Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Gove and Richard Fuller

Monday 16th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Richard Fuller (Bedford) (Con)]

Thinking that it faces too many bureaucratic hurdles, the Local Government Association is looking for more powers to interfere in free schools and academies. All too often, local authorities are the bureaucratic hurdles, holding back inspired head teachers, inspirational boards of governors, and parents who want a better future for their children. Will my right hon. Friend resist these efforts by local government to take back controls?

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend is a man after my own heart. There are some outstanding local councils, not least, for example, in the north-east and Darlington. They do a great job in supporting head teachers to raise standards and exercise a greater degree of autonomy. Sadly, however, there are those who want the creeping tendrils of bureaucracy once again to choke the delicate flower of freedom, and I am afraid that the Opposition Front Bench is a particularly rank unweeded garden when it comes to nurturing those tendrils.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Gove and Richard Fuller

Monday 24th March 2014 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

As the Secretary of State who was delighted to appoint a Labour baroness to chair Ofsted, I think my commitment to the independence of the inspectorate is beyond question.

[Richard Fuller (Bedford) (Con)]

In Bedford the transition from three-tier to two-tier education remains stalled, and there is still no coherent strategy to resolve it. In the circumstances, will my right hon. Friend take a particular interest in applications for funding from schools seeking to achieve coherent change for their pupils?

[Michael Gove]

I absolutely will.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Gove and Richard Fuller

Monday 27th February 2012 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I do not want to upstage the curtain call tomorrow at the Royal Opera House for the Henley report, and our response to it is being launched. However, with your permission, Mr Speaker, may I just say that Darren Henley has produced a fantastic report? The leadership shown by the Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, my hon. Friend the hon. Member for Wantage (Mr Vaizey), has been fantastic. The leadership shown by the Arts Council England, English Heritage and a variety of other groups that are interested in enriching the cultural life of the nation has also been wonderful. I am looking forward to the launch of the report, and I know that the right hon. Member for Bath (Mr Foster) has played a significant part behind the scenes in making it so good.

[Richard Fuller (Bedford) (Con)]

rose—

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Gove and Richard Fuller

Monday 21st November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

As a deprived area, Rotherham will, over the lifetime of this Parliament, benefit increasingly from the pupil premium. The report to which the right hon. Gentleman refers is a projection—a guess. The IFS is a fantastic think-tank, but it is speculating, not stating.

Let me point out that every single question from Opposition Front Benchers during the course of this Question Time was a plea for more money; not a single question was about the case for reform. In a nutshell, there we have the problem with today’s Labour party: an outstretched hand demanding more cash but not a single thing to say about raising standards.

[Richard Fuller (Bedford) (Con)]

Here is a question about reform, not extra cash. With early adopter schools that are well equipped to convert to academies already on the pace in becoming free-standing academies, what extra support, advice and guidance can my right hon. Friend give to the middle area of schools that are considering moving to being an academy but have not yet got up the nerve to make that change?

[Michael Gove]

All I would say is this, “Come on in. The water’s lovely.” In Bedford and Bedfordshire, schools that have converted to academy status have already seen their standards increase, and their head teachers have been able to ensure that money is spent on the pupils’ priorities, not the bureaucracies’ priorities. I am looking forward to working with my hon. Friend and all Bedfordshire MPs to ensure that more schools convert to academy status and, in so doing, raise standards for all children.

New Schools

Debate between Lord Gove and Richard Fuller

Monday 10th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I hope that this—I am sure, outstanding —new school will attract, from all of south and west Yorkshire, students who will want to benefit from the high quality of education. It is always a pleasure to talk informally to the right hon. Gentleman, and always a pleasure to work with him in his relentless crusade to put politics aside and our children first.

[Richard Fuller (Bedford) (Con)]

The Secretary of State must be heartened by the encouraging words from Members on both sides of the House for his policy announcement today, but, as he knows, there are still Sirte-like pockets of opposition to his policies from stonewalling councils and knee-jerk ideologues in some unions, including unfortunately the general secretary of the NASUWT, who today claimed that for young people UTCs

“could reduce their employment chances later on.”

Does the Secretary of State agree that the best action the shadow Secretary of State can take is to go back to his union paymasters and tell them to drop their opposition to UTCs and free schools and get on board with a policy that is all about social mobility in our country?

[Michael Gove]

It is very good point by my hon. Friend. The hon. Member for Liverpool, West Derby (Stephen Twigg) is new to the job, but, on the basis of everything that he has said so far, I think that there may be a real change in the Labour party’s approach towards the issue, so I encourage him on the path of virtue and say no more than that.

School Funding Reform

Debate between Lord Gove and Richard Fuller

Tuesday 19th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

As my noble Friend Lord Adonis has pointed out, education in Birmingham needs many things to change, and I suspect that the hon. Lady and I know just how much change is needed.

[Richard Fuller (Bedford) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend’s focus on special schools will be particularly welcome to the Ridgeway, St John’s and—oh my goodness. [Interruption.] The Grange, Ridgeway and St John’s—I am terribly sorry, Mr Speaker, I shall not live that one down. May I ask my right hon. Friend, particularly on the issue of capital allocations to schools that are transitioning to academies, for an assurance that the scheme will not be used by local authorities in any way, shape or form as a brake on the decisions by those schools to become academies?

[Michael Gove]

That is a very fair point. I have sought in the consultation—and we will seek in the decisions that we make—to be absolutely fair and balanced. It is no secret to anyone in the House that I am a great champion of school autonomy and I am critical of local authorities that have not done their job well. However, local authorities have a vital role to play in future, which is why the huge increase in basic need funding will go directly to local authorities, which are best placed to make those decisions. That balanced approach, encouraging autonomy while respecting local authorities’ critical role, is the right way forward.

School Closures (Thursday)

Debate between Lord Gove and Richard Fuller

Tuesday 28th June 2011 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for the point he makes. The truth is that the specific increase in contributions applies not only to teachers, but to public sector workers across the piece—it is one of the issues that affects all public sector unions. The public sector unions affected, apart from the teachers’ unions and the Public and Commercial Services Union, are not going on strike on Thursday. We can thus infer that there are other unions that, whatever their views on the requirement to increase contributions, believe it is important to conclude the conversation and dialogue about the state of public sector pensions overall before taking any decision about action.

[Richard Fuller (Bedford) (Con)]

The fair but difficult changes to teachers’ pensions and the pre-emptive call for a strike by the trade unions will leave many teachers this week wrestling between their loyalty to their union and their concern about the impact of this on the esteem of the profession. On Friday, I welcomed Taiwanese students to St Thomas More school in my town. Teachers in Taiwan are not able to strike and, as my right hon. Friend knows, Confucian tradition reveres teachers. What advice does he have for teachers who are wrestling with the concerns about the impact of this strike on the teaching profession in our country?

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. One of my concerns—[Interruption.] I am grateful to the hon. Member for Garston and Halewood (Maria Eagle) for the attention that she pays to this very important question. One of the things that this Government have been seeking to do over the past 15 months is to raise the prestige of the teaching profession. We have sought to work on changes that were instituted under the previous Government and under preceding Governments. I said in my initial response to the right hon. Member for Leigh that we were lucky to have the best generation of teachers ever in our schools, and that is in no small part due to the efforts made across parties to ensure that. I am delighted to take this opportunity to underline that, but I did say on Sunday, and I will say again, that the reputation of teachers risks being affected by action on Thursday. I hope that, whatever action is taken, all of us recognise that we need to operate responsibly on Thursday, because it would be a grave shame if the respect in which teachers are held is, in any way, undermined.

Post-16 Education Funding

Debate between Lord Gove and Richard Fuller

Monday 28th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I enjoyed a visit to Daventry to meet my hon. Friend a few weeks ago and I hope to go again in due course to work with him to bring forward plans for a new university technical college. Although I admire his ardour, I urge him to be a wee bit patient just at the moment because we are developing plans to move from 12 to 24, and in the next few months we should be able to bring them forward.

[Richard Fuller (Bedford) (Con)]

Many young people will share my right hon. Friend’s disappointment that his opposite number, the right hon. Member for Leigh (Andy Burnham), who was part of a Government who maxed out the country’s credit card and racked up levels of debt that people will have to repay for their entire careers, has had absolutely nothing constructive to say today. Will my right hon. Friend note that in the review of EMA, one comment was that a large proportion of Bangladeshi and Pakistani students relied on it? Will his review look into that to see what can be done to ensure that their participation in higher education can continue?

[Michael Gove]

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend, who is particularly concerned to ensure that students from ethnic minority backgrounds enjoy better opportunities. One thing that we will do is liaise with college principals to ensure that currently under-represented groups, particularly Bangladeshi and Pakistani students and especially Bangladeshi and Pakistani female students, are encouraged to participate in future.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Gove and Richard Fuller

Monday 7th February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I am very grateful.

[Richard Fuller (Bedford) (Con)]

Bedfordshire Orchestral Society has an enviable record of promoting music in schools, but it is reliant on funding from two local authorities. Even ahead of today’s good news from the Secretary of State, Bedford borough council has committed funding, so will my right hon. Friend join me in encouraging Central Bedfordshire council to do likewise?

[Michael Gove]

When Central Bedfordshire council hears that my hon. Friend and I are both on the case, I am sure that it will be only too happy to join in and become as one in harmony with us both.

Education Maintenance Allowance

Debate between Lord Gove and Richard Fuller

Wednesday 19th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It was interesting to hear the shadow Secretary of State arguing for the equivalent of the Geddes axe, with every service receiving the same cuts. That would presumably mean cuts to the NHS, cuts to the schools budget and cuts to Sure Start simply in order to satisfy his desire for consistency on this policy. As the right hon. Gentleman should have discovered when he was Chief Secretary to the Treasury, to govern is to choose, and to have priorities.

[Richard Fuller (Bedford) (Con)]

There are 1,200 students in my constituency who receive EMA. My right hon. Friend is giving them a very good lesson about who is responsible for the difficulties they will encounter over the coming months: the previous Government. Will he also teach them two other lessons? First, the shadow Secretary of State was part of the Government who spent all the money so that there is nothing left. When it has been spent, there should be some answers about what needs to be done with the wreckage left behind. Secondly, there is the lesson that when we are in tough times, we need to focus resources on those who are most vulnerable.

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend makes an admirable and correct point.

Schools White Paper

Debate between Lord Gove and Richard Fuller

Wednesday 24th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I am very interested that Reddish Vale is keen to become an academy and to embrace the future, and I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s support. There is a huge variety of views across local government about the future of education, but I am encouraged that some of the most progressive and imaginative figures in local government are Liberal Democrat councillors. In particular, I would like to pay tribute to Gerald Vernon-Jackson in Portsmouth and to David Bellotti in Bath and North East Somerset, among many others. I will visit Stockport and have a word with the Liberal Democrat councillors there, and I am sure that I will leave better informed and happier about the world.

[Richard Fuller (Bedford) (Con)]

There has been a teacher training institution in Bedford since 1882, and my right hon. Friend will be aware of the great work that the university of Bedfordshire does on teacher training for small schools in the eastern region, and on supporting further and continuing education for teachers. Can my right hon. Friend assure me that his proposals will reinforce, and not undermine, the excellent work being done by such institutions?

[Michael Gove]

Absolutely. We are going to say to all higher education institutions that are currently involved in the provision of initial teacher training that we want them to open lab schools, in the same way that such schools have been developed in Finland and the United States. Those schools are run by education departments and they act as showcases for the best in teacher training, and I believe that education departments here can grasp this opportunity. We are working with the Training and Development Agency to ensure that they have the resources to do so.

Education Policy

Debate between Lord Gove and Richard Fuller

Monday 18th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I share the hon. Gentleman’s commitment to ensuring that no one who has genuine talent is put off going to university. That is the function of the £150 million undergraduate premium.

[Richard Fuller (Bedford) (Con)]

By slashing the Building Schools for the Future bureaucracy that was holding back Bedford academy, and through his strong support for the free school in Kempston, my right hon. Friend has already delivered for disadvantaged children in my constituency more in five months than the Labour party did in five years. May I point out that 50% of the children in lower schools in my constituency come from families in which English is not the primary language? Will he please ensure, through the consultation, that attention is given to people in that situation so that they do not lose out in the very welcome review that he is undertaking?

[Michael Gove]

Bedford is a classic community in that even though it sits within a county that is considered to be relatively wealthy, it contains not just pockets but large areas of real deprivation. That is why my hon. Friend, who is utterly committed to social justice, has played such a big role in helping to support teachers such as Mark Lehain who are committed to providing a better education for the poorest. Today’s announcement will only help such people to do a better job for the children who are in the most need.

Education Funding

Debate between Lord Gove and Richard Fuller

Monday 5th July 2010 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

Again, I am grateful to the hon. Lady. Those two academies will form part of the group that we are reviewing, as I mentioned in my statement. It is also the case that Estover community college in her constituency is, I believe, unaffected.

[Richard Fuller (Bedford) (Con)]

My right hon. Friend’s passion for teaching is a welcome change from his predecessor’s passion for bureaucracy and financial waste—waste that has cost the taxpayers in Bedford borough council £500,000 on their Building Schools for the Future proposal, with no progress at all made on building. However, as my right hon. Friend is aware, there is a complex change in Bedford, involving a transition from three-tier to two-tier education. Will he agree to have a meeting on that issue?

[Michael Gove]

I would be delighted to meet my hon. Friend and representatives from Bedford.