UK Parliament / Open data

Academies Bill [Lords]

Debate on bills on Monday, 19 July 2010, in the House of Commons, led by Michael Gove. The answering member was Ed Balls.

Academies Bill. Second reading debate. Amendment negatived on division (234 to 333). Main question agreed on division (326 to 236). Programme motion relating to proceedings in committee and other proceedings agreed on division (322 to 238). Money resolution agreed.

About these Parliamentary proceedings

Reference

514 c24-143

Session

2010-12

Proceeding contributions

Lord Jackson of Peterborough | 514 c118, (corrigendum) 330;514 c118 (Link to this contribution) Having been the chairman of the board of governors at a grant-maintained primary school in the 1990s...

Speaker | 514 c46 (Link to this contribution) Order. Before I call the next speaker, may I remind everybody that Mr Speaker has set a 10-minute li...

Show all contributions (313)

Andrew Percy | 514 c83 (Link to this contribution) I could not agree with the hon. Gentleman more on that point, but it is important that he understand...

Jeremy Hunt | 514 c83 (Link to this contribution) Clearly, the hon. Lady has not discovered the new politics. This is not about party political point ...

Elizabeth Truss | 514 c82-3 (Link to this contribution) Did not the Labour Government put in place the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency, wit...

Jeremy Hunt | 514 c82 (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Gentleman will hear later, the statistics are rather sharp on the difference between aca...

Andrew Percy | 514 c82 (Link to this contribution) It was not necessarily only academies that went down that route: all kinds of schools throughout the...

David Ward | 514 c81-2 (Link to this contribution) I am reliably informed by my hon. Friend the Member for Colchester (Bob Russell) that it happens qui...

Tristram Hunt | 514 c82 (Link to this contribution) It is a great pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Bradford East (Mr Ward). No doubt we shall be s...

David Ward | 514 c81 (Link to this contribution) On local authorities controlling schools, I do not know where the hon. Gentleman has been for the la...

James Morris | 514 c81 (Link to this contribution) Has the hon. Gentleman come across no circumstances where the local authority has acted as a barrier...

Liz Kendall | 514 c87-9 (Link to this contribution) I want all children to have the funding that is appropriate to their needs. In my constituency, we h...

Gordon Henderson | 514 c85 (Link to this contribution) I am in a somewhat difficult position. I support the general thrust of the Academies Bill, but when ...

Jeremy Hunt | 514 c84-5 (Link to this contribution) To be honest, I did not quite follow the hon. Gentleman's line. The point that was pursued by Labour...

Andrew Bridgen | 514 c87 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady think it is fair that in her constituency in Leicester, education is valued at £6...

Liz Kendall | 514 c86-7 (Link to this contribution) The Academies Bill raises many issues, but I want to focus my comments on three key questions: will ...

Jeremy Hunt | 514 c83 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman will wait a moment, the statistics that might quiet him will come. Returning ...

Lord Barwell | 514 c83 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is making a good point about the importance of studying academic subjects in our ...

Jeremy Hunt | 514 c83-4 (Link to this contribution) That is a very good question. It has taken me so long to get the information out of the Department f...

Ben Gummer | 514 c84 (Link to this contribution) I am fascinated by the hon. Gentleman's destruction of the policy proposed by Labour Members for so ...

Elizabeth Truss | 514 c93 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood (Shabana Mahmood) mentioned speed and several other hon. Me...

Shabana Mahmood | 514 c93 (Link to this contribution) Because it is important for the state sector to set out the way in which we believe our children sho...

Sam Gyimah | 514 c93 (Link to this contribution) That happens already—it is private schools, and people pay for them. What is wrong with allowing tea...

Shabana Mahmood | 514 c92 (Link to this contribution) I wish to make some progress. In any case, the fact that so many schools are currently outstanding ...

Sam Gyimah | 514 c89-90 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Member for Leicester West (Liz Kendall) for her thoughtful remarks, but she has alr...

Shabana Mahmood | 514 c91 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful, Madam Deputy Speaker, for the opportunity to add my voice to this important debate ab...

Shabana Mahmood | 514 c92 (Link to this contribution) Tony Blair is no longer the leader of my party, and I was elected in May 2010. Although I agree with...

Lord Barwell | 514 c92 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is repeating the line that the shadow Secretary of State started with, which is that t...

David Ward | 514 c95 (Link to this contribution) As I tried to say in my speech, if the freedoms—staffing, curriculum, release from all the paperwork...

Elizabeth Truss | 514 c94-5 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a good point. However, the Opposition seem confused. One Labour Member has argu...

Elizabeth Truss | 514 c95-6 (Link to this contribution) I think the answer is that there are so many national regulations. I am concerned about that rather ...

Lisa Nandy | 514 c93 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady accept that one of the reasons why so many Labour Members feel strongly about the...

Elizabeth Truss | 514 c94 (Link to this contribution) I care about pupils in the schools and whether they achieve what they need to and should achieve. Th...

Shabana Mahmood | 514 c94 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady accept that there is a difference between having a policy, wanting to get it on t...

Elizabeth Truss | 514 c94 (Link to this contribution) I thought that what was happening today and later this week was scrutiny—though not very much, looki...

Shabana Mahmood | 514 c94 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Lady give way?

Elizabeth Truss | 514 c94 (Link to this contribution) No, I want to continue with my point, and I have already given way to the hon. Lady. Every strategy...

Guy Opperman | 514 c94 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that Labour Members have gone—[Hon. Members: ““They've gone.””] Indeed, th...

Nick Gibb | 514 c100 (Link to this contribution) I may be able to help my hon. Friend by saying that the fast-track process is to enable schools to b...

Lord Barwell | 514 c100-1 (Link to this contribution) That is a helpful clarification and answers some of the points that have been made by Labour Members...

Lisa Nandy | 514 c98 (Link to this contribution) I do not in any sense accept the hon. Gentleman's point, distinguished though he is as the newly ele...

Lisa Nandy | 514 c97 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for his remarks, but they do not change at all the point I was making or ...

Lord Barwell | 514 c97 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Lady aware that academies receive none of the council funding for SEN administration, as...

Lisa Nandy | 514 c96-7 (Link to this contribution) I think we have heard enough from the hon. Gentleman. We heard a great deal from those on the Treas...

Sam Gyimah | 514 c96 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Lady give way?

Lisa Nandy | 514 c96 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Member for South West Norfolk (Elizabeth Truss). She certainly enlivened the debate...

Speaker | 514 c108 (Link to this contribution) Order. I call Yasmin Qureshi.

Paul Uppal | 514 c108 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is making a passionate speech, as did the right hon. Member for Tottenham (Mr Lammy), ...

Yasmin Qureshi | 514 c106-8 (Link to this contribution) When I was selected as the parliamentary candidate for my constituency, the editor of the Manchester...

Paul Uppal | 514 c108 (Link to this contribution) Thank you for your guidance, Mr Deputy Speaker, and I will do so. I want to make a point about the s...

Speaker | 514 c108 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Gentleman must ask a question. His intervention is not a chance to make a speech.

David Lammy | 514 c102-4 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow my London colleague, the hon. Member for Croydon Central (Gavin Barwell),...

Lord Barwell | 514 c101-2 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend. I should like to address a couple of questions to the Minister. First,...

Dominic Raab | 514 c104-6 (Link to this contribution) It is fair to say that we all agree on the need to drive up standards in our schools because educati...

Speaker | 514 c104 (Link to this contribution) Order.

Ben Gummer | 514 c101 (Link to this contribution) On free schools, is it not the case that Sweden has a couple of thousand people in the independent s...

Julian Smith | 514 c109 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Lady looks at the clause in more detail, she will see that there is no chance of expandi...

Yasmin Qureshi | 514 c109 (Link to this contribution) Clause 6(4) of the Bill states:"““For this purpose a school is a 'selective school' if its admission...

Julian Smith | 514 c109 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady understand that the coalition Government are not proposing to expand selection, a...

Yasmin Qureshi | 514 c109 (Link to this contribution) I thank my hon. Friend for that helpful intervention. Yes, that is what I am saying, and I have seen...

Speaker | 514 c110 (Link to this contribution) Order. I call Robert Buckland.

Yasmin Qureshi | 514 c110 (Link to this contribution) The Bill does not say, however, that 50% of the children coming into such a school must consist of c...

Dominic Raab | 514 c110 (Link to this contribution) I wonder whether the hon. Lady has had an opportunity to read clause 5, which makes clear the consul...

Yasmin Qureshi | 514 c109 (Link to this contribution) The Bill enables the very good school to fast-track into becoming an academy, and it does not say th...

Bill Esterson | 514 c109 (Link to this contribution) There is a lot evidence to show that areas that still have selection actually have poorer standards ...

Yasmin Qureshi | 514 c108-9 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. The hon. Gentleman says that I was talking about selection. If the tea...

Robert Buckland | 514 c111 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. My belief is that the pooling of resources will still o...

Paul Farrelly | 514 c112 (Link to this contribution) If more and more schools are to be encouraged to opt out of local education authority control, would...

Robert Buckland | 514 c112 (Link to this contribution) First and foremost, I think that the governing body must always have that responsibility. We already...

Owen Smith | 514 c112 (Link to this contribution) I know that the hon. Gentleman is very interested in this subject and that it is very close to his h...

Robert Buckland | 514 c112 (Link to this contribution) As I have said, I think that the principle of selection has not been part of the argument when it co...

Robert Buckland | 514 c112-3 (Link to this contribution) No, I am not worried, because I see nothing in the Bill to give me cause for suspicion or concern ab...

Tom Blenkinsop | 514 c111 (Link to this contribution) On resources and the payment of salaries in supporting SEN students, how is the coalition proposing ...

Robert Buckland | 514 c110-1 (Link to this contribution) I yield to nobody in my admiration for the hon. Member for Bolton South East (Yasmin Qureshi) and fo...

Charlotte Leslie | 514 c68 (Link to this contribution) As I have said, if this involved a huge capital investment going to those outstanding schools, I wou...

Bill Esterson | 514 c68 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady agree that outstanding schools need help less than schools in lower categories? I...

Charlotte Leslie | 514 c66-8 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a point that I was not going to make for the sake of making progress in my comm...

Shabana Mahmood | 514 c68 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady says the coalition is very concerned to remove disadvantage within our education syste...

Nick Gibb | 514 c70 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will of course remember that the Secretary of State wrote to all schools inviting...

Charlotte Leslie | 514 c68-9 (Link to this contribution) I will repeat what I said before—and also just note that it is interesting and very pleasing that th...

Stephen Twigg | 514 c69-70 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted to follow the hon. Member for Bristol North West (Charlotte Leslie), who made a const...

Dan Rogerson | 514 c72-3 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to speak in a debate in which so many excellent contributions have been made. A num...

Geraint Davies | 514 c73 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will recall that his party's manifesto contained a pledge to invest more money in...

Tom Blenkinsop | 514 c62-3 (Link to this contribution) We have heard excellent speeches from both sides of the House, but I rise with feelings of real unea...

Kwasi Kwarteng | 514 c65 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman believe that the content of the Bill differs significantly from legislation ...

Tom Blenkinsop | 514 c65-6 (Link to this contribution) The point is that we do not know. Because of the pace at which we are dealing with the Bill, we do n...

Charlotte Leslie | 514 c66 (Link to this contribution) I shall try to be brief, as we keep being reminded that time is of the essence. I believe in quality...

David Lammy | 514 c66 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady said that our schools were performing less well on the OECD list. Does she accept that...

Charlotte Leslie | 514 c66 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman has made an interesting point, which I will take on board.

Kwasi Kwarteng | 514 c66 (Link to this contribution) The Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, but my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State was talking abou...

David Ward | 514 c79-80 (Link to this contribution) I cannot see how, when the House is, understandably, trying to rebuild its reputation for various re...

Geraint Davies | 514 c80 (Link to this contribution) At the end of last week, I was at a school that serves a challenged area in Swansea West. It was cle...

Glenda Jackson | 514 c78-9 (Link to this contribution) With respect to the hon. Gentleman, if I heard the Secretary of State correctly, and if I remember t...

Speaker | 514 c79 (Link to this contribution) Order. I am sorry but the hon. Lady's time is up.

Glenda Jackson | 514 c78 (Link to this contribution) I must be entirely honest with my hon. Friend: I tend to avoid speeches by the Prime Minister. If yo...

Ben Gummer | 514 c78 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady made that point to the Minister in his introductory remarks and he said that it was up...

David Ward | 514 c80-1 (Link to this contribution) Without doubt there are exceptions to the rule, and we need to learn best practice wherever it resid...

Andrew Turner | 514 c81 (Link to this contribution) May I suggest that one other reason might be to get away from the control of the local council? That...

David Ward | 514 c80 (Link to this contribution) Hence the pupil premium. Parental involvement —my next point—is very important too. There is nothin...

Andrew Turner | 514 c80 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman accept that there are poor schools in good areas and good schools in poor ar...

Lord Coaker | 514 c74 (Link to this contribution) The normal way in which somebody pursues concerns is by tabling amendments—sometimes they are passed...

Dan Rogerson | 514 c74 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is an experienced Member of this House and he will have encountered issues on which the...

Geraint Davies | 514 c74 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman accept that if all schools became academies, there would not be enough money...

Dan Rogerson | 514 c73-4 (Link to this contribution) As has been mentioned, the key proposal that the Liberal Democrats made during the election was for ...

Barry Sheerman | 514 c78 (Link to this contribution) How does my hon. Friend square all this with the Prime Minister's speech yesterday, in which he brag...

Glenda Jackson | 514 c75-7 (Link to this contribution) The House has been blessed this afternoon that so many contributions have emanated from people who h...

Andrew Percy | 514 c77 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady said that she knew nothing about education, or very little, and, certainly, some of th...

Glenda Jackson | 514 c78 (Link to this contribution) I cannot afford the hon. Gentleman the same compliment that he afforded me regarding politeness. It ...

Stephen Lloyd | 514 c117 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman; I appreciate that information. In that case, I am particularly glad that...

Paul Farrelly | 514 c117 (Link to this contribution) Before the hon. Gentleman gets to the substance of his speech, I point out that I voted against plen...

Tom Blenkinsop | 514 c118 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Stephen Lloyd | 514 c118 (Link to this contribution) No, I shall not. I have almost finished. The pupil premium is directly targeted at those disadvanta...

Owen Smith | 514 c118 (Link to this contribution) As a Welsh Member, I beg the House's indulgence in contributing to this debate. I have three childre...

Yasmin Qureshi | 514 c118 (Link to this contribution) We'll move to Wales.

Owen Smith | 514 c118 (Link to this contribution) That might be a good idea. I wanted to speak tonight because the Bill is such an important piece of...

Owen Smith | 514 c119 (Link to this contribution) I can but agree, wholeheartedly. I have already touched on our second, perhaps more profound concer...

Stephen Pound | 514 c119 (Link to this contribution) On the subject of the excellent contribution of the hon. Member for South Swindon (Mr Buckland), doe...

Owen Smith | 514 c119 (Link to this contribution) There is a deep irony in that. On the contortions that the Liberal Democrats are having to perform b...

Paul Farrelly | 514 c119 (Link to this contribution) On my hon. Friend's point about politics and practicalities, is it his understanding that, in Wales ...

Guy Opperman | 514 c121 (Link to this contribution) I have spent a large portion of my time as a special educational needs barrister representing local ...

Robert Buckland | 514 c121 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that the debate and discussion in the other place yielded fruit in the for...

Yasmin Qureshi | 514 c119 (Link to this contribution) Is my hon. Friend aware that the free academy idea came from Sweden, where it has been found to lead...

Owen Smith | 514 c120-1 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely, and one point that I will come to is that the evidence on the free schools system in Swe...

Guy Opperman | 514 c121-2 (Link to this contribution) I accept my hon. Friend's point that the SEN argument developed as time moved on from the starkness ...

Lord Coaker | 514 c122-3 (Link to this contribution) This has been an interesting debate to which many Members on both sides of the House contributed. Th...

Nick Gibb | 514 c126-8 (Link to this contribution) That is precisely what this Bill and this Government's policy are all about. It is part of a compreh...

Toby Perkins | 514 c126 (Link to this contribution) I agree 100% with the Minister that parents in deprived communities care just as deeply about their ...

Nick Gibb | 514 c125-6 (Link to this contribution) That was somewhat overstated, if I may say so. This has been an interesting and constructive debate...

Stephen Lloyd | 514 c125 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

Bob Russell | 514 c124 (Link to this contribution) I recognise the powerful case that the hon. Gentleman makes, but does he accept that in a constituen...

Lord Coaker | 514 c124-5 (Link to this contribution) I wish the hon. Gentleman luck with Essex county council. He and I have worked long and hard to try ...

Lord Coaker | 514 c123-4 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman needs to explain why it will be impossible to amend the Bill, why it will have no...

Nick Gibb | 514 c123 (Link to this contribution) This Bill has 20 clauses, to be debated in Committee over three days. That is between six and seven ...

Bill Esterson | 514 c128 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister give way?

Nick Gibb | 514 c128-9 (Link to this contribution) I will not, because there is very little time left. The hon. Member for Huddersfield also raised th...

Bill Esterson | 514 c116 (Link to this contribution) No, I am not giving way. By cutting the Building Schools for the Future and the primary capital pro...

Stephen Lloyd | 514 c116 (Link to this contribution) I have had the privilege and pleasure of sitting here for a good number of hours listening to the ar...

Bill Esterson | 514 c116 (Link to this contribution) I will not get any more time if I give way, so I am not going to. Meanwhile, as Barnet Tory council...

Rehman Chishti | 514 c116 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Stephen Pound | 514 c116 (Link to this contribution) On a point of information, the reason my right hon. Friend the Member for Tottenham (Mr Lammy) is no...

Lord Jackson of Peterborough | 514 c115 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Bill Esterson | 514 c115-6 (Link to this contribution) No, I am not giving way. I was concerned to hear that the review of previously agreed projects exte...

Rehman Chishti | 514 c116 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Bill Esterson | 514 c115 (Link to this contribution) No, I am not giving way. Aintree Davenhill primary school has had its first phase built, but the se...

Andrew Stephenson | 514 c115 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Bill Esterson | 514 c114 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend. As always, he hits the nail bang on the head. I interpreted those w...

Jonathan Reynolds | 514 c114 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend mentioned that two schools were to be co-located to produce a better educational faci...

Bill Esterson | 514 c115 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. In Sefton, we could have the same problem. Money that would...

Lord Jackson of Peterborough | 514 c115 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Bill Esterson | 514 c115 (Link to this contribution) I have already given way twice. Over £1 million has been committed in Sefton in progressing its Bui...

Bill Esterson | 514 c113 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Robert Buckland | 514 c113 (Link to this contribution) I will not take any more interventions as my time is fast running out. Let me make some brief points...

Bill Esterson | 514 c113-4 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for South Swindon (Mr Buckland) talked about the children who do not enjoy the advan...

Stephen Pound | 514 c114 (Link to this contribution) In the short time my hon. Friend has been in the House he has won a reputation for having a forensic...

Michael Gove | 514 c24-5 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. Today's Second Reading marks the first legi...

Tobias Ellwood | 514 c26 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the Second Reading of the Bill. It has gained a huge amount of support in Bournemouth. Des...

Michael Gove | 514 c26 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is a great advertisement for the way in which the international baccalaureate develop...

Chris Bryant | 514 c25 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman was speaking expressly about the curriculum that those schools will pursue....

Michael Gove | 514 c25 (Link to this contribution) I respect the hon. Gentleman for his commitment to both those issues. As part of our curriculum revi...

Bob Russell | 514 c27 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State makes a compelling case about why schools should get away from the control of...

Michael Gove | 514 c27 (Link to this contribution) My understanding is that the Bradford Dixons CTC operates a banded entry system, which is one of the...

Stephen Pound | 514 c27 (Link to this contribution) Before the right hon. Gentleman completely rewrites the front pages of every newspaper in Colchester...

Michael Gove | 514 c27 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend mentions the big society. I was asked earlier today on Radio 5 Live, ““What is the bi...

Lord Coaker | 514 c26 (Link to this contribution) You can decide.

David Ward | 514 c26-7 (Link to this contribution) Is the Secretary of State aware that Dixons CTC, one of the first in the country, has hardly any Eur...

Michael Gove | 514 c26 (Link to this contribution) I am going to hand power back to teachers. There are some teachers, Vernon, like yourself, that I sh...

Michael Gove | 514 c27-8 (Link to this contribution) The number is zero, which is just about right. It has often been alleged that, for example, Gateshea...

Stephen Twigg | 514 c28 (Link to this contribution) I do indeed applaud all those successes. Surely the difference between the CTCs and academies that L...

Michael Gove | 514 c28 (Link to this contribution) First, outstanding schools can be found in any area, including areas of disadvantage. Secondly, if m...

Speaker | 514 c29 (Link to this contribution) Order. From now on, interventions need to get a bit shorter. The debate is very heavily subscribed, ...

Andy Slaughter | 514 c28-9 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman allow me to correct two things that he said? The first relates to Burl...

Michael Gove | 514 c28 (Link to this contribution) I take the hon. Lady's point, but she is making the case that only resources drive improvement. Reso...

Karen Buck | 514 c28 (Link to this contribution) I believe that I am the only Member of Parliament who is the parent of a child at an academy, and I ...

Glenda Jackson | 514 c29 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Secretary of State. He called the Bill permissive. What it most markedly does n...

Michael Gove | 514 c29 (Link to this contribution) In just one second, if I may; first I want to make a point that follows on from that made by the hon...

Glenda Jackson | 514 c29 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State give way?

Michael Gove | 514 c29 (Link to this contribution) On the second point made by the hon. Member for Hammersmith (Mr Slaughter), the Bill is permissive. ...

Michael Gove | 514 c29 (Link to this contribution) I have great respect for the hon. Lady, but the Bill includes specific provision for consultation. H...

Edward Timpson | 514 c29-30 (Link to this contribution) When my right hon. Friend was deciding on the ambit of the Bill, did he take note of the recommendat...

Michael Gove | 514 c30 (Link to this contribution) I consulted head teachers, teachers, and parents, and I also took the trouble to consult the elector...

Jim Cunningham | 514 c30 (Link to this contribution) I think we all accept that the Secretary of State is a humble man, but will he tell us whom he consu...

Michael Gove | 514 c30 (Link to this contribution) I am happy to give way, but then I must try to make progress.

Michael Gove | 514 c30 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his question. If I may quote, I believe:"““The best lo...

Malcolm Wicks | 514 c30 (Link to this contribution) Does the Secretary of State feel that there will be any need for locally elected education authoriti...

Michael Gove | 514 c30-1 (Link to this contribution) I would never claim to be the heir to Blair; I know that the right hon. Gentleman yearns to fill tha...

Ed Balls | 514 c30 (Link to this contribution) But that speech led directly to the Education and Inspections Act 2006, in which local authorities w...

Fiona Mactaggart | 514 c31 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman quoted the former Prime Minister's words and cited the role of local author...

Graham Stuart | 514 c57 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is making a persuasive case and I share some of her concerns. If my memory of the equa...

Andrew Percy | 514 c58 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady makes a powerful point, with which I have some sympathy, but she must also accept that...

Pat Glass | 514 c57-8 (Link to this contribution) That is the problem—we simply do not know. We have not got the detail. I do not know what the pupil ...

Graham Stuart | 514 c57 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady think that the pupil premium model might be useful in ensuring that children from...

Pat Glass | 514 c57 (Link to this contribution) The picture varies throughout the country. Some schools in some parts of the country take a larger p...

Pat Glass | 514 c59 (Link to this contribution) They are on the same footing in terms of funding, but we have no guarantees about what that funding ...

Nick Gibb | 514 c58-9 (Link to this contribution) May I refer the hon. Lady to clause 1(7), which strengthens the position of children with special ed...

Pat Glass | 514 c58 (Link to this contribution) I entirely agree that part of the exclusion problem is the formalisation of the curriculum, which in...

John Pugh | 514 c59-60 (Link to this contribution) Nobody in the Chamber has ever argued that good government benefits by legislating in a hurry—nobody...

John Pugh | 514 c60 (Link to this contribution) The shadow Minister has the advantage of me. I do know that there are a number of studies of charter...

Lord Coaker | 514 c60 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman find it interesting that in the debates that have taken place so far on the ...

Ian Mearns | 514 c60-1 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that, in regard to the other part of the coalition, the cat is out of ...

John Pugh | 514 c61 (Link to this contribution) I have never thought that liberalism had anything to do with precipitate, foolish and unresearched a...

Steve Baker | 514 c61 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend seems to be constructing an argument that freedom is a bad thing. He has described a ...

John Pugh | 514 c62 (Link to this contribution) Having worked in schools for a large part of my life, and knowing the degree of organisation require...

Annette Brooke | 514 c62 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend share my concern that, although the Bill now has an amendment on consultation, t...

John Pugh | 514 c62 (Link to this contribution) It is not yet a shambles, but I welcomed the intervention from the Chairman of the Select Committee,...

Bill Esterson | 514 c62 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman aware that schools in his constituency and mine have made inquiries about acad...

Meg Hillier | 514 c50 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that the proof of the pudding is in the eating? In Hackney, six new city a...

Barry Sheerman | 514 c50 (Link to this contribution) I suppose that one could describe this as the education, education, education moment for the new Gov...

Graham Stuart | 514 c49-50 (Link to this contribution) I have no time; it is strictly limited. If the Bill is to be on the statute book in a week's time, ...

Glenda Jackson | 514 c49 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Graham Stuart | 514 c49 (Link to this contribution) I do not have time. I must press on, because I will not get any extra time if I do.

Ed Balls | 514 c49 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Barry Sheerman | 514 c52 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that I must disagree with the hon. Lady. I go into many schools, and one head will say, ...

Barry Sheerman | 514 c50-1 (Link to this contribution) I am trying to be even-handed, but I take my hon. Friend's point. Over 13 years, the Labour Governme...

Charlotte Leslie | 514 c51-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has put in a lot of work on education and has great expertise. On the point about...

John Pugh | 514 c55 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is making an interesting contribution, but he used the expression ““educational a...

Lord Brady of Altrincham | 514 c54-5 (Link to this contribution) If only the hon. Lady were right. I am sure she knows that I would very much like to go back to exac...

Pat Glass | 514 c56 (Link to this contribution) Coming from my background, having worked for 25 years in education and particularly in special educa...

Lord Brady of Altrincham | 514 c55-6 (Link to this contribution) I should like more and more schools to attain the outstanding status that will allow them to move mo...

Barry Sheerman | 514 c52-3 (Link to this contribution) May I continue for the moment? I worry about the speed at which the Bill is being considered and th...

Glenda Jackson | 514 c54 (Link to this contribution) Is it really a radical policy? Surely the Government are proposing to take us back to the bad old da...

Bill Esterson | 514 c56 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that another problem with the Bill is that the framework does not require ...

Pat Glass | 514 c56-7 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. When will we realise that children with special educational needs need spec...

Baroness Laing of Elderslie | 514 c43 (Link to this contribution) Is the right hon. Gentleman really saying that he and his party believe that it is not parents who k...

Ed Balls | 514 c44 (Link to this contribution) Exactly, and that is why I am fearful. The money is not there and there is no evidence that the Gove...

John Pugh | 514 c44 (Link to this contribution) If Members really believe that parents know best, is it not our duty to include the need for a paren...

Ed Balls | 514 c43-4 (Link to this contribution) There is no obligation on the governing body even to consult parents in deciding to opt for the new ...

Chris Leslie | 514 c44 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend has hit the nail on the head. The reason why the Secretary of State is trying t...

Chris Leslie | 514 c45 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for giving way. I am quite sure I just heard the hon. Member f...

Ed Balls | 514 c44-5 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that I can give no guidance or enlightenment to my hon. Friend on that. We read in The T...

Ian Mearns | 514 c44 (Link to this contribution) On 5 July, I asked the Secretary of State where his much-touted expressions of interest had come fro...

Ed Balls | 514 c44 (Link to this contribution) That is a very interesting suggestion, and if an amendment to that effect is tabled, we will look at...

Ed Balls | 514 c45-6 (Link to this contribution) I will put the hon. Lady out of her misery—I will just quote what she said:"““unless you give local ...

Charlotte Leslie | 514 c46 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

Ed Balls | 514 c46 (Link to this contribution) No, I will not. The eloquence that brought such prizes as a journalist has been reduced to a shambl...

Graham Stuart | 514 c46-7 (Link to this contribution) I would like to say that it is a pleasure to follow the shadow Secretary of State, but that contribu...

Annette Brooke | 514 c47 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that despite the welcome amendments in the other place, there is great...

Graham Stuart | 514 c47-8 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Lady for her intervention and I share some of those concerns. I hope that,...

Andrew Percy | 514 c48 (Link to this contribution) I thank my next-door neighbour but one for giving way. On that point, does he agree that academies m...

Graham Stuart | 514 c49 (Link to this contribution) I thank the shadow Secretary of State for that intervention. Obviously, we will be taking evidence n...

Ed Balls | 514 c49 (Link to this contribution) Is the Chair of the Select Committee fully confident in saying that the Secretary of State has acted...

Ed Balls | 514 c41-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is absolutely right that we have been here before. We have had freedoms and resources ...

Speaker | 514 c41 (Link to this contribution) May I gently say that I am not coming back to bully anyone? I have never done that before and I woul...

Pauline Latham | 514 c41 (Link to this contribution) Would you say that the shadow Secretary of State is going back 20 years and coming back with the sam...

Edward Leigh | 514 c43 (Link to this contribution) If the right hon. Gentleman's point is that the policy is divisive, would he welcome a move to give ...

Ed Balls | 514 c42 (Link to this contribution) I will not give way for the moment. The Secretary of State wants us to believe that the Bill is abo...

Ed Balls | 514 c42 (Link to this contribution) I do not doubt the good intentions of the Secretary of State when it comes to some schools and some ...

Conor Burns | 514 c42 (Link to this contribution) The shadow Secretary of State talks of people from the poorest communities. While there are clearly ...

Ed Balls | 514 c43 (Link to this contribution) Exactly, and that is why my hon. Friend and I both fear that this will turn out to be a deeply divis...

Andy Slaughter | 514 c43 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend think that it is a coincidence that the week after the cancellation of the...

Ed Balls | 514 c43 (Link to this contribution) I was happy with the expansion of academies under our system, which involved agreement with local au...

Ed Balls | 514 c40 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr Speaker. On the subject of the consultation, we had an interesting answer on the ques...

Speaker | 514 c39 (Link to this contribution) Order. The debate is starting to broaden somewhat. I know that the right hon. Gentleman will want to...

Ed Balls | 514 c40 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that the reason why the Secretary of State and his Front-Bench team have added in an obl...

Andrew Percy | 514 c40 (Link to this contribution) Listening to the right hon. Gentleman has certainly taken me back to my previous job as a class 1 te...

Ed Balls | 514 c40 (Link to this contribution) I will give way in a few moments. Those schools are not only going to get extra funding, they will ...

Ed Balls | 514 c41 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Lady would like to defend that policy—[Interruption.] She can sit down for a second. [In...

Ed Balls | 514 c41 (Link to this contribution) I would say that they should be very fearful indeed. The reality is that we are on a fast track to t...

Louise Mensch | 514 c41 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for giving way. What would be his reply to the group of pa...

David Anderson | 514 c39 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend also comment on the potential for challenges from some of the tens of thou...

Speaker | 514 c39 (Link to this contribution) Order. We do not have forced interventions.

Ed Balls | 514 c39 (Link to this contribution) After two weeks of waiting for an answer, my expectations were not very high. Let me try another qu...

Simon Hughes | 514 c38-9 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman might like to know that, when I spoke to Councillor Bradley, he said that h...

Ed Balls | 514 c39 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has obviously done a good job of whipping some colleagues, but it is a pity that ...

Sam Gyimah | 514 c38 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?

Ed Balls | 514 c38 (Link to this contribution) In just a second. I am going to finish reading this quote. The hon. Gentleman might enjoy it."““I th...

Bill Esterson | 514 c37-8 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State talked at length about various freedoms. One of the freedoms that concerns me...

Ed Balls | 514 c38 (Link to this contribution) I visited Sandwell last week, a borough where several schools were told that their new school buildi...

Ed Balls | 514 c37 (Link to this contribution) We have 720 schools where children from primary school were looking forward to going into brand-new ...

Ed Balls | 514 c37 (Link to this contribution) I have been asked to give evidence to the hon. Gentleman's Committee in a week's time, as has the Se...

Christopher Pincher | 514 c37 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman said that this measure is a brake on progress. In my constituency, children...

Speaker | 514 c36 (Link to this contribution) Order. Let me just say to the hon. Gentleman that even though he is the elected Chair of the Select ...

Ed Balls | 514 c36 (Link to this contribution) The previous Chair of the Select Committee on Children, Schools and Families and I did not always se...

Graham Stuart | 514 c36 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr Speaker. The shadow Secretary of State may be getting excited, but I ask him...

Speaker | 514 c36 (Link to this contribution) Order. Frankly, that is not a point of order, but a point of debate. I have known the hon. Gentleman...

Ed Balls | 514 c35-6 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move,"That this House declines to give a Second Reading to the Academies Bill [Lords] becau...

Ed Balls | 514 c36 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the hon. Gentleman could repeat the comments he made on television yesterday.

Graham Stuart | 514 c36 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman is seeking to be a leader, but he seeks leadership in the luddite tendency....

Michael Gove | 514 c34 (Link to this contribution) Not at this stage. The Opposition have tabled a reasoned amendment. My problem with it is that it i...

Tobias Ellwood | 514 c34 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr Speaker. My right hon. Friend has listed a whole series of aspects of the am...

Michael Gove | 514 c33-4 (Link to this contribution) I must try to make progress, because many Members wish to speak in the debate, so for the moment I s...

Bill Esterson | 514 c34 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State give way?

Speaker | 514 c35 (Link to this contribution) Order. I have selected the reasoned amendment in the name of the Leader of the Opposition.

Speaker | 514 c34 (Link to this contribution) First, that is an utterly specious point of order. Secondly, it is a waste of time.

Michael Gove | 514 c34-5 (Link to this contribution) It is, of course, a point of debate and I look forward to hearing the shadow Secretary of State shor...

Richard Graham | 514 c33 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is slightly ironic to hear Opposition Members make accusatio...

Michael Gove | 514 c33 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a very good point, and the fact that the electors of Gloucester, even though th...

Michael Gove | 514 c33 (Link to this contribution) I take my hon. Friend's point, which follows that made by the right hon. Member for Morley and Outwo...

Michael Gove | 514 c31 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a very good point, and I want a greater degree of freedom for all head teachers...

Ed Balls | 514 c31-2 (Link to this contribution) When the head teacher of Woodberry Down community primary school in Hackney, an outstanding school i...

Michael Gove | 514 c32 (Link to this contribution) No, it is my belief that all outstanding schools should be there to support other schools. I am grat...

Ed Balls | 514 c32 (Link to this contribution) I have found in the past few weeks that the right hon. Gentleman is never, ever able to answer a str...

Michael Gove | 514 c32 (Link to this contribution) It is certainly not our policy, and I am sorry that the headmaster of Woodberry Down has been told t...

Barry Sheerman | 514 c32 (Link to this contribution) May I set the right hon. Gentleman straight on one point? Yes, the former Children, Schools and Fami...

Michael Gove | 514 c32 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate the hon. Gentleman's point, but as a believer in freedom I believe not just that school...

Lord Foster of Bath | 514 c32 (Link to this contribution) May I say how much I welcome many of the freedoms that the Secretary of State proposes, not least fr...

Michael Gove | 514 c31 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady will know that academies are governed by the same admissions rules as all local author...

Edward Leigh | 514 c31 (Link to this contribution) Does the Secretary of State consider the greatest missed opportunity of the previous Conservative Go...

Jeremy Hunt | 514 c83 (Link to this contribution) Academies are going down that road to raise their league table offering.

Graham Stuart | 514 c98 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady makes a powerful case. None the less, in the past 13 years, we have seen the gap betwe...

Dan Rogerson | 514 c75 (Link to this contribution) I was seeking to point out that an option would be available for schools to choose. The hon. Gentlem...

Stephen Lloyd | 514 c117 (Link to this contribution) No, I do not agree at all. In a sense, the hon. Gentleman's intervention backs up my point about wha...

Owen Smith | 514 c118-9 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention and completely agree. This is a very familiar and, i...

Lord Coaker | 514 c125 (Link to this contribution) No, I do not have much time. In June 2010, the Liberal Democrat Education Association said:"““Liber...

Michael Gove | 514 c30 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend was a distinguished member of that Committee, and it is precisely because the Committ...

Graham Stuart | 514 c48-9 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his intervention and the last thing I would want to do is to dis...

Lord Barwell | 514 c99-100 (Link to this contribution) The main issue before us in the Bill is whether we should have more independent state schools. I wis...

Thomas Docherty | 514 c111 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman clearly has a great passion for this subject. Will he outline for the benefit of ...

Stephen Twigg | 514 c70-2 (Link to this contribution) Indeed he did, but my understanding is that there will be a fast track for schools that are already ...

Steve Baker | 514 c63 (Link to this contribution) Speaking as a committed Christian, I am most surprised to hear the hon. Gentleman talking in these t...

Tom Blenkinsop | 514 c63-4 (Link to this contribution) Speaking as a Christian myself—a Roman Catholic Christian—I take the hon. Gentleman's words into acc...

John Pugh | 514 c61 (Link to this contribution) To a certain extent, it seems to be a case of ““to those that have, shall be given””. It is also hig...

John Pugh | 514 c52 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Lord Brady of Altrincham | 514 c53-4 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Huddersfield (Mr Sheerman), the former Select Committ...