Free Schools (Funding)

Debate between Robin Walker and Michael Gove

Monday 12th May 2014 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

We are actually spending more on basic need and on free schools as a result of the wise decisions that we have taken. It was interesting, in the hon. Gentleman’s question, that he did not take the opportunity—but I shall—to praise Corby technical school, which is the wonderful new free school that has been opened in his constituency. It is providing an outstanding standard of education for young people in his area. I hope he will take the opportunity the next time that he speaks on education to praise those who have provided such an outstanding quality of education.

[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

A moment ago, the Secretary of State mentioned a football club that is supporting alternative provision in a free school. Will he join me in congratulating the Worcester Warriors in its support of the Aspire academy, a free school soon to be opening in Worcester? I thank him for the fact that, along with that free school in one of the areas of highest need in my constituency, the Government are also investing in 500 more primary places in Worcestershire.

[Michael Gove]

I am delighted to hear that. We are very grateful for the role that football clubs and other charities play in supporting free schools. One of the best free school applications that I have seen came from Everton football club and was enthusiastically supported by the right hon. Member for Leigh (Andy Burnham), another predecessor of the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central and another Labour supporter of free schools—

National Curriculum

Debate between Robin Walker and Michael Gove

Monday 8th July 2013 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The more confident every student is with the increasingly sophisticated range of financial temptations they face, the more that social mobility and resilience can be built in.

[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

I echo those comments on financial education. I also congratulate the Secretary of State on the improvements to the computing curriculum, which will be warmly welcomed by businesses, such as Postcode Anywhere and those in the growing cyber-security cluster in Worcestershire, that have long been arguing for a more computing-focused and less IT learning-focused approach.

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Industry has been clear that the changes we have made from information and communications technology to computing are exactly what industry needs to ensure that young people are prepared for the opportunities that await them.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Robin Walker and Michael Gove

Monday 3rd September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

Free schools are already doing a fantastic job in providing that opportunity—[Interruption.] The hon. Gentleman, having missing the penalty the first time, is trying to come back, put the ball on the spot and have another go. The whole point is that free schools are doing a superb job in providing great sporting facilities, and the reason for that is that they are free of the sort of centralist interference that old socialists like him, in their sweet but frankly out-of-touch way, are still nostalgic for.

[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

16. What plans he has for the future level of the pupil premium.

School Funding Reform

Debate between Robin Walker and Michael Gove

Tuesday 19th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

Swindon council does a lot of things right, and that is just one more.

[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

I warmly welcome the commitment to a new national funding formula—something for which I have been calling since I made my maiden speech. Today the Secretary of State will receive a letter signed by all six Worcestershire Members of Parliament urging him to press ahead with these desperately needed reforms, and to close the appalling £1,100 gap between Worcestershire and the neighbouring authority of Birmingham. May I urge him, as my hon. Friend the Member for Beverley and Holderness (Mr Stuart), the Chair of the Select Committee on Education, did, to press ahead with the reforms and not to listen to the siren voices calling for delay?

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend makes an impressive case for Worcestershire, as do my hon. Friends the Members for West Worcestershire (Harriett Baldwin), for Redditch (Karen Lumley), for Mid Worcestershire (Peter Luff) and for Wyre Forest (Mark Garnier). I am very sympathetic to the case they make.

Schools White Paper

Debate between Robin Walker and Michael Gove

Wednesday 24th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

The higher education budget is the province of my colleagues the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, the right hon. Member for Twickenham (Vince Cable), and the Minister for Universities and Science, my right hon. Friend the Member for Havant (Mr Willetts). We support higher education through the money that is spent by the Training and Development Agency for teachers. We want to ensure that that money is spent on attracting more highly qualified people into teaching, and in the next few months we will present proposals explaining exactly how we will support high-performing institutions, whether they are higher education institutions or schools.

[Mr Robin Walker (Worcester) (Con)]

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on his excellent White Paper and especially on the pupil premium, which will benefit many people in my constituency. Christopher Whitehead language college in my constituency, which is an outstanding school, is shortly to launch Mandarin classes. Will the Secretary of State expand on what the White Paper offers to improve the depth, breadth and quality of language teaching in our schools?

[Michael Gove]

I have been working with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to ensure that we can help more people studying modern languages, particularly Mandarin and strategic subjects, into teaching. I was fortunate enough to be in China with my right hon. Friend two weeks ago, when we received funding from the Confucius Institute to ensure that there will be 1,000 new trained teachers of Mandarin, and that the fantastic work being done in the school in my hon. Friend’s constituency is spread more widely.