Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Gove and Paul Blomfield

Monday 22nd April 2013 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

As the hon. Lady knows, the Birmingham authority does not have a particularly good record, whether under Labour or the coalition, in providing an appropriate level of challenge. In Birmingham, it is head teachers who are providing the opportunity—people like Sir Christopher Stone are doing a fantastic job in making sure other schools improve—and the best school in Birmingham, Perry Beeches, has now opened a free school, which is showing the way. If we empower teachers in the spirit in which the hon. Member for Huddersfield (Mr Sheerman) suggests, we can do a lot more to raise standards than we ever did when we empowered bureaucrats.

[Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab)]

6. What plans he has for child care and early intervention provision; and if he will make a statement.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Gove and Paul Blomfield

Monday 4th March 2013 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I would be delighted to meet my hon. Friend, who has a formidable record in campaigning to support family life. It is a massive challenge. No single set of Government interventions will help to sustain family life, but it is important that we do what we can. I look forward to working with him to ensure that we can support people who stay together and who demonstrate love and support for the next generation.

[Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab)]

T4. The Government have cut Sheffield’s early intervention grant by 27%, or £6.8 million, forcing the council to make deep cuts to early years provision. Last week the Secretary of State was invited to present evidence to the council’s children, young people and family support scrutiny committee. As he missed that opportunity, will he now tell the House what he would say to some of the most vulnerable families in our city whose child care is threatened as a result of his decision?

[Michael Gove]

I am reliably informed by the Department that in this financial year £25.2 million has been allocated to Sheffield in the early intervention grant. [Interruption.] It is a 3.9% increase on last year.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Gove and Paul Blomfield

Monday 29th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab)]

18. If the legal action against Ofqual is successful, and it is decided that pupils were treated unfairly—which the Secretary of State himself believes, although he refuses to do anything about it—what action will the right hon. Gentleman take?

[Michael Gove]

I would not wish to pre-empt any judgment in the courts.

Exam Reform

Debate between Lord Gove and Paul Blomfield

Monday 17th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. There is a consensus among business organisations, from the Federation of Small Businesses to the CBI to the Institute of Directors, that the current GCSE offer is inadequate and that we need reform. Particularly on literacy and numeracy, in our consultation paper issued today we make it clear that we would like GCSE English and mathematics to include sufficient rigour so that employers can be guaranteed that students are properly literate, properly numerate, and ready for the workplace.

[Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab)]

Does the Secretary of State accept that a one-size-fits-all final exam is not the best way of assessing talent across the whole ability range in core subjects, and that it is no preparation for a world of work in which no employer would dream of appointing or evaluating staff on the basis of a single closed paper?

[Michael Gove]

I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s question, but he seems to be inviting me to move towards a two-tier system because he believes that one size would not fit all. I reject the view implicit in his argument that the overwhelming majority of our students are not capable of doing what they do in other jurisdictions in showing at the age of 16 that they have mastered the core academic subjects and are ready for further study and the world of work.

Post-16 Education Funding

Debate between Lord Gove and Paul Blomfield

Monday 28th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for making that point. The former Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families commissioned work from the National Foundation for Educational Research, which demonstrated that we needed to target resources more effectively on the very poorest.

[Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab)]

It is clear from the Secretary of State’s announcement that thousands of young people will lose out on funding as a result of the significant level of cuts. He has transferred the responsibility for bearing the bad news for those thousands to school and college heads. That is a massive task for them to undertake. How does he expect them to resource the task within individual schools?

[Michael Gove]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for making his point, and I know that he has been committed to supporting better educational outcomes in Sheffield. When we consulted on this scheme, college principals themselves said they would prefer it to be discretionary, and my understanding is that both the Association of Colleges and the Association of School and College Leaders say they would prefer to be able to allocate funds in that way.

Schools White Paper

Debate between Lord Gove and Paul Blomfield

Wednesday 24th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

It was a great programme, and Gareth Malone is a star. Improving literacy is important, but it is also important to ensure that all primary school children have access to excellent cultural activities that can help them to enjoy and achieve.

[Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab)]

Two weeks ago I presented prizes at Silverdale school, a successful school in the Deputy Prime Minister’s constituency which draws in many kids from inner-city areas of my constituency. The Secretary of State talks about taking advice from teachers, so will he accept their advice that their work to transform the life chances of kids such as many in my constituency will be deeply damaged by the withdrawal of the education maintenance allowance?

Education Funding

Debate between Lord Gove and Paul Blomfield

Monday 5th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I know that in Newcastle, schools are either open or have reached financial close. I have had the opportunity of talking to the head teacher of Kenton school, which I know is excellent and I hope to visit it in the future.

[Paul Blomfield (Sheffield Central) (Lab)]

I regret that we have to obtain information in this way, and I would be grateful if the Secretary of State told me what reassurance I can give to King Edward VII school, which sits both in my constituency and that of the Deputy Prime Minister. As I understand it, it fits the criteria that the Secretary of State described in being a school that has not reached financial close, but on which very significant work has been undertaken in a project significantly to enhance the teaching of STEM subjects—science, technology, engineering and mathematics—which are critical not only to school students but to our economy.

[Michael Gove]

I believe that Sheffield is one of the local authorities that has reached financial close, so I think that the King Edward VII school is unaffected.