Oral Answers to Questions

Nigel Huddleston Excerpts

Tuesday 10th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Anna Soubry]

Of course we always listen to what the local enterprise partnerships are asking us to do, if they need any additional support. As the hon. Lady knows, in relation to steelworkers who have unfortunately been made redundant—notably at Redcar, but with more fears for Scunthorpe and Rotherham—we have put in substantial amounts of public money, specifically to ensure that those highly skilled workers get all the opportunities they need to retrain. The amount for Redcar is £16.5 million, and for Scunthorpe it will start at £3 million. We have already started to work with Rotherham and, if we get more bad news, money will be available for that area.

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

The issue of switching suppliers is particularly acute in the mobile phone space, where just 6% of users change contracts each year, and many people find it difficult to find the best deals. What plans do the Government have to improve switching and price transparency in the mobile sector?

[Nick Boles]

The Government are determined to encourage more consumers to vote with their feet in key markets such as energy, banking and mobile phones. We are currently conducting a call for evidence on a set of six switching principles that will make the process quicker and easier for consumers. My hon. Friend the Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy—for digital everything—and I will shortly write to the chief executives of mobile telephone companies to encourage them to co-operate fully with those new principles.

Oral Answers to Questions

Nigel Huddleston Excerpts

Monday 26th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

12. What plans the Government have to deliver fairer funding for schools.

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

The Government remain committed to implementing our manifesto pledge to make funding fairer. We are protecting the schools budget, which will rise as pupil numbers increase, and we have made significant progress towards fairer funding for schools, with an extra £390 million for underfunded areas this year, which we have now confirmed will be included in budgets for next year as well.

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[Nicky Morgan]

I entirely agree, Mr Speaker.

The Minister for Schools recently met colleagues in Staffordshire to discuss school funding, which I hope they found useful. My hon. Friend the Member for Lichfield (Michael Fabricant) was unable to attend, but I know that he was there in spirit. As I have said, we have protected the per pupil funding in Staffordshire so that schools will continue to receive the additional £130,000 they received in 2015-16, but I am determined to make further progress on this.

[Nigel Huddleston]

Under current arrangements, per pupil funding in Worcestershire is £4,231, whereas in nearby Birmingham it is £5,218. When my right hon. Friend visits Worcestershire in a couple of weeks, will she be able to deliver some good news to my constituents about upcoming arrangements that will narrow that gap?

[Nicky Morgan]

I am very much looking forward to my visit to Worcestershire. I cannot say what I will be saying at that point, but I know that my hon. Friend and other Members from Worcestershire, including my Parliamentary Private Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Worcester (Mr Walker), have been campaigning tirelessly for fairer schools funding for some time, and I know that they will welcome the nearly £7 million extra per year that we have given to schools in Worcestershire. I look forward to working on this further.

Term-time Leave

Nigel Huddleston Excerpts

Monday 26th October 2015 Westminster Hall

[Steve Double]

I am grateful to the Minister for clarifying that point.

Other parents have told me of children missing out on scores of significant family celebrations. In fact, there seems to be a bit of confusion on what constitutes an exceptional case where headteachers are allowed to grant an authorised absence. Headteachers are being put in the impossible position of having to make choices about children attending family events—quite frankly, those are decisions that parents should be free to make. Headteachers have told me that even when they do exercise their judgement and authorise an absence, they then risk the spectre of Ofsted criticising that decision. Pitting family life against the classroom, as the policy sadly does, is one of its most regrettable aspects.

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

My hon. Friend makes some valid points that I have also heard in my constituency about the confusion over what constitutes exceptional circumstances, and he gave some good examples. Is he aware that 90% of those surveyed by the National Association of Head Teachers said that they would appreciate clearer guidance from the Government as to what constitutes exceptional circumstances? Perhaps that guidance might help.

[Steve Double]

I was aware of that survey. It raises the point that if the policy is to be continued—clearly, I hope it will be reviewed—there needs to be much greater clarity for headteachers on what constitutes exceptional circumstances. That especially needs to be applied to Ofsted, because I am hearing from headteachers that when they make a judgment call that they believe they are allowed to make and authorise the absence, those decisions are then queried at best, and perhaps criticised in other cases, by Ofsted. Parents want a constructive relationship with the school, where together they can decide what is right and best for the child.

My final point is on the policy’s economic impact. I was disturbed to learn that no economic impact assessment was made before the policy was introduced. In fact, when the matter was brought before Parliament in March 2013 by way of a statutory instrument, the explanatory note stated:

“An impact assessment has not been provided for this instrument as no impact on businesses or civil society organisations is foreseen.”

Unfortunately, that simply is not the case. The impact of the policy on the tourist industry, particularly in Cornwall, has been significant, as it has elsewhere in the country. Many tourist-related businesses are reporting a significant drop in revenue in the shoulder months of May, June and September, which used to be times when many families would come to towns such as Newquay to stay.

--- Later in debate ---

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to give my first Westminster Hall speech under your chairmanship, Mr McCabe. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for St Austell and Newquay (Steve Double) for taking the lead in the debate. The fact that the e-petition has been signed by more than 120,000 people shows the strength of feeling on this subject and the success of the e-petition experiment.

Although I fully support the intent and gist of the e-petition, I have a little concern about its wording, like other hon. Members. To allow all pupils two weeks off would cause chaos and disruption in our schools. I am concerned, as was mentioned earlier, that that could be interpreted as giving a carte blanche entitlement of two weeks off to all parents across the country no matter what the circumstances. I suspect—this is the feeling I have got from the debate—that we are really asking for flexibility, and for headteachers to be given the discretion to decide.

Hon. Members have also mentioned the lack of clarity about exceptional circumstances versus special circumstances, and I think we all agree that further guidance would be appreciated. I am sure we are all interested to hear what the Minister will say about that later on.

The reason why the tighter rules were implemented in the first place was to tackle the burgeoning problem of truancy, partly caused by the persistent and deliberate flouting of the previous rules by a small minority of parents. Truancy was allowed to get completely out of control—so much so that, between autumn 2009 and spring 2010, pupils missed 46 million days of school. That was clearly not acceptable, which is why I support tight regulation, but there is a need for greater flexibility and local discretion when parents truly have no other options.

Like my hon. Friend the Member for Chippenham (Michelle Donelan), I have heard cases of people who work in the armed forces, and it will be no surprise to colleagues who represent constituencies in the south-west that I am concerned about the tourism sector in particular. The situation does not just affect coastal towns and the south-west. I represent Mid Worcestershire, with no coast whatever, where this is an issue as well.

Support for the tourism industry is pivotal, because it is a hugely undervalued sector. Since 2010, one in three new jobs has been in the hospitality, leisure and tourism sector. Tourism contributes £127 billion to our economy and employs more than 3 million people, and that number is growing. This issue will therefore inevitably get bigger, because as more people work in the sector, more people will be affected. It is no exaggeration to say that those who work in the sector are among the hardest-working people in the country, and that is never more the case than during the school holidays, and particularly the summer break.

According to a 2014 study by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, proportionately more people are self-employed in the travel and tourism sector than in the economy as a whole. Many of those people are small business owners running bed and breakfasts, restaurants and shops, and of course many of them will have families.

It goes without saying, therefore, that we would not expect those who work in the holiday industry to go on holiday during their busiest time of the year—we would not expect accountants to go away in the run-up to the tax return deadline in April, a florist to take time off before Valentine’s day or anyone in the retail sector to take a break in December. In most cases, those who run businesses in the tourism sector simply cannot have holidays in late July and August, at Easter, during most half-terms or at Christmas.

It just so happens that the tourism sector’s busiest time is almost every other sector’s downtime. Many who work in the tourism sector are therefore not able to take a family holiday during official school holiday times. They are effectively penalised simply because of their choice to work in that sector. I therefore sincerely hope that flexibility and common sense will prevail. I look forward to the Minister’s response.

School Expansion

Nigel Huddleston Excerpts

Monday 19th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Nicky Morgan]

I thank my hon. Friend very much for that. I welcome the work the Mercia Primary Academy Trust does. One of the most exciting things we are seeing now is the growth of good multi-academy trusts across the country. Like him, I believe in the power of all-through schools. I visit schools where the primary and secondary are working together, and it is inspirational to watch the older pupils supporting the younger ones and for the younger ones to have the aspirational role models that the older pupils provide.

[Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire) (Con)]

Does the Secretary of State agree that creating an environment in which our children can achieve their full potential is a core responsibility of government, and that therefore the expansion of an outstanding school must surely be welcomed by anybody sensible and signals good government?

[Nicky Morgan]

I thank my hon. Friend for that—he put it so beautifully. This expansion should be welcomed by anyone sensible, which presumably is why the Labour party is having difficulty with it. He is absolutely right to say that our core duty is about ensuring that every child can fulfil their potential. I am extremely conscious of that, and that is what we are all striving to ensure in the Department for Education.