Education and Adoption Bill

Debate between Tristram Hunt and Clive Lewis

Monday 22nd June 2015 Commons Chamber

[Clive Lewis (Norwich South) (Lab)]

When the Department for Education was asked about quality gradings for academy chains, its response was:

“The disclosure of this information would prejudice or would be likely to prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs.”

The Department does not want any transparency when it comes to judging those academy chains. Why will Ministers not, in this Bill, allow academy chains to be judged like maintained schools?

[Tristram Hunt]

My hon. Friend makes a valuable point. We are talking about taxpayers’ money, so where are the transparency and accountability on expenditure? Why are parents and pupils at failing academy schools less deserving of fast and effective state intervention than those in the maintained sector? The Labour party believes every child should have a good education in every classroom and opposes this ideological protection of certain poorly performing schools.