Social Mobility Commission
Debate between Robert Goodwill and Edward Leigh(6 years, 5 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Mr Goodwill
If the hon. Lady looks back over the past five years, she will see that Alan has been supportive of much of the action that we are taking to improve social mobility, such as the Department for Education’s opportunity areas. We welcome constructive challenge as we all work together to tackle social mobility.
This will give us an opportunity to refresh the commission and improve its diversity. I assure the House that we are not in the position of employing a patsy for the Government: I want somebody who will continue to challenge the Government, continue to hold our feet to the fire and engage constructively—not only with central Government but with local government, which is charged with delivering many of the solutions.
Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough) (Con)
Before the commission resigned, did they suggest one radical idea for driving social mobility through the education system, and did the Government gainsay it? Namely, why do we not concentrate on the children from the most deprived backgrounds and postcodes, give them an intelligence test at 11 for which they cannot be tutored, and put them in special schools so that they have a rigorous academic education? The schools could be called grammar schools.
Mr Goodwill
As I understand it, that was not one of the suggestions that Alan Milburn made as he was leaving.