for complacency either in the specific case of Birmingham or more generally. We must always remain vigilant. There is no more important responsibility than keeping children safe, and giving them the chance of a first-class education that prepares them for life in modern Britain. That is why I am determined that we should not only act when and where we receive information of concern, but build resilience into the system to ensure that it is more able to withstand attempts to undermine or subvert it. We are addressing both concerns.

On the specific issue of Birmingham, a significant amount has been achieved. The job is not done—the problems we encountered in Birmingham arose over a number of years and will not be resolved overnight—but we have already made considerable progress. We have acted quickly in the schools most affected by the issues in Peter Clarke’s report. New trustees are in place at all the academies, led by outstanding and dedicated head teachers who are able to tackle the troubling legacy of previous trustees. I am enormously grateful to them for their work.

There has been good progress at two of the three Park View academies. More needs to be done at Park View academy itself, where the significant number of suspended staff has hampered progress, but through the regional schools commissioners network my Department has supported the trustees to find new staff, and it will consider all reasonable requests for additional funding if and where it can help.

In respect of Oldknow academy, the trustees have voted to bring in Ark, a well-established multi-academy sponsor with the capacity and capability to turn the academy around. I am confident that that arrangement will deliver the right results for the children at that school.

I am pleased to report that yesterday the trustees of the Park View Educational Trust announced that Golden Hillock will also join the Ark network. This decision is a significant step along the road to ensuring that its pupils get the best possible chance to fulfil their potential.

In April 2014, Ofsted judged that Saltley school and specialist science college required special measures. The governing body resigned in June, and an interim executive board was appointed. Since 1 September, leadership at Saltley has been the responsibility of Washwood Heath academy, which was praised by Ofsted last year for its

“strong lead on issues of religious extremism.”

It is now sponsoring Saltley’s application to convert to academy status, which will happen on 1 March.

Peter Clarke recommended that my Department should consider the case for taking formal action against individual governors or teachers who may have breached their teacher standards. The two academy trusts at the centre of concerns have already suspended a significant number of staff pending disciplinary hearings. I can confirm that the National College for Teaching and Leadership is investigating a number of teachers and that officials are considering formal action against other individuals involved. We must take prompt and decisive action, but we must also follow established and fair processes. I expect to see further progress in this area very shortly, but it is important to note that all cases will be judged against the strengthened advice that I have issued to the NCTL.

Some key people involved in Birmingham schools were leading figures in the Association of Muslim Schools UK, which performs some statutory functions in state-funded Muslim schools. They have now been removed from their positions, and AMSUK now has a new constitution that recognises the importance of member schools upholding and promoting fundamental British values. The Department will continue to monitor closely how AMSUK implements that constitution to be sure that it is suitable for its statutory role.

We have acted swiftly to turn around the academies mentioned in Peter Clarke’s report, but his investigation also recommended that Birmingham city council should review the systems, processes and policies for supporting maintained schools in the city. For that reason, I appointed Sir Mike Tomlinson as education commissioner for Birmingham last September to work with the council and oversee the necessary reforms. I would like to thank Sir Mike and his deputy, Colin Diamond, for their invaluable work to date.

The House will also be aware that Sir Bob Kerslake published his review of governance in Birmingham city council in December. That showed the scale of the challenge. I am pleased that Sir Bob recommended that Sir Mike and Lord Warner, who continues as children’s social care commissioner in Birmingham until March, should be ex officio members of an improvement panel that will oversee the much needed reform.

The council now has an education services improvement plan, which I welcome, but it has much more to do to put it into practice. Schools need to be confident that any concerns they raise with the council will be tackled quickly and effectively. I met the leader of the council earlier this month, along with the cabinet member for children’s services and senior council officers. I told them that I was concerned that the reform was too slow, and that I wanted to see much stronger leadership. If the council does not take urgent steps to improve its leadership capacity, I am prepared to use the powers available to me to issue a statutory direction to the council. I will continue to keep that under review. I can tell the House that I have extended Sir Mike Tomlinson’s appointment to March 2016 to oversee the council’s delivery of the plan it has developed.

As I said earlier, we need not only to act on individual cases, but to build greater resilience into the system. As Peter Clarke recommended, I have increased my Department’s capacity and expertise in counter-extremism by dramatically expanding the due diligence and counter-extremism group in the Department and placing it under the leadership of a full-time director. We will make further changes in the Department in response to my permanent secretary’s report, which was laid before the House on Friday 16 January. For example, we will establish a counter-extremism steering group to ensure that the whole Department recognises and acts on its responsibilities in this area.

Since Peter Clarke’s report was published, my Department has strengthened the process for converting to academy status or joining a multi-academy trust. New checks are now done on prospective trustees, and regional schools commissioners decide on convertor applications using local intelligence, with help from local head teacher boards. Academies must also publish registers of trustees’ interests and inform the Education Funding Agency of changes of trustees. We are consulting on similar requirements on registers of interest for governors of maintained schools. We have made important changes and clarifications to the governors’ handbook, with clear expectations about skills and capacity, and the information that governors need to provide. We are also responding to the recommendations on Prevent training by changing the statutory safeguarding guidance.

I want school staff and the public to feel confident about reporting safeguarding concerns, including about extremism, to the Department. I intend to extend the scope of legal protections to school staff who make whistleblowing allegations. Ofsted is also reviewing its arrangements for handling complaints to ensure that they adequately capture concerns about extremism.

On 25 November, Ofsted published an advice note on no-notice inspections, having indicated that it would broaden its criteria for considering when to conduct them. There were 35 unannounced inspections in the autumn term. Although the chief inspector has confirmed that Ofsted will not routinely inspect schools without notice, it does so where concerns arise. That was the case with a number of inspections in Tower Hamlets in October. That has proven to be an effective approach.

Other important changes that have been made over the last six months, including to the inspection handbook for publicly funded schools, respond partly to the lessons from Birmingham. The handbook makes it clear that inspectors should assess how schools keep children safe from the risks of extremism and radicalisation, and how they promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.

I want to be clear that all schools of whatever type should promote those values. They lie at the heart of our country and society. They help to open young people’s minds, making them into citizens who respect difference, welcome disagreement and challenge intolerance. They are the attributes that have, in this century and the last, made our country one of the greatest forces for good. They are the values that bind us together. They are the values that mean that, despite the many differences in our nation, we can find a way to move forward together.

These values unite rather than divide, so I say again that no school should be exempt from promoting them, just as no school should be exempt from promoting rigorous academic standards. There is not one rule for some and another for the rest, but a fair and transparent system that has the best interests of children at its heart. Every school should be promoting fundamental British values, not just because they act as a bulwark against extremism, but because it is the right thing to do.

The Government will not tolerate extremism of any kind. It turns one against another, warps minds, and causes harm and division in communities. It can ultimately lead to support for terrorism. The battle against it begins at school, where young people learn to be active, resilient and tolerant citizens who are ready to seize the rich opportunities of modern Britain. That is why I am proud that no Government have done more to tackle extremism in schools than this Government, and we shall continue to do so in the years to come.

I commend this statement to the House.

--- Later in debate ---

[Nicky Morgan]

I welcome the support from the shadow Secretary of State for the fact that there is no place for extremism or intolerance in our schools, and for the teaching and promotion of fundamental British values. Let me turn to the points that he made in response to my statement. He will be aware that the permanent secretary did not only review the events of the past four years; in fact, he went back much further, including to times when members of the hon. Gentleman’s party—including the shadow Chancellor—were Secretary of State for Education.

The permanent secretary’s report found that the Department had not missed any warnings—[Interruption.] If the hon. Gentleman would stop talking, he would be able to hear the answers—[Interruption.] He is clearly not interested in hearing the answers even though he said that the issue was not about partisan politics. He talked about our policies, but they have delivered improvements than mean 1 million more children are in good or outstanding schools since 2010. That is thanks to this Government’s reforms.

The permanent secretary’s review concluded that Ministers from both sides of the House had not missed warnings but had shown a lack of inquisitiveness, and we are putting procedures in place. The hon. Gentleman is right to say that Peter Clarke’s report set out compelling evidence of a determined effort by people with a shared ideology to gain control of the governing bodies of a small number of schools in Birmingham, but he is wrong to say that that is down to Government policy or the reforms that we have put in place since 2010. Given that the hon. Gentleman is a historian, I am surprised that he has not gone back to look at the history of these events. The problems started much earlier, before this Government, and even before the conversion of schools to academies. This Government have had to react, to listen to the accusations in the letter and to work with members of the hon. Gentleman’s party on Birmingham city council. Academies are more accountable under the new system, and we have improved the education of 1 million children in this country.

The hon. Gentleman completely overlooks the role of the regional schools commissioners, who are extremely active in relation to the schools in Birmingham. He asks who is in charge in Birmingham. I am surprised that he does not know the name of his own party’s lead member for children’s services. In my statement, I made it clear that the leadership capacity of Birmingham city council left much to be desired. The hon. Gentleman does not appear to understand the difference between children’s services, the Bob Kerslake review of the governance of Birmingham city council—which should worry him, given that it is his party that is in charge in Birmingham—and the education of children in Birmingham.

In relation to the inspection of academy chains, I have made it very clear, both in evidence to the Select Committee and in the House, that while we fully support the way in which Ofsted talks to academy chains and the support that it offers to schools, looking at a head office will never give it any experience.

The hon. Gentleman mentioned private faith schools and supplementary schools. Local authorities have a duty in relation to the safeguarding of all children in their local areas and we continue to look at any other regulations or protections that are needed.

As I said in my statement, we are putting in place whistleblowing provisions so that those who are aware of, and concerned about, what is going on in a school will have an easy mechanism to report their concerns to the Department. The hon. Gentleman will also be aware of the evidence that Sir Michael Wilshaw, the chief inspector, gave to the Select Committee yesterday on training put in place for Ofsted inspectors to inspect on the issue of British values.

We have made it clear that there is no place for extremism in any school. We have made strong progress, as Members will see from the documents I am placing in the House of Commons Library today, on the recommendations in the Peter Clarke report. We are tackling this problem at both ends: taking determined action where we find areas of concern and building resilience into the system—a resilience that was lacking under the 13 years of the previous Labour Government.

[Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham) (Con)]

The Ofsted report into Birmingham schools that came out in June found that

“Often, the curriculum, culture and values now promoted in these schools reflect the personal views of a small number of governors.”

I welcome the measures the Secretary of State has announced. She touched on whistleblowing, which is a specific recommendation of the Ofsted report. Will she provide more detail on how that is going to work, particularly in relation to governors and parents who might want to whistleblow? She mentioned legal protections for members of staff only. Why does she think the system will be more effective than it has proved in the past in what are, in many cases, very closed communities?

[Nicky Morgan]

I thank my hon. Friend for that question. As he says, we are working with Ofsted to improve procedures for schools on whistleblowing. We are also strengthening the way anyone can contact the Department to raise concerns. I mentioned the strengthening of the due diligence and counter-extremism group—I think my hon. Friend was a Minister in the Department when the group was set up by the previous Secretary of State for Education—in order to take these issues extremely seriously and to tackle them. Concerns can be raised by parents, governors and members of the general public. We are also considering extending legal protections in the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 for school staff making whistleblowing allegations. We continue to work with local authorities and regional schools commissioners. The wider point is that, until the Clarke report was published last year, there was perhaps a general disbelief that these sorts of things could be going on in our schools. We are now very well aware of the risks to our children.

[Mr Liam Byrne (Birmingham, Hodge Hill) (Lab)]

I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement and her offer of additional resources to Park View school to get the teachers who are needed. I know that she would want to recognise a number of parents, including Sabina Kauser, Waheed Saleem and Arshad Malik, who helped to rebuild the governance along with Adrian Packer, Bev Mabey and the extraordinary group of teachers who came in to help restore the schools and ensure that, thanks to their work over the summer, they opened on time in September.

I very much welcome the emphasis that the Secretary of State put on the teaching of British values, in particular democracy and the rule of law. She will agree, I know, that it is important that we practise what we preach. It was therefore regrettable that parent members of the trust were not able to be elected by parents at the school. Instead, the trust took a decision to go through the most mind-bending process of selection to hand-pick parents to serve at trust level. I hope she will now encourage the trust to revisit that decision and ensure that democracy prevails.

[Nicky Morgan]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for the tone and spirit of his remarks. He has worked incredibly hard with the schools in his constituency and the wider Birmingham area in the aftermath of the reports from last year. He is absolutely right. We do not want the message to go out that we do not want people from Muslim communities or any other community to stand as governors of their schools. I am happy to look at the particular issue he has raised. I join him in thanking all those who worked so hard last summer to get the schools open. At the end of the day, this is all about making sure that the young people at the heart of those schools get the best possible education to fulfil their potential.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

Teachers, governors, pupils and parents should be focused on promoting rigorous academic standards and not on pursuing particular agendas, whether relating to extremism or anything else. With regard to the role of school governors, is there no commitment or undertaking they have to sign to say that they will be committed individually to the promotion of British values, so that we can hold errant governors and teachers to account?

[Nicky Morgan]

Although we do not ask them to sign something, all governors are subject to the governors handbook, which was updated last September with some important changes and clarifications. In particular, one paragraph mentions the need for governors to ensure that a school’s ethos promotes the fundamental British values I mentioned in my statement. We could give the matter some consideration, but as my hon. Friend will know, just because someone signs a piece of paper does not necessarily mean that they have taken onboard all that it requires. One thing this matter has taught us is the need for cultural change as well.

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

Does the Secretary of State agree that the overwhelming majority of Muslims in our country do not want to take over schools and are not extremists, but just want a darn good education for their children?

The Secretary of State’s remarks have disappointed me, because there is a systemic failure. For whatever reason, the Government have bypassed local authorities’ power to exercise authority over, and supervision of, schools. We all know that is true. I am in contact with people who rushed to save the Birmingham situation, and they say that the problem is a lack of power locally. Everything has to go through the Department for Education, which rushes in to help, but it does not have the capacity either. If senior advisers, including Ofsted, are saying that there is systemic failure with the academy model, surely she should recognise that and do something about it.

[Nicky Morgan]

The hon. Gentleman started so well, and I certainly agree that the majority of Muslims in this country want the best education for their children, grandchildren, nephews and nieces. The Clarke report identified just a very small number of people with a particular ideology.

I have to disagree with the hon. Gentleman, however, when he talks as if there was some golden age in the role of local authorities. I mentioned in my statement that we were working hard with Sir Mike Tomlinson, the commissioner, to build the capacity of Birmingham city council. The council is critical to learning the lessons from last year, but it has some way to go in implementing the plan. I should also point out that the head teachers who identified the problems went to the local authority, but rather than their problems being dealt with or their concerns being listened to, they were encouraged to enter into a compromise agreement and then moved. Those are not the actions of a responsible local authority.

[Mr Andrew Robathan (South Leicestershire) (Con)]

I was surprised by the comments of the Opposition spokesman, given that the problems identified sprang from the failed policies of the past, particularly the discredited policy of multiculturalism promoted by the Labour party. I commend my right hon. Friend for her statement. Does she agree that it is important that every child is taught the Judeo-Christian tradition and history of this country, from which has sprung our values of parliamentary democracy, tolerance and freedom of speech and expression, notwithstanding past intolerance, and that many people have come to this country because of those freedoms?

[Nicky Morgan]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his points. He is absolutely right that we want every school to be teaching their pupils a broad and balanced curriculum and not only to respect things such as democracy, but to have mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. We are a much stronger country because of everybody who has come here and the freedoms, protections and opportunities we have offered—as he will know, being like me an MP for a constituency in Leicestershire, in which lies that fabulously rich city of Leicester.

[Pat Glass (North West Durham) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State will know, as I do, that one of the tools that the previous trustees used was isolation. They prohibited any relationship with neighbouring schools or any school that did not share their warped philosophy. The Education Select Committee report published this week on academies and free schools identified that 47% of converter academies—schools that have converted to academy status since 2010—were stand-alone academies, which worried us enormously. We felt that Ofsted had a role and that no school should receive an outstanding judgment unless there were positive signs of co-operation with other schools. Does she agree that that would be one structural way of trying to prevent what happened in Birmingham from happening again?

[Nicky Morgan]

I shall certainly look at this week’s Education Select Committee report in detail. One thing explored in previous evidence sessions—I gave evidence to that inquiry—was the growth of collaboration, which we are seeing up and down the country, regardless of the type of school. When I visit schools up and down the country, whether they be converter stand-alone academies, part of a chain or still working within the local authority, and talk to heads and teachers, I see evidence of how much collaboration there has been and how much strength heads and teachers are drawing from working with other schools—locally, but thanks to modern technology, also in other parts of the country and even other parts of the world.

[Mr Clive Betts (Sheffield South East) (Lab)]

If our constituents have problems with the delivery of public services, ultimately they have recourse to the ombudsman. That was true of parents who had problems with working relationships in their children’s schools until 2012, when the Government changed the policy. Now, if a parent has a problem with an academy, they can go to the Education Funding Agency, but not with a complaint about the school, only with a complaint about the operation of the complaints procedure itself. Does that not need addressing?

[Nicky Morgan]

We of course have a very strong inspection system through Ofsted. In my experience as Secretary of State for Education over the course of the past few months, parents find many ways in which to complain, whether it be through Ofsted, the EFA or directly to me as Secretary of State or via the Department for Education. There are mechanisms to enable parents to raise complaints about their children’s schools, but of course they often start with the local school itself.

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

The matters raised by the Education Secretary today, particularly the work she mentioned about her Department’s counter-extremism group, overlap considerably with the issues covered in the Home Office consultation on the Prevent duty, which closes tomorrow. I know that some groups in my constituency are keen to have some input. How can they have input into the work of the counter-extremism group in the right hon. Lady’s Department as well as influence the Prevent duty?

[Nicky Morgan]

I welcome all and any engagement that any groups want with the Prevent duty. I recommend that they contact the Department directly. They can come straight through to my office, and we would make sure that their thoughts were shared with the appropriate officials either in my Department or the Home Office.

Oral Answers to Questions

Baroness Morgan of Cotes Excerpts

Monday 19th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[Chloe Smith (Norwich North) (Con)]

1. How the new careers and enterprise company for schools will ensure that more young people are ready for working life.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan)]

First, Mr Speaker, may I wish you a very happy birthday? I am sure that Members on both sides of the House wish you the same. We shall do our best to behave ourselves so that you do not have to raise your voice too early in your birthday celebrations.

It is vital to ensure that all children are inspired to reach their potential, which is why broadening young people’s access to a range of options is so important. The new employer-led careers and enterprise company I announced last month will help to broker extensive links between employers, schools and colleges, and will have the specific remit of spreading existing good practice to every part of England.

[Chloe Smith]

Happy birthday, Mr Speaker.

Will my right hon. Friend join me in calling on local firms to be involved in the new careers and enterprise company, in much the same way as they have risen to the challenge of helping me and others in Norwich to halve Norwich’s youth employment in two years?

[Nicky Morgan]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on the excellent work that she and other supporters of Norwich for Jobs have done to help more young people get that vital first step on the careers ladder and achieve their aspirations—I believe she has been awarded the “Youth Friendly Member of Parliament 2014” tag in recognition of her excellent work. As I said, the new careers company will have a crucial role in ensuring that initiatives such as those in Norwich are available to all young people across the country.

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

Happy birthday, Mr Speaker. We thought you had gone to Australia to live given the wonderful photograph in The Sunday Times of you playing tennis.

Although many Opposition Members are quite positive about the new initiative, it is a small amount of money that concentrates on 12 to 18-year-olds, and much of the research shows that it is in the early years that children get their imagination fired by different careers. What is she doing about those earlier years?

[Nicky Morgan]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question, which is typical of the sort of question we get from Opposition Members—a warmish welcome followed by: “But you’re not going far enough.” We are tackling an issue that the last Government left completely untackled. There was no golden age of careers advice, but I agree on the importance of inspiring early on, and although the careers and enterprise company has an important remit regarding 12 to 18-year-olds, I will be discussing with its chairman how we can work with younger children too.

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

When I talk to many young people in Hackney, they all tell me they want actual experience in the workplace with an employer, rather than just talks at school. The Government have thrown a lot of money at this. What is the Secretary of State doing to monitor how effective the money is in getting young people socially mobile and moving onward and upward?

[Nicky Morgan]

I agree that we have thrown a lot of money at this. That money will be working hard to ensure our young people are inspired and given the aspirations to aim higher, and that is what our reforms to qualifications standards were about. While I agree that some face-to-face advice and work experience are welcome, I do not want to see work experience that only ticks boxes and means that young people do not really get to see how a workplace or sector works. That is why the careers company and the wide remit we have given it—working with the National Careers Service and excellent projects up and down the country and involving local enterprise partnerships—will be so important.

[Yvonne Fovargue (Makerfield) (Lab)]

I echo hon. Members’ birthday wishes, Mr Speaker.

Two weeks ago, the Chair of the Education Select Committee said:

“It is clear that the role of the new body replicates the very role and remit of the National Careers Service…and only the leadership and governance is different”.

Under pressure, the Secretary of State agreed that the new body delivered the same goal. Is creating yet another quango really the answer to the massive problems with careers guidance?

[Nicky Morgan]

For a third time, we get the typical response from the Opposition on whether this is welcome. I will not take lectures from Labour about the creation of quangos. This is an employer-led body involving businesses, and I do not agree with the remark the hon. Lady quoted. The National Careers Service will work closely with the new body, but they are different things that serve different age groups. They will achieve different outcomes, because of the involvement of businesses and employers in the new body and the talented leadership of Christine Hodgson.

[Mr Virendra Sharma (Ealing, Southall) (Lab)]

2. What steps her Department is taking to support grandparents and other kinship carers.

--- Later in debate ---

[Graeme Morrice (Livingston) (Lab)]

3. What recent representations she has received on the financial management of academies; and if she will make a statement.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan)]

The financial accountability system for academies is more rigorous than for maintained schools, and my Department has recently received audited financial statements from academy trusts for the period to 31 August 2014. Within financial statements, trusts must set out how they have managed their finances throughout the year. Financial statements are subject to independent scrutiny by auditors. My staff are reviewing financial statements to determine whether there are any issues that we need to investigate.

[Graeme Morrice]

Happy birthday, Mr Speaker. I hope you have many in the Chair.

I thank the Secretary of State for her answer, but will she commit to including financial information in the performance data relating to academies—a commitment that her predecessor failed to honour—so that we can make accurate comparisons with all schools?

[Nicky Morgan]

The financial statements are both audited and published, and of course academies, as companies, are also subject to Companies House reporting, as well as to working with the Education Funding Agency. It is therefore clear that academies’ financial statements are already open for scrutiny, and the Department takes a close interest in the figures that are published.

[Martin Horwood (Cheltenham) (LD)]

Many happy returns of the day, Mr Speaker.

Pate’s and Balcarras schools in my constituency are exceptionally well managed financially and are among the most outstanding schools academically in the country, but both of them tell me that they will struggle with projected sixth-form funding in particular. Will the Secretary of State have good news for them and me and other hon. Members by the time she meets us later on today?

[Nicky Morgan]

As the hon. Gentleman may know, the Government can work quite quickly. However, I am not sure they will work that quickly this afternoon, although I take careful note of what he has said. He is not alone among Members of Parliament in raising that issue.

[Mr Geoffrey Robinson (Coventry North West) (Lab)]

I have sent you a birthday card, Mr Speaker—[Hon. Members: “Ooh!”] Perhaps that is an interest I should declare.

The Secretary of State will be aware that I have sent her a letter asking for an urgent meeting on Grace academy in Coventry, where financial matters have been raised. More importantly—or as importantly—we wish to raise with her the general administration of the academy company, which is in very bad shape and judged insufficient by Ofsted. Will she please tell me whether she will agree to that meeting?

[Nicky Morgan]

I appear to have set a trend in referring to your birthday, Mr Speaker.

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his letter, which I will look at carefully. If I cannot meet him, I am sure that one of my ministerial colleagues will, but I will endeavour to ensure that he is able to have a discussion with the Department.

[Mr Speaker]

I very much appreciate colleagues’ good wishes, but there is no need for them to be added to, because I think it will just delay proceedings. However, everybody’s good will is greatly appreciated.

[Roberta Blackman-Woods (City of Durham) (Lab)]

And mine, too.

As I am sure the Secretary of State is aware, The Durham free school got a notice to improve from the Education Funding Agency before Christmas, and today it was put into special measures. However, it is extremely difficult for me or anyone else to get information from the Education Funding Agency, so will she intervene to ensure that all information about this school, and the reasons why it has failed and is so badly managed, is put into the public domain?

[Nicky Morgan]

As the hon. Lady mentioned, Ofsted published a report this morning on The Durham free school, and I was very concerned to find that the children had been let down by a catalogue of failures, as reported. Because I do not think there is any imminent prospect of improvement, the regional schools commissioner has today written to the school, informing it of the decision to terminate the funding agreement. I am happy, of course, for there to be a further discussion—if not with me, with one of my ministerial colleagues—about the information that can be made available. There may be some issues of confidentiality or sensitivity, but I will of course endeavour to keep Members updated.

[Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State will know that in 2013-14, her Department spent £328 million on oversight of academy schools, yet the National Audit Office said that her Department still does not know enough about school-level governance. Does she think that is good enough, and what is she going to do about it?

[Nicky Morgan]

We do not agree with the National Audit Office conclusions. We take a close interest in the way all academies and free schools are run and governed, and we of course work with local authorities in respect of maintained schools. We want all children to have access to a good local school, and I think it important to note that since 2010, 1 million more children are in good and outstanding schools.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

4. How many apprentices aged 16 to 18 are paid the apprentice minimum wage.

--- Later in debate ---

[Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire) (Con)]

9. What steps she is taking to ease teachers’ work loads and increase the proportion of the time they spend teaching.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan)]

High-quality teaching is the single most important school-based factor determining how well pupils achieve. This Government are committed to supporting the profession, and reducing unnecessary work load is an absolute priority. We have already reduced the burden from the centre by increasing autonomy and streamlining unnecessary paperwork, and we have received more than 44,000 responses to the work load challenge, which asked teachers to share their experience and ideas. We are discussing the results with teachers and unions, and an action plan will be published shortly.

[Andrew Bridgen]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that what teachers need from a Secretary of State is someone who listens to their concerns and respects their professionalism, as opposed to the patronising attitude of the shadow Secretary of State, whose latest gimmick is asking teachers to take an oath?

[Nicky Morgan]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend that it is not my job to tell teachers how to do theirs. This Government are committed to treating teachers as mature and confident professionals. It was on the “Left Foot Forward” blog that somebody had written:

“It is genuinely difficult to fathom what was going through Tristram Hunt’s mind when he decided that a Hippocratic oath for teachers was a good idea.”

I suggest that the shadow Secretary of State might want to look at the reaction on social media to his Hippocratic oath.

[Kevin Brennan (Cardiff West) (Lab)]

I am afraid that 44,000 teachers responded not because the Secretary of State has reduced the burden; this Government spent four years increasing the burden on teachers and then spent many months suppressing the evidence in the teacher work load survey by not publishing it. Andrew Carter has said:

“What…matters most in a child’s education is the quality of the teaching.”

Can she confirm to the teachers of this country that, following his review, the Conservative party will go into this election with a commitment to expand the number of unqualified teachers?

[Nicky Morgan]

In May, the Conservative party will be committing to have the highest-qualified teaching profession ever, something we have already achieved under this Government. We now have more teachers with 2:1 or first degrees in our schools, and the successful initial teacher training system, as Andrew Carter has reported in his review today—[Interruption.] If the Labour party wants to talk about unqualified teachers, it ought to look at the shadow Secretary of State, who teaches in his local schools as an unqualified teacher.

[Keith Vaz (Leicester East) (Lab)]

10. What recent assessment she has made of the role of faith schools; and if she will make a statement.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan)]

Church and faith schools have made a significant contribution to the education system in England for hundreds of years. Many of the best performing schools in our country are church and faith schools. Parents of all faiths and none value these schools for the quality of the education and for their strong ethos, and I am a great supporter of them.

[Keith Vaz]

As the Secretary of State knows, Leicester has the Hindu Krishna Avanti school, Madani Muslim school and the Falcons school, which she opened very recently. They all provide an excellent education for local children. I am sure that today many of them, as part of their duties, will be painting birthday cards to send to Mr Speaker. There will be an application for a secondary Hindu school by the Krishna Avanti group. Will she look favourably on that application?

[Nicky Morgan]

Knowing the right hon. Gentleman, I suspect that he will have a photograph taken of him with the children painting their cards and it will appear in the Leicester Mercury very shortly. I would be delighted to join him if that is the case. He will know that all applications for new schools are studied rigorously by the Department and by colleagues. We have to follow a process, but I will look forward to hearing more about that application in due course.

[Barry Gardiner (Brent North) (Lab)]

The Jews free school is in my constituency in Brent North. The Secretary of State will be aware of the deep concern in the Jewish community at the moment about security around schools. Many other Jewish and other faith schools around the country are in a similar position. What steps is her Department taking to ensure that the children in those schools are being kept safe?

[Nicky Morgan]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to ask that question. It is truly shocking, as the Home Secretary said today, that, in our lifetimes we are seeing a rise of anti-Semitism in this country, and, in relation to my role in the Government, that Jewish schools are having to worry ever more about their security. The Department has provided funding for security, guarding Jewish maintained and free schools in England, through a grant since 2010. Around £2 million a year has been provided and continued funding for this and the next financial year has been confirmed. I will always be open to further conversations on this, because, at the end of the day, all children must go to school free of fear, and be able to concentrate on their studies. Their families must know that they are secure when they are in those school environments.

[Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)]

12. What steps her Department is taking to promote the development of character in schools.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan)]

As part of our plan for education, I want to ensure that all young people are prepared for life in modern Britain. I am committed to ensuring that all young people develop a range of character attributes such as resilience and grit, which underpin success in education and employment. My Department is investing £5 million to expand capacity and character education, to build evidence of what works and to deliver a national award scheme to recognise existing excellence.

[Pauline Latham]

I thank the Secretary of State for that answer. As she will be aware, one school in my constituency recently had its successes recognised in the Tatler and came in the top 22 in the country. Will she tell the House what steps her Department is taking to encourage more schools to follow its example?

[Nicky Morgan]

We want to recognise and share excellent practice in schools in Mid Derbyshire and across the country. I recognise the work that my hon. Friend does with her local schools. I encourage any school doing good work in this area to apply for the character awards, which I have mentioned. Applications close on 30 January, and I look forward to hearing how schools up and down the country are already working to develop well-rounded young individuals.

[Ms Gisela Stuart (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab)]

On the subject of birthdays, I am sure that you, Mr Speaker, would like to extend birthday greetings to Sir Simon Rattle—the man who put Birmingham on the map in terms of music—who shares a birthday with you today. However, on character building, I encourage the Secretary of State to look at the work of Professor James Arthur at Birmingham university who is doing a lot of work on how character education can be brought into the curriculum at every level in our schools.

[Mr Speaker]

Personally I am inclined to offer up birthday wishes to Stefan Edberg, a six-time grand slam champion and currently coach to the greatest tennis player of all time, Roger Federer.

[Nicky Morgan]

I understand that several hon. Members are celebrating their birthdays in the House today, but we would be here for a long time if I named them all. I am trying to remember some of their constituencies. There is my right hon. Friend the Member for Tonbridge and Malling (Sir John Stanley) and my hon. Friend the Member for Bosworth (David Tredinnick). I have not quite memorised all the names and constituencies in the way that you have, Mr Speaker.

I have met Professor Arthur and I think that he is doing fantastic work in Birmingham and I look forward to him taking part in our work on building the plans for character education in our schools.

[Sir Bob Russell (Colchester) (LD)]

Does the Secretary of State agree with me that if first aid was made part of the national curriculum as part of her inquiry into character building and well-rounded citizens it would greatly help with both of those objectives?

[Nicky Morgan]

The hon. Gentleman is right that those are of course important skills that we would like to see in all our young people. In the work of the Department I need to balance demands for additional subjects and for academic qualifications, but many schools already teach life-saving skills. As a Department, we have recently negotiated a contract so that schools can obtain defibrillators at reasonable rates and they will of course want to train their pupils on how to use them.

[Mr Frank Field (Birkenhead) (Lab)]

Some time ago, I asked 15-year-olds in Birkenhead what they most wanted from their school. They said that they wanted to know how to be good parents, how to make lifelong friendships and how to get and keep jobs. When we have done some more work in secondary schools in Birkenhead, might I come and present it to the Secretary of State and the shadow Secretary of State?

[Nicky Morgan]

Perhaps the Secretary of State and I should show true character, resilience and grit by sitting in the same room and listening to what I am sure will be a very interesting presentation.

[Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)]

Just before Christmas, the Department announced plans to downgrade highly popular skills-based qualifications on developing personal effectiveness and to use section 96 powers to revoke approval for such qualifications. As ASDAN, based in my constituency, told me on Friday, it is difficult to imagine more contradictory policy making. Those qualifications were aimed exactly at what the Secretary of State is talking about, so why is she planning to downgrade them?

[Nicky Morgan]

Those qualifications did not help the young person who took them to get work and were not valued by employers. The qualities we are talking about run all the way through education at all ages and are important skills, but having spoken to providers of ASDAN qualifications in my constituency, I know that other skills and qualifications give those young people the best start in life and the greatest credibility with employers.

[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

15. What progress her Department is making on delivering a fair and transparent funding formula for schools and supporting areas that have been historically underfunded.

--- Later in debate ---

[Sir Oliver Heald (North East Hertfordshire) (Con)]

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

[The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan)]

This is the first Education Question Time since the terrible massacre in Peshawar. I am sure that the House will want to offer our support to the brave students and teachers who have gone back to the school, and to offer our condolences to those who lost loved ones.

Since the last Question Time, my Department has announced plans to back a college of teaching, if that is what the profession chooses to opt for. Today we have published the Carter review of initial teacher training, as well as revised head teacher standards developed by those in the profession themselves.

[Sir Oliver Heald]

I join in the condolences expressed by my right hon. Friend.

Given the vital importance of budgeting and money management in tackling personal debt, does my right hon. Friend agree that numeracy is more important than ever? Will she update the House on what progress is being made in our schools in this vital area?

[Nicky Morgan]

I absolutely agree that numeracy is a critical life skill. Our new primary maths curriculum places a greater focus on understanding numbers and on calculation skills. To reinforce that, we have removed calculators from national curriculum tests, and new maths GCSEs will be more challenging and will ensure vital numeracy skills. As my hon. Friend the Minister for Skills and Equalities has said, young people beyond the age of 16 without a good pass at GCSE are now required to continue with mathematics, and for those with a grade C or above, new core maths qualifications that include financial literacy will improve numeracy further.

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

The whole House is united in its horror at the attacks in Paris, which, sadly, form part of a growing tide of intolerance that seeks to undermine civil society by targeting symbols of pluralism and tolerance. As the right hon. Lady has highlighted, from the assault in the school in Peshawar, to the kidnappings of Boko Haram, to the murder of Jewish schoolchildren in Toulouse, Islamist terrorists hope to close down learning and debate. That is why it is more important than ever that we provide safe schooling for every English community. Following the question by my hon. Friend the Member for Brent North (Barry Gardiner), will the Secretary of State join me in supporting the work of the Community Security Trust in providing security for Jewish schools across the UK? Will she join the Labour party in committing to retaining the CST’s funding for the entire Parliament so that whoever wins the general election on 7 May, the Jewish community knows that the education of its children will always be protected by the British state?

[Nicky Morgan]

The hon. Gentleman is of course right to point to the terrible events in Paris and the importance of standing up for the values that we hold dear, including, obviously, freedom of speech, but also the values that we have previously discussed in this House and want to see taught in our schools: mutual respect and tolerance, democracy and the rule of law. I am happy to join him in promising to support the Community Safety Trust. I have already mentioned the £2 million per year provided since 2010 and the commitment already given by the Department for the next financial year.

[Tristram Hunt]

Last week the Secretary of State told the “Today” programme that 100,000 infants educated in classes of more than 30 represented a “very, very small number”. It is not a small number to every child in that class and every parent concerned about overcrowding. In his 2010 manifesto, the Prime Minister promised us smaller class sizes, but he has failed to deliver, instead wasting money on free schools, such as The Durham free school, in areas with surplus places. Will the Secretary of State now come to the Dispatch Box to apologise to the parents of pupils in Bury, where over 50% of local primary schools are over capacity; in Reading, where nearly 30% of local primary schools are over capacity; and, indeed, in Leicestershire, where 53.3% of local primary schools are over capacity? In their final months in office, how about the Government ending the ideology and putting school places where they are needed?

[Nicky Morgan]

I appreciate that the hon. Gentleman was not Secretary of State in the previous Labour Government, but let me remind him that they took away 200,000 primary places at a time of a baby boom, a rising population, and the uncontrolled immigration that took place under them. There are 11,400 fewer pupils in primary schools operating over their agreed capacity since 2010, and 31,900 fewer such pupils in secondary schools. If he wants to talk about this Government’s approach, he should look at the chaos created by the previous Government’s failure to plan for an increase in the population.

--- Later in debate ---

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

On Friday, I attended #NEDigitalGirls, at which girls from across the north-east saw the fantastic range of careers supported by science, technology, engineering and maths, or STEM, subjects—including politics, Mr Speaker. However, EngineeringUK’s recent report has highlighted the dire state of careers advice, particularly that for engineering, in this country. It has challenged the Government to offer every 11 to 14-year-old an engineering experience with a company. How will the Minister ensure that there is professional careers advice? Will she meet EngineeringUK’s challenge?

[Nicky Morgan]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right to say that the aspirations of girls in particular should be opened to engineering and other subjects that have traditionally been seen as something for the boys. I have frequently made the point that we need 83,000 more engineers every year for the next 10 years—and they cannot all be men. That is why the new careers enterprise company that I announced before Christmas is to be employer led. I fully expect that companies offering engineering careers will be heavily involved in going into schools. However, I think that the hon. Lady will agree that we are not doing children a favour if we advocate just one set of subjects.

[Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon) (Con)]

T7. I thank the Government for their support for rural schools on the sparsity factor and dealing with Labour’s historic legacy of underfunding for Britain’s most rural schools. Will my right hon. Friend pay tribute to schools such as Upper Wharfedale school in my constituency, which have federated with other primary schools around them, are taking responsibility for their own efficiency and are being more competitive?

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

Does the Secretary of State agree with me and the overwhelming majority of my constituents who think that the healthiest pattern for this country, its communities and society is for kids to go to school together? Is she not worried by the proliferation of faith schools in our country, in which children learn only in the shadow of their faith?

[Nicky Morgan]

As I said earlier, I strongly support faith and Church schools in this country. They offer an excellent education, but the Government have already made moves to ensure that all schools have to teach a broad and balanced curriculum, which many, if not all—almost all—faith and Church schools already do. There is the importance of teaching values of mutual respect and tolerance of others with other faiths and beliefs. If that is not happening, we will not hesitate first of all to inspect and then to take further action.

[John Pugh (Southport) (LD)]

T9. An hour ago, in Mr Speaker’s House, there was a broadcast edition of Michael Sandel’s “The Public Philosopher” and many parliamentarians were present. What are the Government doing to encourage philosophy and critical teaching in schools?

--- Later in debate ---

[Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)]

The National Audit Office has raised concerns about the DFE’s accounts relating to the academies programme. The NAO qualified signing off the DFE’s accounts, given uncertainties and errors. What has the Secretary of State done to ensure that these serious financial irregularities have been addressed by her Department?

[Nicky Morgan]

The hon. Gentleman will know that qualifications to accounts do not necessarily equal the same as the severe financial irregularities to which he appears to allude. I hold regular conversation updates with the permanent secretary and officials to look at the status of the Department’s financial statements.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

The cluster academy of Montsaye academy in Rothwell, together with local primary schools in Rothwell, Desborough, Wilbarston and Rushden, is working very well in providing a more seamless education for local children from primary all the way through to 18. How might the best practice from clusters such as Montsaye be best spread across the rest of Northamptonshire and the rest of the country?

Permanent Secretary’s Review

Baroness Morgan of Cotes Excerpts

Friday 16th January 2015 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan)]

I am today publishing the results of a review by my Permanent Secretary into whether the Department for Education (or predecessor Departments) had received warnings relating to extremism in Birmingham schools, and how any such warnings had been dealt with. Copies of this report will be laid in the Libraries of both Houses.

This review was commissioned by my predecessor in June 2014. It was prompted by the receipt of the "Trojan Horse" letter in Birmingham in December 2013, and subsequent reviews by Peter Clarke, Ian Kershaw and Ofsted, which noted, amongst other things, that warning signs about potential extremism in Birmingham schools had been missed by local agencies over a long period of time. Media reports in May and June 2014 suggested that specific warnings had been given to the Department, in 2010, 2008/9 and 1994.

The review has looked at a 20-year period between 1994 and December 2013, focusing specifically on:

what, if any, warnings were received;

what the nature of those warnings was;

whether those warnings were dealt with appropriately; and

what follow-up actions were taken, and whether these were appropriate given the role of the Department at the time.

The review has found no instances where specific warnings were ignored by the Department and no cases where Departmental officials or Ministers acted inappropriately. It has, however, found that the Department has in the past lacked inquisitiveness on this issue, and that procedures could have been tighter than they were. It notes that the Department needs always to be vigilant and inquisitive, and have robust systems in place if it is to play its part in preventing and countering the issues identified in Peter Clarke’s report.

I endorse this view and all of the recommendations contained in the review. In light of the review’s findings and events in Birmingham, the Permanent Secretary is taking further measures within the Department:

strengthening the size of the Due Diligence and Counter Extremism Division (DDCEG) to 36 staff and establishing it as a standalone group with a director with sole responsibility for this area of work;

introducing a formal system for staff across the Department to refer concerns about extremism to DDCEG. This includes a clear process for staff recognising what might constitute such an issue and a requirement that any instances are reported to DDCEG;

introducing a formal case handling system within DDCEG for logging and managing warnings received from both DfE staff or from external sources;

widening the DDCEG’s remit to include a proactive role identifying potential future trouble spots

establishing a Counter Extremism Steering Group, which will be chaired by the director for DDCEG and will support delivery of the Department’s overall vision and aims by providing coherent strategic oversight of the activity which makes up the due diligence and counter extremism programme;

introducing a requirement for all Deputy Directors to receive briefing on extremism, the Department’s procedures and how it might affect DfE’s work, and to be clear about the arrangements needed within their divisions to deal with any issues arising; and

introducing a system for the DDCEG to report monthly to the Department’s Management

Committee on cases received and action taken.



The Department’s Internal Audit function will conduct a review of these actions after three months and will advise the Permanent Secretary and the Department’s Management Committee on implementation progress. There will be regular six-monthly checks by Internal Audit on implementation, with advice to the Management Committee.

The aims of these actions are threefold:

to ensure that the DDCEG has the right resources, systems and remit to deal with any future warnings;

to ensure that identifying and taking action on warnings is seen as a priority in all parts of the Department, not just in DDCEG; and

to ensure that the Department becomes and remains inquisitive on this issue.

These actions should apply equally to warnings of ‘extremism’ from whatever source.

Work is ongoing on the wider issues relating to Birmingham, and I will update the House in due course.

The current unit, established in 2010, has thus far reported to a director who also had other responsibilities.

It is also available online at: http://www.parliament.uk/writtenstatements

[HCWS203]

Oral Answers to Questions

Baroness Morgan of Cotes Excerpts

Thursday 15th January 2015 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Women and Equalities (Nicky Morgan)]

Women make up almost 47% of the work force, but their representation falls in more senior positions. We want to ensure that women can take advantage of all the opportunities that their workplace offers them. For example, we are ensuring that parents can balance work and family life through measures such as extending flexible working and introducing shared parental leave and tax-free child care. We are also working with business to implement the recommendations in the Lord Davies report.

[Mr Sheerman]

May I push the Minister on that? We still lag behind France and the Scandinavian countries in how we allow women to release their potential as managers, members of corporation boards, scientists and engineers. We are lagging behind the competition, so why did she and her party not support the Bill promoted by my hon. Friend the Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champion) which would at least have provided equal pay in the workplace?

[Nicky Morgan]

The hon. Gentleman knows that the gender pay gap has narrowed again under this Government. For workers under the age of 40 it has almost been eliminated. He also knows that there are more systemic reasons for the continuing pay gap between men and women. Part of that is about the inspiration and advice that our young women get when they are at school. I am talking about the options, the careers and the subjects that they should be taking. That is a long-term systemic problem, which is part of the reason why, as Secretary of State for Education, I announced before Christmas that we were backing an independent careers enterprise company.

[Mary Macleod (Brentford and Isleworth) (Con)]

This Government have made the most progress ever on increasing the numbers of women on boards, but does the Secretary of State agree that it is still unacceptable to have only five female chief executives in the FTSE 100? Does she believe, as I do, that there is more to be done on the executive pipeline?

[Nicky Morgan]

I very much agree with my hon. Friend. We need only 24 more women on boards to reach Lord Davies’ target of 25% of women on FTSE 100 boards. We now have no all-male boards in the FTSE 100. It is important to bear in mind that not all women want to become FTSE 100 board directors, but we should ensure that equality of opportunity goes right the way through all our workplaces.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

On promoting equality, what will the Minister do about the 91% drop in claims for sex discrimination that have gone to an employment tribunal since her Government introduced the fee of £1,200 to take a case?

[Nicky Morgan]

In 2011-12, there were 1,700 employment tribunal claims which included, for example, maternity rights-based claims. Of those, 900 were ACAS-conciliated, 120 were successful at hearing and 430 were withdrawn. A claim can be launched with a payment of just over £200. It is right that people still have the option to go to employment tribunals, but the fact that the ACAS numbers are so high shows that it is possible to reach agreement between employers and employees.

[Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that greater transparency on pay is vital in giving women in my constituency the best chance to reach their potential?

[Nicky Morgan]

I very much agree that transparency is extremely important, which is why this Government have backed the Think, Act, Report initiative that encourages companies to think very hard about equality and diversity, including pay, right the way through their organisations. We now have more than 270 employers signed up covering 2.5 million employees.

[Mike Freer (Finchley and Golders Green) (Con)]

2. What assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the appointment by the Church of England of its first female bishop; and if she will make a statement.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Nigel Evans (Ribble Valley) (Con)]

6. What steps she is taking to close the gender pay gap.

[The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan)]

The gender pay gap is at its narrowest ever and has been entirely eliminated among full-time workers under the age of 40. Of course the gender pay gap is still too wide, which is why we are closing it further by encouraging girls and young women to consider a wider range of careers, including well-paid careers in technology and engineering.

[John Howell]

Does the Minister agree that closing the pay gap further means that businesses could still do more to ensure that they recruit, retain and promote the best women?

[Nicky Morgan]

I agree with my hon. Friend. Successful businesses know that they cannot afford to miss out on the talents and experiences of half our population, and the Government are working closely with business on that, especially through the Women’s Business Council, which was established by this Government in 2012. We are helping businesses to ensure that women can fully contribute to the country’s economic growth.

[Mr Evans]

It is great that the pay gap has been eradicated for women under the age of 40, but if a woman happens to be aged between 40 and 49, the pay gap is 13.9%, and if they are aged between 50 and 59, it is over 18%. That is clearly unacceptable. Will the Minister now direct her attention towards ensuring the eradication of the pay gap for those aged over 40?

[Nicky Morgan]

As I have already mentioned, research shows that the pay gap is mostly not about direct discrimination, but about the jobs and sectors that women enter and the progress that they make, particularly if they take time out of the labour market. In November, we announced that we were investing over £2 million in helping women, especially women over 40 and those working part time, to move from low-paid, low-skilled work to higher paid, higher-skill work. That programme of work is delivered by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, which will start by focusing on helping women to develop skills in science, technology, engineering and maths, retail, hospitality and the agricultural sector.

[Fiona Mactaggart (Slough) (Lab)]

Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development research shows that people stuck in low pay—women who have been in low-paid jobs for 10 years—are more likely to be unable to escape it. I have not heard from the Minister any strategy to help those older women escape low pay. It is all very well talking about money, but what is happening on the ground to help older women?

[Nicky Morgan]

The hon. Lady did not listen to the answer that I have just given. We are investing money, working with organisations such as the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, and particularly looking at enabling women in low-paid, low-skill work to develop further skills, for exactly the reasons that she cited—so that they can have higher paid jobs, which obviously provides more security for them and their families.

[Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East) (Lab)]

I wonder whether the Minister would accept that the Government made a mistake in not implementing compulsory reporting on gender pay. Not enough businesses have voluntarily taken up such reporting. It is not too late to make the change; perhaps she would like to commit to doing so.

[Nicky Morgan]

We as a Government have always said that we would keep that section under review, but I believe that it will be much better, and we shall achieve much more systemic change, with companies thinking very hard about the pay that they offer their employees and about the diversity in their work force, if we work with them on the voluntary approach—the Think, Act, Report approach—rather than burdening them with more regulations.

[Douglas Carswell (Clacton) (UKIP)]

4. What steps her Department is taking to reduce homophobic bullying of young people in England and Wales.

Preparing Young People for Work

Baroness Morgan of Cotes Excerpts

Wednesday 10th December 2014 Commons Chamber

[The Secretary of State for Education (Nicky Morgan)]

With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement about the next phase of our plan for education—preparing young people for the world of work.

Ensuring that young people leave school or college prepared for life in modern Britain is a central tenet of the Government’s plan for education, and a vital part of our long-term economic plan for Britain. It is the students of today who will be the work force of tomorrow and on whom the future success of our economy—and everything that flows from that—will depend. That is why our plan will ensure that every young person learns the knowledge, skills and values they need to be able to leave school or college ready to fulfil their potential and succeed in life.

The Government have done a huge amount to raise standards in our schools. We now have a million more pupils in good and outstanding schools—more than ever before; 100,000 more six-year-olds are now on track to become confident readers because of our focus on phonics; the number of pupils taking core academic GCSEs is up by 60% since 2009-10 thanks to the EBacc; and, critically, we now have the most highly qualified teaching profession ever, with more graduates from top universities choosing teaching than ever before.

While helping every child to master the basics is vital, I am clear that it is only the start. Schools and colleges have a broader role to play in preparing young people for adult life. That is why I recently allocated £5 million of funding to support new, innovative projects that build character, resilience and grit—because as much as I want the next generation to be able to solve a quadratic equation, I also want them to be able to make a compelling pitch for a job, and to be able to bounce back if things do not work out. It is also why today I am setting out an ambitious new approach to the way we open young people’s eyes to the world of work.

It is widely acknowledged that careers provision in schools has long been inadequate. To date, we have encouraged schools and colleges to take the lead. We have placed a clear duty on them to provide students with access to impartial advice and guidance. But, though we published an inspiration vision statement in September 2013 and strengthened the statutory guidance to support schools and colleges in making this vision a reality, it is clear that many schools and colleges need additional support if we are to ensure every young person—regardless of background or location—receives the life-changing advice and inspiration that they need to fulfil their potential and succeed in life. That is a view supported by a number of respected contributors in this area, including OFSTED, the National Careers Council, the Sutton Trust, the Gatsby Foundation and the Education Committee, as well as many employers, sector experts, and schools and colleges themselves.

Some schools and colleges are doing great things to ensure that their students access the necessary support, but too often provision is patchy. Already busy schools and teachers do not always have the time to give this the focus they should. Meanwhile, many organisations—including employers—offer excellent programmes for young people. The challenge before us is how to ensure that every young person in every part of the country is given access to them.

I have consistently heard calls from both employers and schools and colleges to help them navigate this complex landscape and to spread the good practice that is happening in some parts of the country to all. Today I am answering those calls. I am pleased to tell the House that Christine Hodgson, chair of Capgemini UK and someone with a strong track record of developing young talent, will chair a new careers and enterprise company for schools. This will transform the provision of careers education and advice for young people and inspire them to take control of and shape their own futures.

The company will support much greater engagement between employers on one hand and schools and colleges on the other. It will ensure that young people get the inspiration and guidance they need to leave school or college ready to succeed in working life. It will be employer led, but will work closely with the education and careers sectors. It will also act as an umbrella organisation to help employers, schools and colleges and other organisations navigate their way through the existing landscape. It will provide a vehicle to help other organisations co-ordinate their activities where appropriate.

The company will not itself be a direct delivery organisation, or act in competition with the many existing providers in the market. Instead, it will help schools, colleges, organisations and employers work together in partnership. The company will focus on the offer to young people, initially those aged 12 to 18. It will work closely with the National Careers Service, which will continue to support adults and young people and help the company to bring employers, schools and colleges together.

It will be for the new company’s board to set its own strategy but we envisage that it will do a number of things. It will use relationships with employers—private, public and third sector—to break down barriers between schools and colleges on the one hand and employers on the other, and increase the level of employer input into careers, inspiration and enterprise in all schools and colleges. It will do that partly through a network of advisers who will broker strong and extensive links at local level. It will assist schools and colleges in choosing effective careers and enterprise organisations to partner with, including considering the use of quality marks. It will stimulate more and better activity in areas where the current provision is poorest. Last but not least, it will develop an enterprise passport to incentivise young people to participate in a wide range of extra-curricular activities that boost their appeal to employers, as well as their enterprise skills.

The network of advisers and the enterprise passport are ideas championed most effectively by my noble Friend Lord Young, to whom I should like to pay generous tribute for his invaluable work in this area. His report, “Enterprise for All”, has informed our thinking about the way forward. I am also grateful for the support of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and his officials in ensuring that our work reflects the needs of employers and business and for providing £1.4 million this year to ensure that the company makes a strong start. It is also important to say that this announcement builds on the work already under way in this area, such as the common online application portal being developed by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister responsible for business and skills.

The Government will support the new company with start-up funding in 2015-16, the cost of which will be met from the £20 million announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor in last week’s autumn statement. Some £5 million of this will constitute an investment fund to support innovation and stimulate good practice across the country. In the longer term, the company will sustain itself.

I am confident that the plan I have announced today will build on the excellent work that is already going on in some parts of the country, but will ensure it is replicated in every part of the country. It will herald a step change in the quality of careers inspiration, advice and guidance provided to all young people, paying no regard to ability, interest or background, and it will help to realise our ambition of ensuring that every child leaves school or college prepared for life in modern Britain. We know that the ultimate success of our long-term economic plan for this country rests on the shoulders of the next generation, and we are backing them every step of the way. I commend the statement to the House.

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

I thank the Secretary of State for advance notice of this statement—on page six of The Sun. As we approach the 750th anniversary of the de Montfort Parliament, I would have expected a little more respect for this institution. Parliamentary democracy is, after all, a British value.

Education is the handmaiden of a competitive economy, but the Government’s education policy has systematically undermined young people’s preparation for the world of work. Secondary work experience placements have been scrapped; practical assessments have been removed; young apprenticeships have been devalued; and a teacher supply crisis looms in the STEM subjects so critical for this country’s future prospects. But it is the dismantling of careers advice that stands among the Government’s greatest crimes.

As the CBI has said, our careers advice system is “in severe crisis”. The Chairman of the Education Committee, who is not in his place, has said that the state of the careers service

“should shame the Department for Education”.

Sir Michael Wilshaw pointed out on the radio this morning that

“careers education is particularly bad”.

Famously, prisoners get more careers advice than school pupils under this Government.

The Opposition take these warnings seriously. That is why we want to see work experience guaranteed for every secondary school pupil; a governor responsible for enterprise and careers education on every governing body; new destination measures, so that all schools track pupils into work, apprenticeships and higher education; more support for innovative careers education charities such as Future First, which is doing such a tremendous job to spread alumni network opportunities to disadvantaged schools; and a vocational education system that spreads opportunity and excellence to those young people who want to pursue high quality apprenticeships.

Today’s announcement is perfectly welcome as far as it goes, but, to be frank, even for this Government it is pretty undercooked. What was the bidding process for the new company receiving £1.6 million of taxpayers’ money? What will the company actually do? What are its costs? What is its strategy? How will it stimulate “more and better activity”? What will its relationships with employers be? This is a piecemeal, scattergun approach. Astonishingly—it is very good see the Business Secretary in his place—the statement does not even mention local enterprise partnerships. If we are to have joined-up government on careers advice, I would have thought that at least the Department for Education and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills could talk to each other.

In short, like the Secretary of State’s tenure in office, today’s announcement signally fails to rise to the challenge. The Secretary of State could have said something strategic about the competitiveness challenge we face. She could have highlighted Lord Adonis’s scheme for directors of enterprise, the CBI’s local brokers model or the Gatsby Foundation’s 10 benchmarks. Instead, she has retreated to the Tory comfort zone of Lord Young, whom we on the Opposition Benches remember for putting a lot of young people out of work. In a week when Britain faces a skills crisis and has had to import brickies from Poland, when the chief inspector of schools has highlighted the failure of Government policy in raising standards in secondary education, and when a leading head teacher has said the Secretary of State is “just not up to the job”, this country deserves better than this poorly thought through end-of-term initiative.

[Nicky Morgan]

I think that among all the rhetoric and playing to his own gallery the shadow Secretary of State actually welcomed the announcement. He represents the Labour party. As one of his colleagues said, the clue is in the title: it is all about representing working people. That is what we on the Government Benches are doing.

If the shadow Secretary of State wants to see a failure to prepare young people for the life of work, he ought to be thinking about the fact that under the previous Labour Government one in three of our young people were leaving primary school unable to read and write. That is a shocking statistic.

We have the lowest number of NEETs since records began. Yesterday saw the announcement of the 2 millionth apprentice. Those of us on the Government Benches want to go further. The Chancellor, in the autumn statement last week, confirmed his support for the employment of younger people through continued national insurance tax breaks. The shadow Secretary of State called for destination measures. He must have missed the announcement, because we have done that and we are going to enhance them. He called for support for careers organisations. That has been done and that is exactly what this organisation will do. The company will be an employer-led company. There will be an advisory board. The Government are backing and setting up the company, which has been called for by business organisations for many, many years. Some £20 million is being put behind this company and we will of course let the House know how that money is spent. I mentioned the £5 million investment fund. The company will of course work with the local enterprise partnerships, which are critical to supplying both investment in skills and local labour market information.

The shadow Secretary of State could have said something about his plan for education, but as always he retreated to his comfort zone. As always, he talked about some of the problems he saw, but said nothing positive about the hard-working teachers and school leaders up and down the country who have willingly taken this on and know best what is right for their students and the inspiration for their future. Today’s announcement is about making sure that schools broker good and deep relationships with employers and businesses, and that young people are inspired by all the options open to them in the future. All the shadow Secretary of State’s response showed was the continuing failure of the Opposition’s education policy, and the fact that he and the Labour party have no plan for young people.

[Mr Andrew Turner (Isle of Wight) (Con)]

Will the Secretary of State ensure that help from employers will grow, including in particular from the overwhelming number of tiny employers on the island?

[Nicky Morgan]

I thank my hon. Friend for that question. He is absolutely right. One of the issues for smaller businesses is that it is difficult to build links with schools—it is often difficult to know who to contact. As I said in my statement, when schools are busy it is difficult for them to know which businesses they should be contacting. The company we are setting up today will have advisers in all parts of the country to broker those links and to ensure that our young people find out about all careers, whether they are in big or small companies or in the public sector, and apprenticeships and going on to further study.

[Bill Esterson (Sefton Central) (Lab)]

When I heard there would be a statement from the Secretary of State for Education today I thought it might be about the warnings from Ofsted about low standards in secondary schools. I thought it might even have been about the tender opportunity that has appeared on the Department for Education website for the privatisation of children’s social care. I was therefore very surprised at the actual choice. As the statement was on preparing young people for the world of work, may I tell the Secretary of State what the witnesses to this morning’s Select Committee on Education had to say about 16-to-19 apprenticeships? They all agree that her proposals for apprenticeships are nothing short of a train wreck. I urge her to listen to their calls for greater quality apprenticeships that are matched to each individual, and to have a complete rethink to get rid of the increase in bureaucracy that she is proposing.

[Nicky Morgan]

First, the hon. Gentleman’s interpretation of the proposals for children’s social care services is absolutely wrong. We have absolutely and categorically ruled out any form of privatisation in relation to those services. I have no idea where he has got that from. All we hear from the Opposition Benches is more negativity about the proposals to inspire our young people about all the options open to them. He mentioned apprenticeships. He ought to reflect on the fact that we have seen more great apprenticeships right across the country. Already this week, we have celebrated the 2 millionth apprentice and she is to be congratulated on signing up to it.

[Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)]

I warmly welcome the statement. For so long, businesses have been calling for an antidote to the painfully inadequate careers advice, supervised by the previous Labour Government, that spectacularly failed to prepare young people for the world of work. Will the Secretary of State confirm how the proposals will counter the lack of awareness of the value of apprenticeships and solid vocational routes?

[Nicky Morgan]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Schools already have a duty to ensure that young people are advised independently on all the options open to them. There is no doubt that one of the things we hear when we go around the country is the positive nature of apprenticeships, but often young people find out about them through a roundabout route. The company will be working with organisations such as the National Apprenticeship Service, but one of the most powerful things is for employers to go into schools and speak about the opportunities available to them. I was at Crossrail yesterday talking to one of the apprentices. We hope very much that he, and other apprentices, will go back into schools to talk about their experiences in the world of work.

[Heidi Alexander (Lewisham East) (Lab)]

I am the daughter of a skilled manual worker and I went to an ordinary comprehensive school. When I was growing up I simply did not understand what jobs existed or how one might progress from entry-level jobs to top positions. What makes the Secretary of State so confident that her announcement today will change that, because it is still a problem for many young people?

[Nicky Morgan]

I thank the hon. Lady for that question, and I agree with her that that is one of the issues. The whole point about the body is that it will be employer led. I mean “employer” in the widest sense of the word. It may very well be that young people have never thought about setting up their own company, or that they are not aware of the opportunities available to them in the third sector, the public sector or the private sector. The body is needed to inspire young people, and to tell them about all the options open to them, the fact that often they may go from one career to another and the impact of the subject choices they make at school. I want young people to be advised early on, when they are making GCSE choices and before they get any further, on their subject choices and on the amazing careers that are open to them. We saw this week the publication of a report that mentions 40 jobs that were not available even a few years ago. The jobs landscape is changing all the time.

[Simon Wright (Norwich South) (LD)]

I welcome the new careers company, which I hope will help schools to promote opportunities for young people. Thousands of my constituents have jobs in the public sector. Will the Secretary of State inform the House how public sector employers will be involved in the careers and enterprise company and its advisory board?

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[Nicky Morgan]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. We want to ensure that the widest possible options and inspiration are available to all our young people, and we intend that various large public sector organisations will have a role on the advisory board—for example, the NHS, which employs 5 million people, and the armed forces, which are a huge source of career opportunities for our young people.

[Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) (DUP)]

Given the skills shortage highlighted this year, there is clearly a need for an organisation to enhance careers education in schools. What does the Secretary of State mean when she says that in the longer term she envisages this company sustaining itself? Does that mean a charge to the schools, to the employers or to both?

[Nicky Morgan]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for welcoming the creation of this company. I intend that in the longer term employers will see the value of the company and therefore will invest in it.

[Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) (Con)]

I agreed with the Secretary of State when she said: “as much as I want the next generation to be able to solve a quadratic equation, I also want them to be able to make a compelling pitch for a job”.

If we are going to win the global race for excellence, we need top-flight scientists and mathematicians, and a disproportionate number of them are provided by our remaining 160 grammar schools, yet under this Government funding for grammar schools has been cut, meaning that the top-performing grammar school in Lincolnshire gets £4,000 per pupil per year and the worst-performing comprehensive gets £7,000 per head per year. We must do more to help our excellent schools provide the top-class mathematicians of the future.

[Nicky Morgan]

I am not sure I agree with the entirety of my hon. Friend’s question, but I agreed with his final point: we must ensure that all our schools are good or outstanding local schools and are encouraging our young people to consider studying science and maths for longer. As we have seen, it makes a difference to young people’s earnings. The best way to improve social mobility is for all our schools to be good or outstanding, and, since 2010, 1 million more pupils are in good or outstanding schools.

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

The Secretary of State wants people to be positive, and I want to be positive, about this initiative. She will know that I co-chair the Skills Commission, which reported last week on the relevant skills for the changing nature of work. I hope she had a chance to look at the report. If we are to be positive, we have to start with a partnership, but over the past four and a half years, she and the Government have destroyed the old fabric of careers advice in our schools. That has to be rebuilt. I have nothing against the new company, but I would like to know more about it: is it third sector, a company limited by guarantee, a private company? Whatever it is, all of us who care about the future of our young people want it to succeed. We will work with her, but only on the realistic basis of what we need into the 21st century.

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[Nicky Morgan]

I am glad that the hon. Gentleman has accepted my challenge to be positive, and I think the tenor of his remarks fulfilled that criterion, so I welcome them. I intend and hope that the company will be a community interest company, but that will be a matter for the new chair, in particular, to take forward. The hon. Gentleman is right, of course, that we need better-skilled people, but that is what the former careers service failed absolutely to deliver, which is why we have a skills shortage now. We do not have people inspired by the options and careers available. Working with schools, which know their students best, is what the company will do. It is right, therefore, that schools have a duty to procure good and excellent careers advice and guidance, and this company will play an important part in ensuring that all kinds of employers can get into schools and inspire young people for the future.

[Chris Skidmore (Kingswood) (Con)]

I welcome today’s statement. One of the Government’s flagship policies for preparing young people for the world of work is the studio schools initiative, and recently I campaigned successfully for a £3 million studio school on the site of the Grange school in Warmley, but today South Gloucestershire councillors are voting on whether to close the existing Grange school. I fought hard for the studio school so that pupils at the Grange could continue their education at the new school. Will the Secretary of State meet me to ensure that pupils at the Grange who wish to continue their education at the studio school will be given the opportunity to do so and have the place in the new school they deserve?

[Nicky Morgan]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right that the diversity of schools in our system is fundamental to the driving up of standards we have seen. As I said in my statement, for example, more students are taking EBacc subjects, which are leading to higher academic standards, and I am a great supporter of studio schools. I heard what he said, and I will try to meet him, but if I cannot one of my Ministers will do so urgently.

[Debbie Abrahams (Oldham East and Saddleworth) (Lab)]

I share the concerns of my hon. Friends about the status of the new company. Is it a private company? It is being set up with public money. Given the Public Accounts Committee’s report this morning, which suggests that public money given to private companies is often not spent well, how will we ensure that public money is held to account, and what specifically will it be doing?

[Nicky Morgan]

The hon. Lady got to the nub of the issue at the end of her question—what the company will actually be doing on the ground. When Labour has nothing else to say about a proposal, it obsesses about process. I have already mentioned that the company will be a community interest company, and it will of course explain to Parliament what it has done with the public money it receives. It will be doing a variety of different things, but one thing I do not want it to do is to quash the good practice already out there. There are already many excellent schemes involving the brightest and best schools linking to employers. We want to build on that and spread it across the country, including to schools in her constituency. I think the young people in her constituency will welcome these opportunities.

[Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (The Cotswolds) (Con)]

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on her announcement; it is a great step forward. Does she agree that we need to match the skills that schools teach to those that employers require? In that respect, would she encourage employers, LEPs and local authorities to carry out accurate skills audits so that schools know what those skills are?

[Nicky Morgan]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We must ensure that our young people have the skills to prepare them for life in modern Britain, which means, for most of them, getting jobs and knowing what jobs are out there. He is right to say that skills audits are critical, which is where the LEPs will come in, and that it is a partnership between different organisations, including local authorities, LEPs and employers.

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

Unfortunately, mistakes the Government made early in this Parliament have left work experience and careers information, advice and guidance in the worst state it has been in during my lifetime. I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement and her personal commitment to putting this right, but the devil will be in the detail. Are there any guarantees for young people in relation to access to work experience and face-to-face information, advice and guidance, which is at the heart of a good system?

[Nicky Morgan]

I welcome the hon. Gentleman’s support, which I know is heartfelt, and I know he has a lot of experience, from before he entered the House, in the further education sector. Schools and colleges already have a duty to offer impartial advice and guidance, which can include one-to-one, face-to-face interviews, as well as work experience. The purpose of the company is to support schools and colleges in order to fulfil our commitments. From conversations I have had around the country, I know that many busy teachers, heads and leaders in education welcome the opportunity and support the company will provide in terms of employers coming in and talking to students. I suspect we will want to see work experience opportunities, job interviews and all sorts of other things as well. On the changes made this Parliament, the point is that having an external service was not the right way to go. It is right for the schools, which know their students, to identify and support them in making those choices.

[Mr Nigel Evans (Ribble Valley) (Con)]

It would appear that hyperbolic nonsense is not just the preserve of BBC “Today” journalists, but shared by the shadow Secretary of State for Education. I think this is a great statement. As the Secretary of State knows, I represent a rural constituency with a diverse range of schools, from grammar to comprehensive, from denominational to non-denominational. Will she guarantee that the exciting services being offered today will be offered with rurality and diversity in mind?

[Nicky Morgan]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We want all schools to participate in this scheme, supported by employers. What we have already seen as a result of the educational changes that this Government have brought in is more collaboration and partnership between schools of all different kinds. This company will serve many different schools. One point captured in my hon. Friend’s question is that we see some of this good practice in some parts of the country, but we do not see it everywhere. I think that every child in this country is entitled to be inspired about their future.

[Pamela Nash (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab)]

I agree that every young person in this country deserves to be inspired about their future, and I am happy to hear the Secretary of State saying that and expressing her opinions on giving good quality careers advice. Unfortunately, that does not match with the recent record of this Government. While I welcome any investment in careers advice, £20 million is equivalent to around only £3 a head for every young person. Does she really think that this will fix the problems caused by this Government?

[Nicky Morgan]

In going around talking to organisations and schools across the country, I have found that it is not so much a matter of financial issues as of the lack of contacts. That is what the company is all about—brokering links between employers and businesses and schools. Yes, I am absolutely confident that this will make a difference. It is part of the careers landscape and I welcome the hon. Lady’s support.

[Andrew Percy (Brigg and Goole) (Con)]

I cannot claim to be the daughter of a skilled worker, as the hon. Member for Lewisham East (Heidi Alexander) did, but I can claim to be the son of a skilled manual worker and to be someone who attended a pretty bog standard and quite poor comprehensive school. Is not the truth that poor-performing comprehensives cannot possibly offer the sort of links to employers that posh private schools, such as those attended by various Members, can? How will this announcement ensure that those who attend what have been called “bog standard” comprehensives get access to proper workplace experience?

[Nicky Morgan]

I know that my hon. Friend had direct teaching experience in colleges before he came here. Returning to my previous answer, we know that the good links, as my hon. Friend says, happen in some schools in some parts of the country. What this company will do through a network of enterprise and employment advisers is to make sure that the links between schools and businesses and employers happen right across the country. Some schools are very fortunate in having a large successful company down the road that offers an excellent scheme, but many schools are not in that position. Yet there are some fantastic businesses out there, often perhaps in the supply chain or in the service sector, looking for the next great generation of employees—and I am absolutely convinced that they are in the schools that my hon. Friend mentions.

[Dame Angela Watkinson (Hornchurch and Upminster) (Con)]

May I commend to the Secretary of State the excellent schools, colleges and academies in Hornchurch and Upminster, and the pre-apprenticeship and skills training organisations there? They all recognise the importance of employability skills—having good oral, social and interpersonal skills, good timekeeping and good manners. Does she agree that, without those skills, no matter how good a pupil’s qualifications, they are unlikely to compete very well at interview? Will the new organisation take that into consideration?

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[Nicky Morgan]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Organisations, employers and businesses up and down the country talk about that. As I said in the statement, rigorous academic standards are, of course, important, but so are the employability skills that she mentions. That is why I have also focused since my appointment on the importance of character education—the resilience, the grit, the persistence, the self-confidence, the self-esteem—that we want to see developed in our young people. I think that having employers and businesses involved in schools will help to shape those employability skills that she rightly mentions.

[Justin Tomlinson (North Swindon) (Con)]

My careers advice teacher assured me I had no chance of becoming an MP when I was older. What role do we see for the National Citizen Service providers and organisations such as the scouts and guides?

[Nicky Morgan]

I am not sure that my careers adviser even told me about the option of becoming a Member of Parliament. I discovered that via a roundabout route. My hon. Friend is right to say that the £5 million investment fund that we are going to launch via the company will allow organisations such as the scouts, guides, the National Employer Service and others—including Young Chamber, to which I have spoken recently—to make a bid either to fund new activities or to scale up existing activities so that they are spread around the country, offering the opportunity to acquire employability skills.

[Margot James (Stourbridge) (Con)]

I welcome the additional support for careers guidance in schools and colleges. Will my right hon. Friend consider using a proportion of this money, or asking the new company to use a proportion of this money, to tackle the outdated images of industries such as manufacturing and construction, which put so many young people off considering a career in these vital and growing sectors of our economy?

[Nicky Morgan]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. This is about inspiring our young people to consider all the different careers out there. Various sectors have changed over the years. For example, we see much more advanced high-tech manufacturing nowadays. I am passionate about ensuring that our girls and young women are inspired to go into sectors that they might not traditionally have considered. That is why I am so passionate, too, about backing campaigns such as Your Life.

[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on this announcement, and particularly on the appointment of Christine Hodgson, who is an inspirational business leader. Does my right hon. Friend agree that getting role models into schools—whether they are business leaders or successful apprentices—is vital, and can she explain how this company will be able to support that move?

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[Nicky Morgan]

I echo my hon. Friend’s words about Christine Hodgson. Christine champions the Work Inspiration initiative, which is a national employer-led campaign targeting young people to make their first experience in the workplace meaningful. She is also involved in business and the community. My hon. Friend is absolutely right to say that she is a great role model for all young people, but particularly for young women, encouraging them to see the senior roles they could play in companies. I mentioned the idea of having more apprentices going back to their former schools to talk about the opportunities open to them. Seeing employers working in exciting sectors will open up eyes and inspire the next generation.

[Sarah Newton (Truro and Falmouth) (Con)]

I very much welcome today’s statement, but bearing in mind the very low proportion of girls participating, can the Secretary of State assure me that girls and their families will be encouraged to overcome stereotypes and to consider careers and apprenticeships in engineering and technology?

[Nicky Morgan]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. This is about ensuring that all our young people are inspired about the career options, including a wide number of new careers, open to them. As I said, I am passionate about making sure that more girls are studying science and maths for longer, which is why we are backing the Your Life campaign and working with organisations such as the Institution of Engineering and Technology. She mentioned families, and this is very important too. For many families, it is easier to give advice about careers that are known about, but much harder to inspire young people to take up careers they know little about, which is where this company will come in.

[Andrew Stephenson (Pendle) (Con)]

In Pendle we have seen a big reduction in the number of young people not in education, employment or training. We have also seen the number of young people undertaking an apprenticeship double. However, some of our local apprenticeships providers such as the Nelson and Colne college are now struggling to find young people to fill the apprenticeship vacancies available with local employers. How will today’s proposals increase the awareness of apprenticeships and vocational routes for our young people?

[Nicky Morgan]

My hon. Friend mentioned employers in his constituency that are looking for apprentices and appreciate the vocational and technical route through to careers. Because the company is employer led, it will be able to go into and work with schools and colleges to identify those for whom apprenticeships might never have been suggested, but who might be interested once the high-quality apprenticeships available in the 21st century are explained to them. I suspect that many young people will decide that those opportunities provide the right career path for them.