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the coming months. There is no shortage of demand in this session | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
and I dare say it will continue. Urgent question, Angela Rayner. Two | :00:00. | :00:00. | |
of the Secretary of State for Education to make a statement on | :00:07. | :00:09. | |
government plans to lift the statutory ban on opening new grammar | :00:10. | :00:14. | |
schools in England. Secretary of State. Thank you, Mr Speaker. As the | :00:15. | :00:23. | |
Prime Minister has said, this government is committed to building | :00:24. | :00:26. | |
a country which works for everyone and not only the privileged few. We | :00:27. | :00:32. | |
believe every person should have the opportunity to fulfil their | :00:33. | :00:34. | |
potential, no matter what their background, or where they are from. | :00:35. | :00:39. | |
Education is at the heart of this ambition. We inherited a system from | :00:40. | :00:44. | |
the last Labour government, however, were too many children left school | :00:45. | :00:49. | |
without the qualifications, or the skills they needed to be successful | :00:50. | :00:54. | |
in life. Our far-reaching reforms in the last six years have changed | :00:55. | :00:59. | |
that. Strengthening school leadership, improving standards of | :01:00. | :01:03. | |
behaviour in classrooms and making sure children are taught to read | :01:04. | :01:08. | |
more effectively, improving mathematics teaching in primary | :01:09. | :01:12. | |
schools. There are now 1.4 million more pupils in schools rated as | :01:13. | :01:18. | |
good, or outstanding, than in 2010. That means more young people are | :01:19. | :01:22. | |
getting the opportunity to access better teaching and to maximise | :01:23. | :01:25. | |
their potential. That is what we want for all children and we are | :01:26. | :01:30. | |
continuing reforms so that every child can have the best possible | :01:31. | :01:35. | |
start in life. We are doubling the childcare to 30 hours for parents of | :01:36. | :01:40. | |
three and four-year-olds and in July, on the issue of academic | :01:41. | :01:45. | |
selection we are open minded. We cannot rule anything out which could | :01:46. | :01:48. | |
help grow opportunity for all and give more people the chance to do | :01:49. | :01:49. | |
well in life. The landscape for schools has | :01:50. | :02:01. | |
changed greatly, we now have educational opportunities available. | :02:02. | :02:07. | |
There will be no binary choice of the past, we're schools separate | :02:08. | :02:09. | |
people into winners, losers, success or failure. Badge wearer | :02:10. | :02:50. | |
schools. We want to build on our success and create a truly 21st | :02:51. | :03:05. | |
century School system. We want a system that can cater for talent and | :03:06. | :03:12. | |
the abilities of every single child, so to achieve that we need a truly | :03:13. | :03:20. | |
diverse range of schools and specialisms. We need more | :03:21. | :04:58. | |
good schools in more areas of the country responding to the needs of | :04:59. | :05:01. | |
every child, regardless of their background. | :05:02. | :05:21. | |
Education policy, that will be set in due course. Thank you. Despite | :05:22. | :05:30. | |
the waffle, the cat is finally out of the bag. The government has | :05:31. | :05:32. | |
revealed their plans for new grammar schools in England, but not in this | :05:33. | :05:35. | |
House. We did not even hear word grammar. It was linked in the press. | :05:36. | :05:38. | |
Will the Secretary of State promised today that future announcements will | :05:39. | :05:41. | |
be made here so that we can give the policy the scrutiny it so badly | :05:42. | :05:43. | |
needs? And perhaps she can tell us the evidence base for it today. As | :05:44. | :05:46. | |
she read the ISS report entry into grammar schools in England? If so, | :05:47. | :05:48. | |
perhaps she remembers the conclusion that among high achievers, those | :05:49. | :05:51. | |
that are eligible for free school meals are significantly less likely | :05:52. | :05:53. | |
to go to grammar school. The OECD, the Sutton Trust, and even the | :05:54. | :05:55. | |
government's on social mobility Tsar have cited evidence against this | :05:56. | :05:57. | |
policy. With schools facing jail term cuts to the budget for the | :05:58. | :06:00. | |
first time in nearly two decades, pushing ahead with grammar schools | :06:01. | :06:02. | |
shows a dangerous misunderstanding will be the lucky few that can | :06:03. | :06:04. | |
afford the tuition who will get ahead, and the disadvantage that | :06:05. | :06:07. | |
will be left behind. A policy for the few at the expense of the many. | :06:08. | :06:10. | |
Mr Speaker, I was told that the Tories know the cost of everything | :06:11. | :06:12. | |
but the value of nothing. I do not even think they know that any more. | :06:13. | :06:15. | |
Finally, the Prime Minister promised to lead a one Nation government, but | :06:16. | :06:18. | |
she said her policy would be led by the evidence. She claimed she would | :06:19. | :06:20. | |
govern for the disadvantaged and not the privileged few, but this policy | :06:21. | :06:23. | |
fail on every single count. It may be a new Prime Minister, but the | :06:24. | :06:26. | |
same old nasty Tories. Thank you. I suppose the first thing I would say | :06:27. | :06:28. | |
to the honourable lady is we haven't actually made any policy | :06:29. | :06:30. | |
announcements yet. They will be made in due course. She has given a | :06:31. | :06:33. | |
commentary on I guess what she presumes that policy announcement | :06:34. | :06:35. | |
will be, and I would encourage her to wait. But broadly, what we're | :06:36. | :06:37. | |
interested in doing is increasing diversity, meeting parents' desire | :06:38. | :06:40. | |
for choice to have a school nearby to them who matches the needs of | :06:41. | :06:43. | |
their child, and we also want to see capacity built in the system in two | :06:44. | :06:49. | |
weighs. More schools near to children where they need them. | :06:50. | :06:53. | |
Despite all the reforms we have had and improvements in attainment, | :06:54. | :06:56. | |
there are still children who cannot get access to a good enough school. | :06:57. | :07:02. | |
Also building capacity by having some of the best schools in the | :07:03. | :07:08. | |
system to help collectively obtain standards as a whole. We want to see | :07:09. | :07:13. | |
all parts of the education system, universities as well, playing a | :07:14. | :07:18. | |
stronger, better role in that. She asked about evidence. Well, she | :07:19. | :07:25. | |
quotes a report by the ISS that mentions issues on free school | :07:26. | :07:29. | |
meals, but I must say, I do not understand her argument. She seems | :07:30. | :07:31. | |
to be criticising the status quo whilst resolutely defending to keep | :07:32. | :07:42. | |
it in place. It was really interesting listening to her because | :07:43. | :07:47. | |
the words were in many respects the voices I heard, the voices of my | :07:48. | :07:50. | |
childhood, people having a dogmatic debate about the education system, | :07:51. | :07:55. | |
whilst I studied in my local comprehensive and entirely untouched | :07:56. | :07:58. | |
by this ideological debate. What we want to do and what we think this | :07:59. | :08:02. | |
parliament and the country should do is to be prepared to look at the | :08:03. | :08:07. | |
practical ways that we can improve attainment for our children and to | :08:08. | :08:13. | |
be prepared to leave no stone unturned to do that. Frankly, to | :08:14. | :08:19. | |
complain about one aspect of our school system and then say that we | :08:20. | :08:21. | |
shouldn't even have a debate about that element is frankly an untenable | :08:22. | :08:26. | |
argument and it is essentially politics and dogma coming before | :08:27. | :08:35. | |
pupils and opportunity. It is about prioritising benches opposite, as we | :08:36. | :08:42. | |
can see today, of an ideological debate, when what we want is a | :08:43. | :08:46. | |
debate about the practical steps we can take to tackle generational | :08:47. | :08:50. | |
failure and schools that are not still delivering for children who | :08:51. | :08:55. | |
live nearby them. It would be wrong to discount how we can improve | :08:56. | :09:00. | |
prospects for those children, especially the most disadvantaged, | :09:01. | :09:04. | |
purely because of political -- of political dogma. If Labour is not | :09:05. | :09:08. | |
willing to ask itself these difficult questions, how can it | :09:09. | :09:12. | |
possibly come up with any of the solutions? We do believe selection | :09:13. | :09:17. | |
can play a role. We think that there is evidence to show that it does for | :09:18. | :09:21. | |
many children who are in grammar schools. But anyhow we would need to | :09:22. | :09:28. | |
leave no stone unturned, we will be setting out in due course. World | :09:29. | :09:41. | |
Economic Forum has recommended that reminded us that we are on the table | :09:42. | :09:45. | |
for literacy and numeracy -- well down on. Some 18-year-old struggle | :09:46. | :09:55. | |
with literacy -- 17%, and this figure is even worse for numeracy, | :09:56. | :10:01. | |
25%. It is necessary for discussion about grammar schools not to | :10:02. | :10:06. | |
distract us for the fundamental task of improving social mobility and | :10:07. | :10:10. | |
ensuring we make the best use of all the talent across the whole country | :10:11. | :10:17. | |
and not just talk about the few? I very strongly agree. Going back to | :10:18. | :10:23. | |
the Sutton Trust report, which actually did focus particularly on | :10:24. | :10:27. | |
free school meals children and how they performed in grammar schools, | :10:28. | :10:32. | |
their educational games from attaining in grammar schools were | :10:33. | :10:36. | |
twice as high pupils with free school meals compared to the overall | :10:37. | :10:43. | |
impact at pupils overall. Whilst they provide the stretching | :10:44. | :10:48. | |
outstanding education for children from all backgrounds, they are one | :10:49. | :10:54. | |
part of a very broad-based school system now. A school system that has | :10:55. | :11:00. | |
transformed out of all recognition from when grammar is originally were | :11:01. | :11:04. | |
introduced. I think what we now need to do is think about how we can have | :11:05. | :11:07. | |
a 21st century education policy that takes a pragmatic look at the role | :11:08. | :11:12. | |
of grammar schools, and across the whole of the system. He is right | :11:13. | :11:15. | |
that we will not lose sight of the broader reforms that we are bringing | :11:16. | :11:20. | |
through that will improve standards across the board. The Secretary of | :11:21. | :11:25. | |
State represents a London constituency, so she will know that | :11:26. | :11:31. | |
London schools have improved dramatically. Does she agree that | :11:32. | :11:34. | |
has happened because of focus on high standards for all children in | :11:35. | :11:38. | |
all schools, not by going down the route of selection, and I urge her | :11:39. | :11:42. | |
today not to go back, not to turn the clock back to grammar schools, | :11:43. | :11:46. | |
but to focus on high standards in all schools in all parts of the | :11:47. | :11:52. | |
country for all children? I think I can reassure him, we will not be | :11:53. | :11:56. | |
turning the clock back. He speaks about London, and I think the London | :11:57. | :12:03. | |
lessons around collaboration, school leadership and sharing those best | :12:04. | :12:08. | |
practice experiences across schools. I think the challenge I want us to | :12:09. | :12:12. | |
discuss is how we can make sure all schools play a role in doing that, | :12:13. | :12:16. | |
rather than simply saying that grammar is set on one side and | :12:17. | :12:21. | |
should not play as greater role across the school schism -- school | :12:22. | :12:25. | |
system. I think they should, and I think we have to have that debate. | :12:26. | :12:31. | |
Fundamentally, this is about having more good school places for more | :12:32. | :12:34. | |
children, about building capacity by better places and more Kelly's -- | :12:35. | :12:40. | |
places, and about sharing best practice and improving school | :12:41. | :12:43. | |
leadership by having schools working closely together. I am fortunate to | :12:44. | :12:52. | |
have an excellent grammar school in my constituency. As my honourable | :12:53. | :12:56. | |
friend will know, people move to Kent because of its grammar schools. | :12:57. | :13:00. | |
Does she agree that it is not right for an excellent academic education | :13:01. | :13:03. | |
to be only available to those who can move to the catchment areas of | :13:04. | :13:12. | |
outstanding schools? We need to improve diversity and choice. As the | :13:13. | :13:16. | |
Prime Minister said, too often in Britain we have selection, but on | :13:17. | :13:19. | |
the basis of House prices which is totally unacceptable. We need to | :13:20. | :13:25. | |
challenge ourselves to talk about how we can change that and improve | :13:26. | :13:30. | |
standards for children wherever they are in the country. And simply | :13:31. | :13:33. | |
saying something is off the table because of political ideology and | :13:34. | :13:39. | |
dogma does not serve the children that we want to see have an improved | :13:40. | :13:47. | |
prospect for the future. Can I thank the new Secretary of State and beg | :13:48. | :13:52. | |
her to listen to the expertise out the. I cheer the advisory Council of | :13:53. | :13:57. | |
the Sutton Trust. Listen to the Sutton Trust because we believe in | :13:58. | :14:02. | |
evidence -based policy. Listen to the Chief Inspector of schools. And | :14:03. | :14:07. | |
indeed just look at the areas where, for years we have had this kind of | :14:08. | :14:13. | |
education, and what it has done to the entirety. Look at Kent, and it | :14:14. | :14:19. | |
sure looks at Kent in depth, she will learn some lessons. I think it | :14:20. | :14:27. | |
is time that we looked at the Kent experience. I know that Kent | :14:28. | :14:30. | |
themselves have done a lot of work to really dig into the background as | :14:31. | :14:35. | |
to how they can get more children from disadvantaged backgrounds into | :14:36. | :14:42. | |
the grammar schools. He has raised issues, a principle, and my response | :14:43. | :14:46. | |
would be if that is how he feels, why would he want to discount | :14:47. | :14:49. | |
looking at the areas of grammar schools to see how we can make them | :14:50. | :14:52. | |
work effectively not just for children who get them, -- get to | :14:53. | :14:57. | |
them, but for those who do not get to them, how grammar schools work | :14:58. | :15:02. | |
with their communities. It seems to me that the response of the Labour | :15:03. | :15:06. | |
Party to all of those challenges is to raise them, but then simply put | :15:07. | :15:11. | |
them on one side and ignore them. I do not think that is sensible. | :15:12. | :15:18. | |
Bradford is one of the worst performing education districts in | :15:19. | :15:21. | |
the country. There is a wide provision of some outstanding | :15:22. | :15:28. | |
results and very dire results. Where people can afford to buy a House and | :15:29. | :15:32. | |
a good catchment area, they can get themselves to a school that produces | :15:33. | :15:35. | |
outstanding results, and those who cannot afford a House and a good | :15:36. | :15:39. | |
catchment area tend to get a school with worse results. Went on people | :15:40. | :15:47. | |
in Bradford get access to the very best grammar schools that we need? | :15:48. | :15:50. | |
They surely shouldn't not just be a preserve of the Tory areas. I think | :15:51. | :15:59. | |
he speaks for many constituency MPs, and the point is people should have | :16:00. | :16:02. | |
the choice. It should not be for government to deprive them of the | :16:03. | :16:07. | |
joys of how they want to educate their children. So this is about | :16:08. | :16:11. | |
choice, diversity and building capacity in the system. The | :16:12. | :16:18. | |
Secretary of State knows that apart from the best possible teaching, the | :16:19. | :16:21. | |
most important thing we can do for young people is to encourage them as | :16:22. | :16:25. | |
they make their way through school. Given that as a nation we still deal | :16:26. | :16:29. | |
with the legacy of a divided education system, why on earth does | :16:30. | :16:33. | |
she think that subjecting more 11-year-old children to that | :16:34. | :16:40. | |
experience and their tearful parents having opened the envelope telling | :16:41. | :16:43. | |
them that they have failed, is going to encourage and support them in | :16:44. | :16:48. | |
their self-esteem and the continuing career through the education system? | :16:49. | :16:54. | |
Dare I said, get another Labour MP saying what is wrong with the | :16:55. | :16:59. | |
current system, while arguing we should not look at it. The legacy we | :17:00. | :17:04. | |
are interested in challenging was the one left by the last Labour | :17:05. | :17:09. | |
government, inflation, declining standards, children leaving the | :17:10. | :17:13. | |
system without even basics in maths and literacy. I sat on a train last | :17:14. | :17:19. | |
weekend and listened to a young man talking about how the fact he did | :17:20. | :17:22. | |
not know how to spell was holding him back at work. We managed to take | :17:23. | :17:28. | |
power from the Labour Party but he is having to live with the | :17:29. | :17:31. | |
consequences of an education system is fundamentally failed him every | :17:32. | :17:38. | |
single day of his life. We inherited a university system with a on the | :17:39. | :17:42. | |
number of children that could go there. -- limit. Record numbers that | :17:43. | :17:49. | |
were not in employment, education, or training. Youth Imp ointment had | :17:50. | :17:55. | |
gone up by 50% by the time the Labour left office. -- youth | :17:56. | :18:01. | |
unemployment. Not only do we want to make up for lost ground but make | :18:02. | :18:05. | |
sure beyond that we leave no stone unturned, we look across the whole | :18:06. | :18:10. | |
education system, to make sure we turbo-charge the prospects and | :18:11. | :18:15. | |
opportunities that all children in our country, but especially the most | :18:16. | :18:20. | |
disadvantaged, and especially those who do not currently have the | :18:21. | :18:23. | |
opportunities they need, deserve and should have. Thank you, Mr Speaker. | :18:24. | :18:29. | |
I welcome the Government decision to at least open this debate. It should | :18:30. | :18:34. | |
be no part of a Conservative government's policy to have a | :18:35. | :18:38. | |
statutory ban on the establishment of grammar schools. Evidence in my | :18:39. | :18:43. | |
area, where they are available just down the road in the neighbouring | :18:44. | :18:48. | |
council area indicates there is widespread support for the | :18:49. | :18:53. | |
establishment of a grammar school. Coastal communities are particularly | :18:54. | :18:55. | |
vulnerable to poorer education standards and I hope she will | :18:56. | :19:00. | |
consider that if the policy goes ahead. And could I also urge to | :19:01. | :19:05. | |
consider the possible extension bilateral schools? I am sure he will | :19:06. | :19:12. | |
be interested to see our policies when they are published shortly. He | :19:13. | :19:15. | |
raises some of the different elements of the secondary system | :19:16. | :19:20. | |
currently the and the desire that I know he has to make sure his local | :19:21. | :19:25. | |
community has access to better, good schools for more local children and | :19:26. | :19:28. | |
that is exactly what we are aiming to achieve. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I | :19:29. | :19:35. | |
think the Secretary of State is right not to rule out a discussion | :19:36. | :19:40. | |
on grammar schools as part of the wide types of schools we have in | :19:41. | :19:44. | |
this country and I declare an interest as the product of a | :19:45. | :19:48. | |
wonderful grammar school. Would she like to visit Northern Ireland, | :19:49. | :19:51. | |
where grammar schools still exist, they are hugely popular and weather | :19:52. | :19:57. | |
is good education across the spectrum, no matter what the ability | :19:58. | :20:03. | |
of the young person at Northern Ireland's results continue to | :20:04. | :20:05. | |
improve and be better than the United Kingdom and that there is | :20:06. | :20:10. | |
very little private education? Perhaps she would like to talk to | :20:11. | :20:12. | |
the first Minister in Northern Ireland. I thank her for that | :20:13. | :20:18. | |
invitation and I am sure I will want to take up on that at point. I | :20:19. | :20:23. | |
should emphasise to the House that as my honourable friend said, this | :20:24. | :20:27. | |
is the opening up of a debate and I think it is important to have this | :20:28. | :20:31. | |
poor our children if we are to rise to the challenge of looking at what | :20:32. | :20:35. | |
it takes to improve attainment and making sure we have good schools | :20:36. | :20:38. | |
where they are growing up. We are going to look at these options | :20:39. | :20:43. | |
carefully. I recognise this is a very emotive debate. That is because | :20:44. | :20:47. | |
it matters but that is also why we should be prepared to have a debate | :20:48. | :20:51. | |
about this, given how much the broader school system has now | :20:52. | :20:56. | |
changed. I will look very carefully at all of the arguments that are | :20:57. | :20:59. | |
made and all of the evidence that is produced because I do think that is | :21:00. | :21:04. | |
important. I will say to colleagues that I am keen to hear from | :21:05. | :21:08. | |
colleagues across all sides of the House and we will be setting out all | :21:09. | :21:14. | |
of our policy options shortly. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I welcome her | :21:15. | :21:18. | |
comments very warmly indeed. All children have the rights to fulfil | :21:19. | :21:24. | |
their full potential. Will the Secretary of State assure the House | :21:25. | :21:28. | |
she is considering all methods of selection and that this is not all | :21:29. | :21:34. | |
about bringing back the 11 plus? We will set out our policy is much more | :21:35. | :21:38. | |
broadly, but I can assure you, Mr Speaker, there will be no return to | :21:39. | :21:43. | |
the past. This is about moving forward, having a 21st-century | :21:44. | :21:48. | |
approach in relation to the school system, precisely not one rooted in | :21:49. | :21:53. | |
the 1960s and 1970s. I hope the party opposite can engage in a | :21:54. | :21:57. | |
modern debate rather than one that is 40-50 years old. I think in the | :21:58. | :22:04. | |
clamour coming from some areas about creating new grammar schools, what | :22:05. | :22:07. | |
many people forget is when you create a new grammar school, you | :22:08. | :22:13. | |
also create secondary modern schools because of the skewing of the intake | :22:14. | :22:20. | |
of those other schools. The chief inspector in his speech to London | :22:21. | :22:23. | |
local government on Monday accepted that grammar schools where they do | :22:24. | :22:27. | |
exist do a fine job with the intake they have, but have a very poor | :22:28. | :22:32. | |
track record in terms of admitting youngsters from a non-middle-class | :22:33. | :22:37. | |
background. If we are going to go down this road, what can the | :22:38. | :22:41. | |
Secretary of State dude confirmed that would be the case in other | :22:42. | :22:46. | |
parts of the country? I think it again underlines why we are right to | :22:47. | :22:52. | |
open up this agenda for debate. In a way, we are not going to tackle any | :22:53. | :22:57. | |
of the issues he cares about without having a broad look about what a | :22:58. | :22:59. | |
modern policy approach to grammar should look like. We should not | :23:00. | :23:04. | |
simply discount the excellent education so many children do get at | :23:05. | :23:07. | |
grammar school, including children from very disadvantaged backgrounds. | :23:08. | :23:12. | |
We should look harder at how we can make sure grammar schools play the | :23:13. | :23:15. | |
role more collaboratively in a broader system to make sure they | :23:16. | :23:22. | |
build up capacity and more good places as they steadily improve | :23:23. | :23:27. | |
themselves. Yesterday in the course of an education select committee | :23:28. | :23:30. | |
hearing we have the evidence, the truism of what can affect attainment | :23:31. | :23:36. | |
most is good teaching in the classroom, which is evidently true. | :23:37. | :23:39. | |
Does she agree sometimes structures can support learning and the recent | :23:40. | :23:44. | |
study of 2011 showed that giving schools autonomy improves outcome, | :23:45. | :23:49. | |
so that further choice for parents, teachers and students may give | :23:50. | :23:54. | |
further opportunity? I think that is right. Critically, we need to have | :23:55. | :24:01. | |
the right level of autonomy for schools so they can actually get on | :24:02. | :24:05. | |
with the job of teaching our children, but also fantastic | :24:06. | :24:08. | |
leadership in our schools. We know from the London experience that was | :24:09. | :24:12. | |
critical. Heads showing what could be done in difficult schools and | :24:13. | :24:17. | |
working with others for their schools to put in place the same | :24:18. | :24:20. | |
sort of approaches and then teaching staff more broadly that are | :24:21. | :24:26. | |
motivated and able to work in the classroom effectively with children | :24:27. | :24:29. | |
who are able to be disciplined ineffectively by the head and a head | :24:30. | :24:34. | |
that genuinely feels they have control and leadership over the | :24:35. | :24:38. | |
school. All of these things make a difference and beyond that, if we | :24:39. | :24:41. | |
are really going to make an impact on the long-term social mobility in | :24:42. | :24:47. | |
Britain, which will not change overnight, we need not only schools | :24:48. | :24:51. | |
and the education family to be driving social mobility, but we need | :24:52. | :24:57. | |
local communities, business, universities, civil society, | :24:58. | :25:01. | |
everybody needs to play a role alongside core education reform, to | :25:02. | :25:06. | |
make sure children inside the classroom and also outside are | :25:07. | :25:11. | |
getting the skills, knowledge, the advice and experience they will need | :25:12. | :25:17. | |
to truly develop their potential. When the former chief inspector said | :25:18. | :25:24. | |
that the idea that poor children will benefit from an expansion in | :25:25. | :25:28. | |
the number of grammar schools was too and nonsense, was he being | :25:29. | :25:37. | |
ideological? -- was nonsense. In opening up this debate, there will | :25:38. | :25:40. | |
be people that have different views but I do not believe that as a | :25:41. | :25:45. | |
reason not to have the debate. The issue of improving attainment and | :25:46. | :25:47. | |
having more good school places for more children, building the capacity | :25:48. | :25:53. | |
that we need in our system for it to have great schools on the doorstep | :25:54. | :26:00. | |
is too important to put in the bracket that it is too hard and we | :26:01. | :26:03. | |
should not have a debate. We should have the debate and work out what we | :26:04. | :26:06. | |
need to do to do a better job of raising attainment for children who | :26:07. | :26:13. | |
currently do not go far enough. Doctor Julian Lewis. Not him! I am | :26:14. | :26:19. | |
not an expert on the theory of secondary education but having | :26:20. | :26:26. | |
attended a grammar school with a largely working-class contingent in | :26:27. | :26:30. | |
the 1960s, I know something about the practice from which we all | :26:31. | :26:36. | |
benefit. Can the Secretary of State explain why it is acceptable to | :26:37. | :26:41. | |
nurture and promote sporting excellence, but not academic | :26:42. | :26:49. | |
excellence? He raises a good point around the broader issue of | :26:50. | :26:52. | |
selection, which is that all children are different and | :26:53. | :26:57. | |
therefore, playing to those talents and natural interests of children is | :26:58. | :27:02. | |
important. Parents should have more choice and more diversity in the | :27:03. | :27:06. | |
school system to find not only a good school but a good school that | :27:07. | :27:09. | |
will be particularly good for the child. Thank you, Mr Speaker. The | :27:10. | :27:18. | |
job of education in the 21st century is to maximise opportunity for the | :27:19. | :27:21. | |
maximum number of children, whatever their background. The Ofsted chief | :27:22. | :27:27. | |
Inspector said this week that a return to grammar schools would not | :27:28. | :27:30. | |
do that. He said it would be a profoundly retrograde step that | :27:31. | :27:34. | |
would actually lead to overall standards sliding back, not | :27:35. | :27:39. | |
improving. He said just 9% of disadvantaged children go to the | :27:40. | :27:44. | |
grammar schools in grammar school Bexley, were as a non-grammar school | :27:45. | :27:50. | |
Hackney, 62% of children go to university compared to 48% as a | :27:51. | :27:54. | |
whole. Does she not agree that where there is a failure and disadvantage, | :27:55. | :28:00. | |
the answer should not be a festival of bringing back but instead a focus | :28:01. | :28:05. | |
on expanding opportunity for all schools right across the system? | :28:06. | :28:10. | |
Expanding opportunity is at the heart of what we are doing. I would | :28:11. | :28:14. | |
encourage him to rather than jump the gun, wait and see the Government | :28:15. | :28:19. | |
proposals when they are set out. Yet again, we have heard from the party | :28:20. | :28:22. | |
opposite of complaints about the current system while apparently | :28:23. | :28:26. | |
maintaining a position of not wanting to have a debate about how | :28:27. | :28:32. | |
we can improve it and make it better overall and ensure that improvement | :28:33. | :28:35. | |
is something the whole school system can benefit from. I realise the | :28:36. | :28:41. | |
honourable gentleman may experience some teething problems as he makes | :28:42. | :28:44. | |
his adjustments to life in the backbenchers. We look forward to | :28:45. | :28:49. | |
hearing from him on a regular basis but unfortunately he is no longer a | :28:50. | :28:53. | |
minister and does not have a guaranteed slot, but an expectant | :28:54. | :28:58. | |
nation will now hear him! I am slowly readjusting to the | :28:59. | :29:04. | |
metaphysical plane. I welcome what the Secretary of State has said | :29:05. | :29:08. | |
about diversity and choice. But will she acknowledge that a grammar | :29:09. | :29:11. | |
school might not be suited to every town? I would not relish the | :29:12. | :29:16. | |
prospect of informing parents informing bread, Milton or | :29:17. | :29:24. | |
Leamington that the child had not been able to get into the grammar | :29:25. | :29:27. | |
school and would have to be bussed elsewhere. He raises an important | :29:28. | :29:34. | |
point about how local communities needs to be intrinsically involved | :29:35. | :29:37. | |
in how the school system locally develops. I can assure him we are | :29:38. | :29:43. | |
very seasoned in that. I should also take this opportunity to put on | :29:44. | :29:47. | |
record how much I enjoyed working with him in our previous department | :29:48. | :29:52. | |
roles for education. He did an outstanding job and was a pleasure | :29:53. | :29:57. | |
to have as a ministerial colleague. Thank you, Mr Speaker. All of us | :29:58. | :30:03. | |
wants the best for our children. But following on from my honourable | :30:04. | :30:08. | |
friend for Gateshead, in answering his question, which in my view she | :30:09. | :30:11. | |
did not, does she not understand the very real concern is that in | :30:12. | :30:16. | |
reintroducing grammar schools, you also reintroduce secondary moderns? | :30:17. | :30:22. | |
You recreate the division that there has been a consensus about that we | :30:23. | :30:26. | |
should not allow within the education system. How is it that | :30:27. | :30:31. | |
proposing new grammar schools, which will bring secondary moderns is | :30:32. | :30:36. | |
going to improve attainment for all pupils in all of our communities? | :30:37. | :30:41. | |
The fundamental premise of his question I think is wrong. This is | :30:42. | :30:45. | |
absolutely not about going back to the past. Secondary moderns for many | :30:46. | :30:49. | |
years did not even put their children through a single exam. Our | :30:50. | :30:55. | |
school system has reformed, thankfully, beyond all recognition | :30:56. | :31:01. | |
since then. The premise of his question is wrong. This is about | :31:02. | :31:04. | |
improving standards for all children. He asked about how we can | :31:05. | :31:09. | |
make that happen. One of the ways is having good and outstanding schools | :31:10. | :31:12. | |
playing more of a role, lifting other schools that can benefit from | :31:13. | :31:17. | |
the experience and knowledge. Could I welcome the Secretary of State's | :31:18. | :31:23. | |
focus on excellence in education for all and invite her to Salisbury to | :31:24. | :31:27. | |
look at the mixed economy with grammar schools, UTC, a free six | :31:28. | :31:32. | |
form, local authority schools and a multi-Academy trust forming shortly, | :31:33. | :31:37. | |
and also place matters is on the dynamic between those different | :31:38. | :31:41. | |
types of schools and how in particular grammar schools work with | :31:42. | :31:44. | |
the neighbours nearby to raise standards across the board? Finally, | :31:45. | :31:49. | |
the focus on the P8 school which does a loss to put into focus the | :31:50. | :31:55. | |
progress made by every school would surely needs to be where the | :31:56. | :31:56. | |
emphasis should be placed? He is right, collaboration and | :31:57. | :32:06. | |
having good schools working with families to raise attainment is | :32:07. | :32:11. | |
important. We should be challenging schools on progress that every | :32:12. | :32:16. | |
child. Part of the problem of this approach of getting people into | :32:17. | :32:23. | |
GCSEs was that it missed out the progress schools often make | :32:24. | :32:25. | |
brilliantly with children that are perhaps further back in there | :32:26. | :32:28. | |
attainment, and we should be valuing that. We should hear from a | :32:29. | :32:37. | |
philosopher. Doctor John Pugh. On a consensual note, she will agree that | :32:38. | :32:44. | |
the biggest problem is underperforming boys in poorer | :32:45. | :32:48. | |
areas. Few of whom will pass the 11 plus. How does she think the | :32:49. | :32:53. | |
creation of grammar schools is a solution to this, in simple terms? | :32:54. | :33:00. | |
You will be pleased to hear that the Department for Education has a range | :33:01. | :33:03. | |
of different policies. We're allowed to have more than one to tackle poor | :33:04. | :33:07. | |
attainment, and we will be bringing forward some proposals on how we | :33:08. | :33:11. | |
feel the broader school system, including grammars, can work more | :33:12. | :33:19. | |
effectively and indeed the education system can improve attainment. But | :33:20. | :33:26. | |
he is right to highlight white working-class boys in particular. | :33:27. | :33:29. | |
Some work was done by the Sutton Trust that looked at primary schools | :33:30. | :33:32. | |
that were doing a good job on improving attainment of white | :33:33. | :33:35. | |
working-class boys, and sadly only eight to ten really improved | :33:36. | :33:40. | |
attainment dramatically, but we can learn from the experience and make | :33:41. | :33:44. | |
sure the best practices spread more effectively. But it is critical, and | :33:45. | :33:49. | |
he is right to focus on it. There is no doubt that there is a virtual | :33:50. | :33:53. | |
scrum of parents around almost every grammar school in the country trying | :33:54. | :33:58. | |
to take advantage of the excellent education opportunities they | :33:59. | :34:02. | |
provide. The answer is not to sneer at grammar schools or to try to | :34:03. | :34:07. | |
close them down, the option surely should be to enhance them. At the | :34:08. | :34:11. | |
moment new schools can select on the basis of children's ability at | :34:12. | :34:17. | |
performing arts, sport and music, but not on that ability at maths or | :34:18. | :34:23. | |
English. How can that be right? He is right, and the scrums around good | :34:24. | :34:30. | |
schools, not just grammar schools, so our focus has to be on opening up | :34:31. | :34:36. | |
the system as much as we can to maximise our ability to get good | :34:37. | :34:40. | |
schools and more good places for children in their local area, and | :34:41. | :34:46. | |
many of our colleagues have spoken about how children come from miles | :34:47. | :34:49. | |
away to the good school in their constituency. Perhaps if we already | :34:50. | :34:53. | |
had a good school closer to where those children left, they would not | :34:54. | :34:57. | |
need to do and they would not spend their time travelling and losing out | :34:58. | :35:00. | |
on homework and study time to do so. I welcome the comprehensively | :35:01. | :35:07. | |
educated Secretary of State to her place. The age of 11 is too early to | :35:08. | :35:11. | |
make final decisions which affect the child's whole future, so said | :35:12. | :35:16. | |
Margaret Thatcher, the Secretary of State who oversaw the most expansive | :35:17. | :35:22. | |
change in education. Does she really want to bring back secondary modern | :35:23. | :35:30. | |
and grammar schools with a negative impact on achievement, predicted by | :35:31. | :35:33. | |
Her Majesty is inspected and a negative impact on social mobility | :35:34. | :35:37. | |
predicted by the government's social mobility adviser? I have a great | :35:38. | :35:43. | |
amount of respect for the honourable gentleman and now that he spent a | :35:44. | :35:45. | |
career in education before coming into this place, and I would simply | :35:46. | :35:51. | |
say to him to wait for the policy options to, it, and I will be | :35:52. | :35:56. | |
interested to hear his response to those in due course. I went to a | :35:57. | :36:02. | |
state grammar school in south London and I owe my place here to that | :36:03. | :36:06. | |
school. The best grammar schools actively seek children from | :36:07. | :36:15. | |
disadvantaged backgrounds, and Wallington County Grammar next door | :36:16. | :36:21. | |
to Croydon has 14% on free school meals. With the Secretary of State | :36:22. | :36:24. | |
support their plans to open up a satellite grammar school in my | :36:25. | :36:28. | |
constituency, rather like the one opened up in Sevenoaks a few months | :36:29. | :36:34. | |
ago? I think all of us are here because of the education we were | :36:35. | :36:37. | |
lucky enough to have. I think the challenge we face and we are | :36:38. | :36:41. | |
debating is how we can make sure that no child misses out on that | :36:42. | :36:45. | |
opportunity because of the postcode lottery of where they happen to be | :36:46. | :36:50. | |
have been born in in the country. We need to make sure that whatever kind | :36:51. | :36:53. | |
of good schools they are, that they have more freedom to be able to | :36:54. | :36:58. | |
expand and deliver more good places in our school system for children | :36:59. | :37:02. | |
who do not currently have them. I have listened carefully to the | :37:03. | :37:06. | |
Secretary of State, and I have not heard her explicitly support the | :37:07. | :37:09. | |
policy announced by the Prime Minister that the backbench | :37:10. | :37:12. | |
Conservative private meeting last night. And it was leaked to the | :37:13. | :37:17. | |
media. It is an interesting fact. Given that the Prime Minister has | :37:18. | :37:22. | |
repeatedly boasted that she likes to take decisions thinking very | :37:23. | :37:26. | |
carefully about them based on evidence, is she aware of any | :37:27. | :37:30. | |
evidence that shows that a grammar school system improves attainment | :37:31. | :37:33. | |
across the piece or improves social mobility? As I have said in the | :37:34. | :37:41. | |
past, we have not set out the policy proposals. They will be set out in | :37:42. | :37:45. | |
due course. I would point him to the search by the Sutton Trust which | :37:46. | :37:49. | |
clearly set out the improved attainment for free school meal | :37:50. | :37:54. | |
children, but also actually said that in that particular piece of | :37:55. | :37:56. | |
research they did not see any negative impact on children outside | :37:57. | :38:01. | |
of the grammar school system on attainment. I recognise that there | :38:02. | :38:05. | |
are different studies that have recognised different challenges | :38:06. | :38:07. | |
around selection, but again I would say that if that is the view | :38:08. | :38:11. | |
honourable members take, isn't that all the more reason to open debate | :38:12. | :38:15. | |
and discuss how we can have a sensible policy on grammar schools? | :38:16. | :38:23. | |
Speaking as someone who was comprehensively educated in a | :38:24. | :38:27. | |
comprehensive school, I saw the benefits both of academic education | :38:28. | :38:32. | |
but also vocational education. With my right honourable friend not agree | :38:33. | :38:35. | |
that one of the things we have to do in society is to assess young | :38:36. | :38:40. | |
people, make sure that we have teaching for them that stretches | :38:41. | :38:43. | |
them to the utmost so they achieve the best they can, and that actually | :38:44. | :38:48. | |
assessments of all ages are important, so we achieve that, so we | :38:49. | :38:53. | |
get the best possible role in society? He is absolutely right and | :38:54. | :38:58. | |
while we are right to focus on the academic attainment on children in | :38:59. | :39:03. | |
our schools because if they do not get those basics they will not be | :39:04. | :39:09. | |
able to succeed, it is also important to recognise that one of | :39:10. | :39:12. | |
the most important thing we can do alongside that is improved reforms | :39:13. | :39:17. | |
on vocational education and apprenticeships, and make sure they | :39:18. | :39:23. | |
are attainable writs for people who want to choose an academic path of | :39:24. | :39:34. | |
life different from an... There are sometimes ascends from the | :39:35. | :39:36. | |
opposition benches that education is purely about academic attainment. It | :39:37. | :39:40. | |
is critical, but it is absolutely not the totality of what we need to | :39:41. | :39:48. | |
be ensuring our children need to be getting. We have to build pathways | :39:49. | :39:53. | |
on skills for children who are going to pursue a course that is much more | :39:54. | :39:58. | |
vocational. The Secretary of State recently told the TES, the times I | :39:59. | :40:10. | |
had best were the teachers that excited me about learning. When | :40:11. | :40:13. | |
heads and cheers of governors in my constituency who are working really | :40:14. | :40:17. | |
hard to raise standards and opportunities for all our young | :40:18. | :40:20. | |
people tell me that the recruitment and retention of good teachers is | :40:21. | :40:25. | |
the biggest challenge that they face, does she not understand the | :40:26. | :40:29. | |
frustration that they feel that she is focused on structures where the | :40:30. | :40:34. | |
evidence does not support them working, rather than the problems | :40:35. | :40:39. | |
they see every day in trying to deliver a fantastic education for | :40:40. | :40:43. | |
people on Friday in Nottingham? I would like to thank her for that | :40:44. | :40:49. | |
point. She's right that the issues of teacher recruitment and retention | :40:50. | :40:52. | |
and enabling and unlocking teachers to get on with the job and be | :40:53. | :40:59. | |
excellent in the classroom is truly important. It sits alongside some of | :41:00. | :41:04. | |
the policy options we will be bringing forward around selection, | :41:05. | :41:08. | |
but it is absolutely vital and we're not losing focus. I am sure many | :41:09. | :41:17. | |
across Torbay, we're three grammar schools work well with comprehensive | :41:18. | :41:20. | |
schools, a studio school and a technical college, we are listening | :41:21. | :41:26. | |
to some of the comments today, particularly the Education | :41:27. | :41:28. | |
Secretary, with amazement. There is nothing radical about the idea that | :41:29. | :41:31. | |
we will give arbitrary areas the chance to choose to have the | :41:32. | :41:35. | |
education system that we already benefit from. It is about two | :41:36. | :41:42. | |
things, about being clearly prepared to leave no stone unturned in asking | :41:43. | :41:46. | |
what it is going to take to improve the education system for children, | :41:47. | :41:51. | |
and it is about having a practical debate on that that goes beyond the | :41:52. | :41:54. | |
ideological debate and puts pupils first. In Trafford where we have | :41:55. | :42:02. | |
selection, our schools perform very well, not because of selection but | :42:03. | :42:07. | |
because of great teaching and good leadership. But I must tell the | :42:08. | :42:11. | |
Secretary of State that the majority of parents in Trafford, especially | :42:12. | :42:15. | |
parents of children with special educational needs, do not feel that | :42:16. | :42:23. | |
they get their child into the school, in particular they feel that | :42:24. | :42:25. | |
grammar schools are reluctant to take those children with special | :42:26. | :42:28. | |
needs because they want to press the school's results. When the Secretary | :42:29. | :42:32. | |
of State comes forward, and she assure the House that the needs of | :42:33. | :42:36. | |
those particularly vulnerable children will be given appropriate | :42:37. | :42:38. | |
attention in the strategy she proposes? I am very grateful for | :42:39. | :42:46. | |
that question. I would be happy to sit down with her and further | :42:47. | :42:50. | |
discuss this. It is an incredibly important point that we not only | :42:51. | :42:53. | |
raise attainment across the board but we leave no child out of that | :42:54. | :42:57. | |
progress we are seeing in the School improvement. Parents in Kent as a | :42:58. | :43:08. | |
whole see grammar schools and faith -based schools as engines of | :43:09. | :43:12. | |
opportunity and aspiration, and will the government also look at more | :43:13. | :43:21. | |
faith -based schools and more skills -based education at any stage in | :43:22. | :43:31. | |
their lives? I agree it is about choice and a school system that | :43:32. | :43:34. | |
means you can find the right school for your child that is tailored to | :43:35. | :43:41. | |
their needs. And the Secretary of State tell us how this helps with | :43:42. | :43:45. | |
the government's new industrial strategy. We know that there are | :43:46. | :43:52. | |
technology colleges, and we seemed to -- they seem to have disappeared | :43:53. | :43:55. | |
somewhat. How will grammar schools help? And have they had any | :43:56. | :44:00. | |
discussions about the church about any impact on faith schools? We will | :44:01. | :44:08. | |
be announcing our policy options in due course and I am sure he will | :44:09. | :44:11. | |
want to respond to them. But education in schools is critical for | :44:12. | :44:15. | |
delivering on our long-term industrial strategy if we're going | :44:16. | :44:18. | |
to meet these challenges of having a successful economy but also having | :44:19. | :44:23. | |
our migration levels more under control. One of the ways we can do | :44:24. | :44:27. | |
that incredibly constructively is to meet more of our skill needs from | :44:28. | :44:32. | |
our own young people and to be training them and educating them to | :44:33. | :44:35. | |
be able to play their role in British industry, helping our | :44:36. | :44:45. | |
country be successful. Is my right honourable friend in agreement that | :44:46. | :44:48. | |
with all the different schools now available, if parents do not want to | :44:49. | :44:50. | |
choose a grammar school education for their children, such schools | :44:51. | :44:53. | |
will not survive and thrive, but we should at least give parents with | :44:54. | :44:56. | |
limited means the same choice that better off parents have. He is | :44:57. | :45:04. | |
absolutely right. We should not accept poor school standards and | :45:05. | :45:08. | |
whatever school they are in. We have to challenge low attainment wherever | :45:09. | :45:13. | |
we find it, but the point I am making today is that it is not good | :45:14. | :45:16. | |
enough to just take something off the table because of political | :45:17. | :45:20. | |
ideology. What we need to do is challenge all aspects of our | :45:21. | :45:23. | |
education system to play a greater role in raising attainment and | :45:24. | :45:28. | |
building capacity. There remains a fundamental contradiction at the | :45:29. | :45:31. | |
heart of the government's thinking which I suspect has been muddled by | :45:32. | :45:34. | |
the ideology that they are accusing our side of the household, which is | :45:35. | :45:40. | |
that the school selects or the parents choose, but you cannot have | :45:41. | :45:44. | |
selection and choice together. So does the suggestion from the Prime | :45:45. | :45:47. | |
Minister last night that she wants to see an element of selection | :45:48. | :45:51. | |
indicate that the government has abandoned parental choice? I would | :45:52. | :45:56. | |
encourage him to wait for the policy options to be announced and I am | :45:57. | :45:59. | |
sure he will want to respond to them when they are. I'm sure parents in | :46:00. | :46:06. | |
your will warmly welcome a grammar school as hundreds have to cross the | :46:07. | :46:10. | |
border into Lincolnshire, often on low incomes. But that she | :46:11. | :46:16. | |
acknowledge what a lot of existing -- of our existing grammar schools | :46:17. | :46:20. | |
are cheering on low funding. There are ?4000 per pupil in my | :46:21. | :46:31. | |
constituency, whereas the lowest performing school in Lincolnshire is | :46:32. | :46:36. | |
?8,000 per pupil. We are developing our proposals on funding formula for | :46:37. | :46:42. | |
schools, and I know he will want to represent his community as we do | :46:43. | :46:46. | |
get a more equitable funding for get a more equitable funding for | :46:47. | :46:49. | |
pupils than we have. It has been a trait of this Tory | :46:50. | :46:59. | |
government that they of the left to cover up regressive policies they | :47:00. | :47:03. | |
introduce, infusion -- if using terms like social mobility, which in | :47:04. | :47:10. | |
fact are quite the opposite. They say investment in early years does | :47:11. | :47:14. | |
more to move children forwards than any form of selection that 11 could | :47:15. | :47:22. | |
ever justified. Does she regret closing 800 sure start centres, and | :47:23. | :47:27. | |
should we not be investing the instead of having a pointless debate | :47:28. | :47:33. | |
about bringing back selection? I do not accept this either- or | :47:34. | :47:38. | |
characterisation. We need to improve education at every stage of a | :47:39. | :47:43. | |
child's life. That is including early years, as well. What a choice. | :47:44. | :47:54. | |
Mr Peter Bowen. I am not entirely sure what Northamptonshire has done | :47:55. | :47:58. | |
to deserve this. Anyway, can I say to the honourable lady who speaks | :47:59. | :48:02. | |
for the opposition, can I congratulate her for getting the | :48:03. | :48:07. | |
urgent question? I know under Labour announcements were made in the | :48:08. | :48:10. | |
press. This government makes announcements here. At a meeting | :48:11. | :48:16. | |
last night there were no new announcements of policy and I would | :48:17. | :48:19. | |
be the first to object if the Government started doing that. Can | :48:20. | :48:23. | |
the Secretary of State confirmed that when the policy has been | :48:24. | :48:29. | |
decided, she will come to this House and report on it? I thought that was | :48:30. | :48:35. | |
a very good choice, Mr Speaker and I can, I will come and make a | :48:36. | :48:41. | |
statement. In Kettering, where five out of the six secondary schools are | :48:42. | :48:46. | |
already academies, where we have one of the fastest house building rates | :48:47. | :48:50. | |
in the country and were recent exam success was very encouraging, I have | :48:51. | :48:55. | |
to tell the secretary of state whether we bring grammar schools | :48:56. | :48:59. | |
back or not, the debate is about having more school places. Will she | :49:00. | :49:04. | |
support the Conservative manifesto commitment that all good schools, | :49:05. | :49:09. | |
whether they are academies, free, or grammar, be allowed to expand? | :49:10. | :49:14. | |
Absolutely. I think our desire is to make sure that it does not matter | :49:15. | :49:19. | |
what kind of good school it is, but it has the chance to create | :49:20. | :49:23. | |
additional good places that our country needs and for areas that do | :49:24. | :49:27. | |
not have good schools are told, we need to make sure we have a school | :49:28. | :49:31. | |
system which is freed up enough so schools can be set up the that | :49:32. | :49:37. | |
really do improve prospects for children, or that we network the | :49:38. | :49:41. | |
schools with other good schools nearby that are delivering. But I | :49:42. | :49:44. | |
have to say there are some parts of the country where that has been | :49:45. | :49:47. | |
challenging and we need to leave no stone unturned. Thank you, Mr | :49:48. | :49:52. | |
Speaker. Would she agree with me that not only do different things | :49:53. | :49:55. | |
work in different areas but it is also essential we have a mix of | :49:56. | :50:01. | |
routes by which young people can go on to succeed? Surely it is only | :50:02. | :50:05. | |
write a new government is reviewing where we are and looking at how best | :50:06. | :50:09. | |
we can enhance what matters most, which is opportunity? He is | :50:10. | :50:15. | |
absolutely right. We have 1.4 million more children in good, or | :50:16. | :50:19. | |
outstanding schools. We have done that in a variety of ways in terms | :50:20. | :50:22. | |
of what children are learning in class and also how we are getting | :50:23. | :50:25. | |
schools to work together collaboratively. We now need to say | :50:26. | :50:30. | |
how can we take that to the next level but also critically, for | :50:31. | :50:34. | |
million-plus children who are still not getting the attainment levels | :50:35. | :50:37. | |
that we want and live in parts of a country where they do not have the | :50:38. | :50:41. | |
chance to get to a good school, we have to make sure we change the | :50:42. | :50:46. | |
terms of trade to make sure that they are turned into education | :50:47. | :50:50. | |
opportunities. Business question, Mr Paul Flynn. Will the leader of the | :50:51. | :50:57. | |
House gave us the business for next week? Leader of the House, Mr David | :50:58. | :51:02. | |
Liddington. Mr Speaker, the bidders for next week, Monday the 12th of | :51:03. | :51:07. | |
September, remaining stages of the Wales Bill. Tuesday the 13th, | :51:08. | :51:11. | |
secondary reading of the Digital economy Bill. Wednesday the 14th, | :51:12. | :51:17. | |
motions to approve statutory instruments relating to welfare | :51:18. | :51:22. | |
reform in Northern Ireland and pensions. Followed by an opposition | :51:23. | :51:27. | |
day, and on allotted half day, they will be a debate on NHS | :51:28. | :51:35. | |
sustainability and transformation plans... On the 15th | :51:36. | :51:36. |