22/11/2016

:00:00. > :00:00.Minute Rule motion. We were in a moment do so. Colleagues leaving the

:00:00. > :00:10.chamber... If you can do so quickly and quietly. We can proceed with the

:00:11. > :00:21.Ten Minute Rule motion which the honourable lady has been patiently

:00:22. > :00:25.waiting. Louise Hague. Thank you, Mr Speaker, I beg leave to introduce a

:00:26. > :00:28.bill to amend the employment rights act but in that sector make

:00:29. > :00:34.provision for leave of persons donating body organs for transplant.

:00:35. > :00:37.Can I start Mr Speaker by sending my thanks and I'm sure the thanks of

:00:38. > :00:42.the whole house to the nurses and medical staff who make up the NHS

:00:43. > :00:46.Blood and Transplant service and the staff who run the NHS organ donation

:00:47. > :00:50.register. It is relatively small team in the grand scheme of things

:00:51. > :00:52.but it is thanks to their effort and their utter brilliance that

:00:53. > :00:57.thousands of lives are saved each year might otherwise have been lost.

:00:58. > :01:00.And it is thanks to the ingenuity and dedication that lasted organ

:01:01. > :01:04.donations in the UK reached a record high. The difference they are making

:01:05. > :01:08.the families whose loved ones have been given a new chance at life

:01:09. > :01:12.often goes unsaid. I would also like to take this opportunity to note the

:01:13. > :01:16.work of honourable members including the member for Burton and Uttoxeter

:01:17. > :01:19.and the member for Montgomeryshire who have put the issue of organ

:01:20. > :01:25.donation firmly on the Parliamentary agenda. Organ donation is improving

:01:26. > :01:30.year on year. In part due to small changes such as the option to sign

:01:31. > :01:34.up every time you renew your driving licence. Last year alone that method

:01:35. > :01:39.saw an extra half million people register to become potentially

:01:40. > :01:44.life-saving donors. These are small changes making a huge difference.

:01:45. > :01:49.But as the NHS Blood and Transplant service has said, there is an awful

:01:50. > :01:54.lot of work to be done. Not only to raise and sent figures, currently at

:01:55. > :01:58.62% despite evidence which suggests that over 90% of the public would

:01:59. > :02:00.give their organs in death, but also to encourage families to have a

:02:01. > :02:05.difficult conversation about what we'd you do if the unthinkable

:02:06. > :02:11.happened. Because family refusal after the death of a loved one is

:02:12. > :02:14.sadly the single biggest barrier to organ donation. Of course it is

:02:15. > :02:17.completely understandable and natural that in the aftermath of a

:02:18. > :02:22.life changing was all we want to do was preserve that left behind. But

:02:23. > :02:26.if 80% of families consented 1000 more lives a year could be saved and

:02:27. > :02:31.1000 more families kept together. I would like to take this opportunity

:02:32. > :02:34.to gently urged families today to have that conversation, find out

:02:35. > :02:37.their wishes, tell them yours, because the chances are if the

:02:38. > :02:41.unthinkable happened your loved one would want to save a life. But Mr

:02:42. > :02:45.Speaker while much of the focus is rightly delegated to those brave

:02:46. > :02:49.families who have made that difficult decision it is living

:02:50. > :02:53.donors who should also be hailed for the selflessness. To give a kidney,

:02:54. > :02:56.part of the liver or bone marrow in order to save the life of someone

:02:57. > :03:00.they may never even have met. And it is living donors to whom my bill

:03:01. > :03:05.would guarantee legal rights that so far they have not enjoyed. 6000

:03:06. > :03:08.people nationwide currently are going through the utter agony of

:03:09. > :03:14.waiting for the call that could save their lives. But their availability

:03:15. > :03:18.year in, year out for those organs never matches need. Living organ

:03:19. > :03:21.donors are playing a very significant part in bridging the

:03:22. > :03:26.heartbreaking gap. Last year alone over 1000 of that part of the liver

:03:27. > :03:30.or kidney and many more donated bone marrow. Because of their

:03:31. > :03:35.requirements and criteria for organ donors many are often of working age

:03:36. > :03:39.and in work. Now it hardly needs saying that giving an organ is an

:03:40. > :03:44.enormous commitment and if you are an employee the time needed off work

:03:45. > :03:49.may give you pause for four. The NHS advises that living donors can

:03:50. > :03:52.expect up period of up to 12 weeks recovery time. This will vary from

:03:53. > :03:56.person-to-person and depending on what job you do but the point is it

:03:57. > :04:00.is a very serious commitment for any would-be donor. You had to weigh up

:04:01. > :04:04.whether you can afford to take the time off, if your boss insists you

:04:05. > :04:08.take leave unpaid, and you have to wait for any compensation to come

:04:09. > :04:12.through from the relevant NHS Trust. You have to weigh up whether you can

:04:13. > :04:16.make the commitment to be out of work for that length of time. And

:04:17. > :04:21.you are all the way is worrying in case your positional terms and

:04:22. > :04:24.conditions are not quite the same on your return. That uncertainty is

:04:25. > :04:28.unacceptable. It is putting barriers in the path of people becoming

:04:29. > :04:34.life-saving donors and currently the law has nothing to say. This issue

:04:35. > :04:38.was brought to my attention by a man who told me he had donated bone

:04:39. > :04:42.marrow to an anonymous blood cancer patient. He was allowed just three

:04:43. > :04:47.days off work and paid to cover the time in hospital. He felt pressured

:04:48. > :04:54.to return and he was accused of making himself sick by his employer.

:04:55. > :04:58.It is just one the full that it tells us of the pressures faced by

:04:59. > :05:02.workers who may want to donate. Any and all barriers standing in the way

:05:03. > :05:07.of living donors must be dismantled. And a lack of legal employment

:05:08. > :05:12.protection is holding these potential life-savers are

:05:13. > :05:16.significant and can be easily corrected by government. For young

:05:17. > :05:19.people in particular who have the highest likelihood of donating

:05:20. > :05:24.high-quality bone marrow, that time out of the work may completely

:05:25. > :05:30.determines that is why my bill would guarantee living organ donors to

:05:31. > :05:37.paid time off to allow them to recover and they will have their job

:05:38. > :05:39.guaranteed. So the employees not checking their phone, worried they

:05:40. > :05:42.might get a call from the boss of rushing back because they are where

:05:43. > :05:47.they should be that this can have the time off to take the time to get

:05:48. > :05:50.better which they so deserve. This bill will also guarantee that their

:05:51. > :05:55.terms and conditions on rights are the same on their return as when

:05:56. > :05:59.they left. In an age when workers feel increasingly insecure in their

:06:00. > :06:03.job and where at the sharp end of the economy unscrupulous employment

:06:04. > :06:07.practices and rights are rife, these legal garages can make the

:06:08. > :06:10.difference between donating and not. We are already chronically short of

:06:11. > :06:14.donors and we should be clearing every conceivable barrier put in the

:06:15. > :06:18.way of these potential life-savers. I'm delighted that major businesses

:06:19. > :06:26.like my own former employer, Aviva, and the DIY retailer Wickes back

:06:27. > :06:33.Michael. It is fantastic cross-party group of MPs supporting it as. Each

:06:34. > :06:36.donation is an astonishing story of bravery in its right and a life

:06:37. > :06:41.changing moment for the individuals and families who benefit the

:06:42. > :06:45.generosity. As work gets increasingly precarious employs must

:06:46. > :06:47.rely on the protections in law which guaranteed their rights. These

:06:48. > :06:52.counties will not only bring peace of mind but will help increase the

:06:53. > :06:56.number of living donors from 1000, and bridge the gap between

:06:57. > :07:00.availability and need. And crucially it will send a clear signal from

:07:01. > :07:04.government and from this house that if you are prepared to give an organ

:07:05. > :07:09.to save a life, then we will back you every step of the way.

:07:10. > :07:19.As many as are of the opinion, say "aye".

:07:20. > :07:29.To the contrary, "no". I think the ayes that, the ayes it. Who will

:07:30. > :07:31.prepare and bring in the build? Cavern west, Greg Mulholland, Sarah

:07:32. > :08:10.Wollaston and myself, sir. Second reading, what day? Friday

:08:11. > :08:14.20th January. Thank you. Order. We now come to the opposition Day

:08:15. > :08:19.motion in the name of the Leader of the Opposition on education and

:08:20. > :08:25.social mobility. I informed the howls that I have selected the

:08:26. > :08:33.amendment in the name of the Prime Minister. I should advise the howls

:08:34. > :08:37.that a very substantial number of backbench members have applied to

:08:38. > :08:44.speak. If memory serves me correctly, no fewer than 28. The

:08:45. > :08:49.debate, realistically, I imagine, will not run beyond 4pm, or at the

:08:50. > :08:53.latest 4:30pm. Of course, there is no limit on front bench speeches.

:08:54. > :08:58.The frontbenchers tend to take significant numbers of

:08:59. > :09:03.interventions, privately properly, that is favoured by the howls, but

:09:04. > :09:06.I'm sure at that those ventures will wish to tailor their contributions

:09:07. > :09:14.in the light of what I have just said. To move the motion, I called

:09:15. > :09:19.this secretary -- Shadow Secretary of State for Education.

:09:20. > :09:24.I hope to try and be brief, but substantive in my comments today. I

:09:25. > :09:28.would like to start by saying thanks to the emergency services across the

:09:29. > :09:31.UK who have helped many of our constituents during the floods

:09:32. > :09:38.yesterday, in particular those held my constituents and businesses. It

:09:39. > :09:41.should be the duty of all governments to provide the best

:09:42. > :09:46.education for every child. Today we will be calling on the whole House

:09:47. > :09:50.to show that they share with this commitment. Because only last

:09:51. > :09:54.Wednesday, we heard that Britain has a deep social mobility problem, and

:09:55. > :10:00.for this generation of young people in particular, it is getting worse

:10:01. > :10:03.and not better. And that this was in result of an unfair education

:10:04. > :10:12.system, a two tier labour markets, and an balance labour economy, and

:10:13. > :10:18.an unaffordable housing market. Not to not accusations from -- are not

:10:19. > :10:24.an accusation from the opposition, but the conclusion of the governed's

:10:25. > :10:28.own mobility commission. How can we offer the best art and life every

:10:29. > :10:37.child, but and crucially new academic solution -- site and was

:10:38. > :10:42.not one of them. Happy to give way. Can you inform the House precisely

:10:43. > :10:48.how many grammar schools she has visited before opposing the paper

:10:49. > :10:54.today? At I say, as a parent and school

:10:55. > :10:58.governor and someone who represented trade union members, I have visited

:10:59. > :11:04.many grammar schools. My contribution to this debate will be

:11:05. > :11:08.on fact and evidence. I hope the honourable member will look the

:11:09. > :11:16.facts and evidence vote accordingly. In fact, they offered social

:11:17. > :11:20.mobility is a clear recommendation to abandon any such plans. They said

:11:21. > :11:26.that because they know social mobility is facing a crisis. And

:11:27. > :11:29.that further academic selection is simply not the answer. In fact, it

:11:30. > :11:34.will only entrench the problem. I give way.

:11:35. > :11:39.I thank the honourable lady. Which explain why it's all right for my

:11:40. > :11:46.constituents to be able to go to a grammar school and Birmingham, but

:11:47. > :11:51.not to go to a grammar school and Brierley Hill, because is no

:11:52. > :11:56.provision that? I will explain exactly why we need

:11:57. > :11:59.to be moving away from selection and having improvement within our

:12:00. > :12:06.education system. Those conclusions from that commission will find much

:12:07. > :12:10.support in this House, not just on these benches, but, I hoping, an

:12:11. > :12:13.opposition benches as well. But we still haven't heard from the Prime

:12:14. > :12:16.Minister as any of these recommendations will be adopted. I

:12:17. > :12:21.give way. Before we have to listen to the

:12:22. > :12:25.sixth form debating points from the party opposite, dishes agree with me

:12:26. > :12:29.that what they ought to do is to be setting out the evidence for this

:12:30. > :12:34.policy, setting out where these schools will be, what the war costs,

:12:35. > :12:37.where the resources will come from, what the pupils will learn that, and

:12:38. > :12:44.even how they would offer from existing schools?

:12:45. > :12:49.I agree with the honourable member, and there is clearly many questions

:12:50. > :12:55.to be answered on where the evidence is for this type of policy. I would

:12:56. > :13:00.like to get the Education Secretary the chance to end this uncertainty

:13:01. > :13:03.with an assistant today. Can she tell us which of the commission's

:13:04. > :13:09.recommendations she will be accepting, and whether they have

:13:10. > :13:11.rejected the recommendation on schools in particular? The

:13:12. > :13:19.challenges we face go much further than this one misguided policy. I

:13:20. > :13:23.give way. Last year in Ashfield, 66% of

:13:24. > :13:34.children from disadvantaged backgrounds did not get their five

:13:35. > :13:40.GCSEs. This is the real scandal, not the grammar school system?

:13:41. > :13:43.I thank her for her splendid intervention, because we know that

:13:44. > :13:48.increasing selection is not the answer to the current crisis that is

:13:49. > :13:51.facing our school system. I give way.

:13:52. > :13:57.Isn't it a fact that the demand for a grammar schools is coming from

:13:58. > :14:02.those wealthy parents who are seeing private education more and more

:14:03. > :14:11.priced out of their reach? With over ?21,000 fees now. It is a fact that

:14:12. > :14:16.there are four times more children who are going to privately paid prep

:14:17. > :14:20.schools getting into grammar schools than there are from other state

:14:21. > :14:26.schools. Surely we shouldn't let people get an elite education on the

:14:27. > :14:30.cheap paid for by the taxpayer? I think the honourable member for

:14:31. > :14:34.his contribution. Of course, the commission that was out last week,

:14:35. > :14:39.said that those finding it hard to progress are not just the most

:14:40. > :14:43.disadvantaged, but those earning around ?22,000 Bojan. Those of a

:14:44. > :14:47.hard-working families that people that are just getting by, that this

:14:48. > :14:52.Prime Minister pledged to support on the steps of ten Downing St. So I

:14:53. > :14:56.want to find common cause with members from all sides and all

:14:57. > :15:00.parties in making Britain a country in which every child gets an

:15:01. > :15:05.excellent education and the best start in life.

:15:06. > :15:09.When she goes to watch one of our best sports teams in the country,

:15:10. > :15:13.does she problem that they were selected and given an elite

:15:14. > :15:17.education? I mean, the honourable member knows

:15:18. > :15:22.that this is a completely different issue. And as Italy on member, as I

:15:23. > :15:30.say to all across this House, follow the evidence.

:15:31. > :15:35.I thank my honourable friend forgiving way. Talking of excellence

:15:36. > :15:41.in sports, would she agree with me that we should celebrate the fact

:15:42. > :15:46.that Mo Farah and went to a state school in my Anderson Dame

:15:47. > :15:56.constituency, that school is now suffering from cuts, and is...

:15:57. > :16:04.He is also a staunch Arsenal fan which makes an even greater man.

:16:05. > :16:08.I thank my honourable friend the making that point. We need to ensure

:16:09. > :16:12.every child makes the best progress in life, and we know that selection

:16:13. > :16:17.is not the way forward. I will make progress before take more

:16:18. > :16:22.interventions. I want to find common cause. I know there are many on the

:16:23. > :16:26.Government benches were agree with me that expanding academic selection

:16:27. > :16:30.is hardly the best way to do that. For instance, members of all parties

:16:31. > :16:35.will note that all the evidence tells us that providing an excellent

:16:36. > :16:41.education starts at the earliest point. Access to childcare and early

:16:42. > :16:46.years education is absolutely vital. Not just in helping children, but

:16:47. > :16:51.and helping every family fulfil their potential. Indeed, by the time

:16:52. > :16:56.that they will take the 11-plus, children from the most disadvantaged

:16:57. > :16:59.backgrounds are already, on average, ten months behind. The evidence

:17:00. > :17:04.shows that investment in early years is the best way to close the

:17:05. > :17:10.attainment gap between the most disadvantaged children and their

:17:11. > :17:15.affluent peers. I give way. Does the honourable lady agree with

:17:16. > :17:18.David Cameron who said, there's a hopelessness and the demand to bring

:17:19. > :17:22.back grammar is, an assumption that this country will only ever be able

:17:23. > :17:27.to offer decent education to a select few?

:17:28. > :17:31.I think the honourable member for her contribution, and I find myself

:17:32. > :17:35.agreeing with the former Prime Minister, who was obviously elected

:17:36. > :17:40.to make those contributions within this debate. That is the platform

:17:41. > :17:46.and manifesto at the Conservative Government stood on, that they are

:17:47. > :17:49.currently rejecting. I know from own personal experience, as parents

:17:50. > :17:54.across the chamber well, the incredible impact childcare can

:17:55. > :17:59.have, not just on children and their education, but on their entire

:18:00. > :18:04.families. Leaving school at 16, with no qualifications, and a newborn

:18:05. > :18:08.son, it was Labour's sure start centres that help me be a better

:18:09. > :18:13.parent for my son. I know that I would not be speaking in this House

:18:14. > :18:17.today without those programmes. And they have helped offer my son the

:18:18. > :18:22.opportunities that I never had growing up.

:18:23. > :18:27.What with the honourable lady say to parents and my constituency in

:18:28. > :18:30.Croydon where there are no grammar schools, have to travel for miles

:18:31. > :18:36.and miles to an adjacent grammar school? She is seeking to deny them

:18:37. > :18:42.choice, issue not? I say to the honourable member, I

:18:43. > :18:45.want to ensure that every child has the best start and opportunities in

:18:46. > :18:50.life. Not that they had to travel miles away from his constituency. I

:18:51. > :18:53.want his constituents to have the best education possible, and that is

:18:54. > :18:59.why selection does not provide that every child.

:19:00. > :19:03.My friend is making an outstanding opening speech in this debate. On

:19:04. > :19:08.that point of choice, it did she agree with me that, in this debate,

:19:09. > :19:11.the issue of choice is a nonstarter? Because the choice is not with the

:19:12. > :19:15.parents, the choices with this school. The skill gets to choose the

:19:16. > :19:20.kids, the parents don't get to choose the school. Invariably, the

:19:21. > :19:25.school choose the children on a financial and social well being

:19:26. > :19:30.rather than anything else. Absolutely. And I absolutely agree

:19:31. > :19:32.with the honourable member for Manchester Central, and pay tribute

:19:33. > :19:40.to her head standing work that she did on the front bench. I will make

:19:41. > :19:43.more progress. The social mobility commission talked about treadmill

:19:44. > :19:48.families, who are running faster but I stuck in the same place. There are

:19:49. > :19:52.working hard, but don't have anything to show for it at the end

:19:53. > :19:56.of the week. Childcare and early years intervention would do far more

:19:57. > :20:03.to address these problems than would a focus on new academic selection at

:20:04. > :20:09.11. Yet, we have seen the closure of over 800 sure start centres since

:20:10. > :20:15.2010. And the loss of around 45,000 childcare places, and the closure of

:20:16. > :20:17.1000 childcare providers in the last five years. And there are similar

:20:18. > :20:24.challenges facing our existing schools. The Institute for Fiscal

:20:25. > :20:29.Studies has shown that our schools are facing a real terms cut in their

:20:30. > :20:34.budgets for the first time in nearly two decades, just as the demand for

:20:35. > :20:37.school places is growing. We already know the consequences -

:20:38. > :20:42.was staff leaving, more schools in disrepair, more courses being

:20:43. > :20:47.caught. The Department education has ready method is teacher training

:20:48. > :20:53.targets four years in a road, while more inexperienced teachers are

:20:54. > :20:58.leaving the profession in record numbers, and 500,000 pupils are now

:20:59. > :21:02.taught in super-sized classes. It should be our mission to provide an

:21:03. > :21:07.excellent education for all children, and we know what is needed

:21:08. > :21:11.to provide that. It is a high-quality, early years education.

:21:12. > :21:16.The best heads and teachers teaching the right curriculum and manageable

:21:17. > :21:23.classes in decent school buildings with high standards and good

:21:24. > :21:26.behaviour. Mr Speaker, let me say to the Education Secretary, and all

:21:27. > :21:32.those on Government benches, that if they do take serious action to make

:21:33. > :21:36.the changes our education system needs, then I will be the first to

:21:37. > :21:41.support them. Because education policy should not be about

:21:42. > :21:44.ideological dogma, but about looking at third of the evidence and

:21:45. > :21:49.bridging policies that will improve the lives of all children.

:21:50. > :21:55.Would she agree with me that the academy programme has delivered

:21:56. > :21:58.considerable success and could she give her unequivocal support to the

:21:59. > :22:04.Academy programme and could then members of the NUJ that picketed the

:22:05. > :22:07.Kimberley school in my constituency when it had the temerity to break

:22:08. > :22:14.free from the local authority and established an excellent Academy?

:22:15. > :22:19.What I would say and what I hope we can agree on is actually we know it

:22:20. > :22:22.is not about the vehicle, it is about the drivers in education and

:22:23. > :22:26.focusing on vehicles is not actually dealing with the fundamental issue

:22:27. > :22:34.of our dealing with collaboration, leadership and good teaching. And

:22:35. > :22:37.then to make some more progress. The purpose of today's debate, Mr

:22:38. > :22:42.Speaker, is to send a message that members of all parties are committed

:22:43. > :22:46.to an evidence -based approach to education policy. And not pursuing

:22:47. > :22:50.the failed policy of academic selection. Because we know that this

:22:51. > :22:54.policy is not the answer to Britain's social mobility crisis.

:22:55. > :23:03.And the government knew that can be in. Until very recently. Indeed the

:23:04. > :23:10.Conservative Party, the one who won an election has explicitly promised

:23:11. > :23:14.not to do so. Only just gone but so quickly forgotten. And why has that

:23:15. > :23:18.pledge being ripped up by the new Prime Minister? The Education

:23:19. > :23:25.Secretary has said it is to help solve Britain's mobility crisis. But

:23:26. > :23:28.the evidence is scanned, and without reciting it at length I think the

:23:29. > :23:35.recent backbench business debate focusing precisely on the evidence

:23:36. > :23:41.by my honourable friend for the member for Wigan demonstrated that

:23:42. > :23:43.this is conclusive. That is why I'm not to take individuals on that

:23:44. > :23:47.point, I am going to make some progress. We know that those from

:23:48. > :23:51.disadvantaged backgrounds are far less likely to get into selective

:23:52. > :23:55.schools, even if they are just as bright as they're better off ears,

:23:56. > :24:01.and we know that even if they do get in the impact on their attainment is

:24:02. > :24:05.minimal at best. It is not just those of us on this side of the

:24:06. > :24:09.house and know that. Dozens of others know it and Mr Speaker it is

:24:10. > :24:16.a mistake and priority that this policy shows that as of the greatest

:24:17. > :24:21.concern. I want to wrap up shortly. Already in the consultation document

:24:22. > :24:24.launched in November the government pledged ?50 million to help existing

:24:25. > :24:29.grammar schools expand. The same green paper made a series of

:24:30. > :24:33.substantial unposted pledges to those schools that want to become

:24:34. > :24:38.grammars. Or the Academy chains that want to open them. And now just this

:24:39. > :24:42.weekend government sources have briefed the Sunday Times that there

:24:43. > :24:45.will be tens of millions more to help run the schools expand. The

:24:46. > :24:50.idea that this is the way the government should spend taxpayers

:24:51. > :24:52.money is simply baffling. When nurseries across the country are

:24:53. > :24:57.facing closure because the government will not deliver the

:24:58. > :25:00.investment needed to deliver on their manifesto pledge to deliver 30

:25:01. > :25:07.hours of free childcare awake when our schools are facing deeper cuts

:25:08. > :25:15.in their budgets van and any time since the 1970s, why is this money

:25:16. > :25:18.being taken away from them? My honourable friend has made an

:25:19. > :25:22.outstanding speech this afternoon and haven't we seen the problem with

:25:23. > :25:25.Tory education thinking this afternoon? They think that some

:25:26. > :25:28.types of school are better than others, and some children deserve

:25:29. > :25:33.better opportunities than others. That is what is so entirely wrong

:25:34. > :25:36.with what they are arguing today. I thank the honourable member and that

:25:37. > :25:42.is the real rub, that is the difference between the size and the

:25:43. > :25:45.benches opposite. We believe that teachers are invaluable to making

:25:46. > :25:49.sure that our schools are the best they possibly can be rather than the

:25:50. > :25:53.vehicle in which those vehicles and drivers take their admission

:25:54. > :25:56.forward. We know that there are members across this house agree that

:25:57. > :26:01.this is not the way we should spend school budgets. Members in the

:26:02. > :26:05.devolved nations will want to know the implications on their own school

:26:06. > :26:08.budgets as well and I know there are many members on the government

:26:09. > :26:12.benches who share the view of those on the Labour benches that education

:26:13. > :26:15.is the key to social mobility and that for all our differences on

:26:16. > :26:19.policy they would not want to see the government wasting the

:26:20. > :26:24.Department for Education's budget on an ineffective vanity project. That

:26:25. > :26:30.must be the key test of every spending commitment made by the

:26:31. > :26:34.Secretary of State. I will give way. I'm very grateful. Perhaps she could

:26:35. > :26:37.clarify, we have heard her position in relation to grammar schools, is

:26:38. > :26:49.her position that the government should close all grammar schools

:26:50. > :26:52.that already exist? Was it worth it? Again I would reiterate my point is

:26:53. > :26:57.that the members across all sides of this house have the absolute

:26:58. > :27:01.responsibility to make sure that policies that they'd use in this

:27:02. > :27:08.house for the education of all our children are in the best interest

:27:09. > :27:10.and our evidence based. It must be the key test of every spending

:27:11. > :27:16.commitment made by the Secretary of State. Will this money be spent on

:27:17. > :27:21.something that we know will improve the lives of children across this

:27:22. > :27:25.country? Whatever their background? This is the point of our motion

:27:26. > :27:31.today, Mr Speaker, and I urge all members across this house to ensure

:27:32. > :27:40.that our collective endeavour is always for the best education for

:27:41. > :27:48.every child. The question is to move the amendment in the names of the

:27:49. > :27:50.finest air. I call the Secretary of State for Education, Justine

:27:51. > :27:54.Greening. Thank you and I beg to move the amendment standing in my

:27:55. > :27:58.name and in my right honourable friend's. Social mobility is

:27:59. > :28:01.something that matters usually to discover that and of course to

:28:02. > :28:05.members across this house. It is easy first to say that where

:28:06. > :28:08.somebody starts shouldn't dictate where they finish. But the greatest

:28:09. > :28:11.challenge will face is that in reality it still does make a

:28:12. > :28:17.difference and it has for generations. And as the social

:28:18. > :28:21.mobility Commissioner's report last week tells us, just 5% of children

:28:22. > :28:26.on free school meals gained five good GCSEs, they are 29% less likely

:28:27. > :28:31.to take two or more of the facilitating A-levels that can help

:28:32. > :28:36.keep their options open. The 34% more likely to drop out of post-16

:28:37. > :28:41.education altogether. It is no surprise there for that they are 19%

:28:42. > :28:49.less likely to go to university. And 47% less likely to attend a top

:28:50. > :28:53.Russell group institution. Given the excellent case she is laying out,

:28:54. > :28:57.how is it that these statistics can be changed by grammar schools when

:28:58. > :29:04.currently only 3% of kids on free school meals go to grammar schools?

:29:05. > :29:08.I will come onto that in my speech but I would also say to her that we

:29:09. > :29:13.do have grammar schools and I think it is quite right for us as a

:29:14. > :29:17.government to set out the case for how it can make sure that grammar

:29:18. > :29:22.schools play their full role in driving social mobility. Mr Speaker

:29:23. > :29:25.want to set up the number of facts in relation to the prospects for too

:29:26. > :29:30.many young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and none of these facts

:29:31. > :29:33.should be acceptable to us. They certainly are not to me all this

:29:34. > :29:38.government. I believe social mobility matters. I will give way in

:29:39. > :29:44.a minute. Social mobility matters for several key reasons, firstly it

:29:45. > :29:47.matters for individuals, I believe the innate desire for people to do

:29:48. > :29:51.well is one of the most powerful forces of change in our country and

:29:52. > :29:55.social mobility is about our country working with the grain of human

:29:56. > :30:01.nature. Secondly, social mobility matters for communities, because

:30:02. > :30:05.fundamentally feeling like we all have an equal shot at success,

:30:06. > :30:11.having equal opportunity, is the glue that binds us together. And

:30:12. > :30:13.social mobility matters for economy. Because investing in people is a

:30:14. > :30:18.core part of how we raise productivity. Yes we need to build

:30:19. > :30:23.roads and railways but we're determined to build up people. I

:30:24. > :30:30.will give way. I grateful. How can the government claim to be the party

:30:31. > :30:34.of social mobility when 800 children centres were closed, 29 nursery

:30:35. > :30:38.schools closed in the last year alone? Letting down a whole

:30:39. > :30:41.generation of kids of two, three and four years old because if they fall

:30:42. > :30:47.behind at that age you never catch up. And, of course early years does

:30:48. > :30:50.matter which is one of the reasons why are investing in not only in

:30:51. > :30:53.improved but more childcare for parents around this country. For

:30:54. > :30:59.working parents in particular because we do think having a strong

:31:00. > :31:03.start subsidy vital. As I was saying, this isn't just about

:31:04. > :31:06.improving the prospects of individual people and communities,

:31:07. > :31:10.it is about improving the prospects of our country and its economy. We

:31:11. > :31:18.have to build our country's economy by building our people. Canyon of a

:31:19. > :31:23.lady explained to the house how having additional secondary modern

:31:24. > :31:28.schools in this country is going to do anything she aspires to? Of

:31:29. > :31:34.course this isn't about additional secondary modern schools, and this

:31:35. > :31:38.isn't about a return to a binary system. Reforms of the last six

:31:39. > :31:42.years have really enabled children and parents to have a more diverse

:31:43. > :31:47.offer and set of choices for education have ever seen before. But

:31:48. > :31:51.it is now time that we look and see how grammar schools can play a

:31:52. > :31:58.stronger role in our education system in the 21st-century. I know

:31:59. > :32:00.that in her opening speech she is citing much of the evidence from the

:32:01. > :32:05.social mobility commission report published last week about the

:32:06. > :32:10.challenge that our country faces, so why, they're four, when she adopt in

:32:11. > :32:15.full the recommendations of that report as to how we will actually

:32:16. > :32:19.tackle some of these are inequalities rather than cherry

:32:20. > :32:24.picking the little bits of it she wants? Thereupon I think quite

:32:25. > :32:31.quietly set out that what we need to pull together is a much longer term,

:32:32. > :32:34.our government talked about a 10-year programme, of social reform.

:32:35. > :32:39.And actually they also pointed towards our focus on improving

:32:40. > :32:43.attainment in schools. And the bottom line is that I don't think we

:32:44. > :32:49.are really going to make significant progress on this issue of social

:32:50. > :32:52.mobility until we can start focusing on the areas of commonality and

:32:53. > :32:58.common ground rather than spending our entire time focusing from the

:32:59. > :33:04.opposition on areas where they don't agree. Let me make some progress, Mr

:33:05. > :33:07.Speaker. I was setting out why this government believes that driving

:33:08. > :33:13.social mobility matters so much. But I also wanted to set out that in

:33:14. > :33:16.reality, as challenging as it is for our country, there is no country in

:33:17. > :33:20.this world that has managed to crack the issue of social mobility, yet,

:33:21. > :33:25.that is because it is highly complex. It has many factors that

:33:26. > :33:29.feed into it, and it is because improving social mobility is as the

:33:30. > :33:33.social mobility commission says, a long-term issue which needs a

:33:34. > :33:39.long-term approach and not to be simply treated like a political

:33:40. > :33:44.football for short-term political gain. If we are going to make a

:33:45. > :33:49.difference, social mobility is a generational challenge that we must

:33:50. > :33:54.tackle together on behalf of the next generation. The difference I

:33:55. > :33:56.think Mr Speaker may be that fundamentally focused social

:33:57. > :34:02.mobility is an agenda of levelling up opportunity, to those who don't

:34:03. > :34:06.have it, something I hope we can all agree is the right thing to do and

:34:07. > :34:15.education of course is that the heart of how we do that. That point

:34:16. > :34:21.can I congratulate my writable friend on this success of the pupil

:34:22. > :34:24.premium? I am grateful for that intervention and of course not only

:34:25. > :34:30.is that spending protected through the course of this Parliament but we

:34:31. > :34:32.are also now working with the education endowment fund to make

:34:33. > :34:36.sure we can really understand how we can get the best and biggest impact

:34:37. > :34:40.in that investment for disadvantaged children and indeed I went to see a

:34:41. > :34:46.grammar school last week where a high proportion of free school

:34:47. > :34:49.children and people eligible for the pupil premium and we are looking at

:34:50. > :34:56.what we can do to improve attainment for those people. The Secretary of

:34:57. > :35:01.State for giving way. Maybe to help build consensus we could hear one

:35:02. > :35:05.piece of evidence that suggests grammar schools would improve

:35:06. > :35:09.educational outcomes and social ability. One piece of evidence. We

:35:10. > :35:16.know the education gap between free school meals children is closed

:35:17. > :35:20.throughout the course of that. We know that disadvantaged children who

:35:21. > :35:23.go to grammars have a higher proportion chance of getting at

:35:24. > :35:27.university. We know they have got a higher chance of getting into

:35:28. > :35:29.Russell group universities, that is because their attainment is

:35:30. > :35:34.improved. And, Mr Speaker, education is at the heart of how we drive

:35:35. > :35:38.social mobility in our country. It is why as a government we have had

:35:39. > :35:44.such a radical reform of the last six years. The academies and free

:35:45. > :35:47.schools programme which I know the shadow secretary of state was not

:35:48. > :35:51.willing to support, have given schools the freedom to run their

:35:52. > :35:56.schools in the best interest of their children and local committees.

:35:57. > :36:01.And the introduction of the EBAC has given more children access to a core

:36:02. > :36:03.committee making sure they keep their options open as they make

:36:04. > :36:07.decisions about the future. And thanks to the hard work of teachers

:36:08. > :36:13.all over the country we now have 1.4 million more people being taught in

:36:14. > :36:16.schools that are good or outstanding compared to 2010. That means 1.4

:36:17. > :36:20.million more children getting access to the education that will allow

:36:21. > :36:23.them to make the most of their talents. And of course this does

:36:24. > :36:27.start with early years. And children going into school arriving at school

:36:28. > :36:31.ready to be able to learn if they're going to be up to take full

:36:32. > :36:35.advantage of the education on offer is why we are introducing 30 hours

:36:36. > :36:38.of free childcare for the working parents of three and four-year-olds.

:36:39. > :36:44.That is why we are looking at how we can improve the quality of the early

:36:45. > :36:47.years workforce even further. And it also means teachers are absolutely

:36:48. > :36:54.crucial to improving attainment outcomes for our young people.

:36:55. > :37:04.Verhofstadt what's Doggrell friend think about the independent study

:37:05. > :37:08.which concluded that, in the second most deprived borough in the

:37:09. > :37:11.country, a grammar school would provide much-needed incentive and

:37:12. > :37:14.improve standards of education in that area and throughout the

:37:15. > :37:19.country? I've Sina report, and I think what

:37:20. > :37:23.it shows is that when people look at the evidence, and are prepared to

:37:24. > :37:27.step away from political ideology, the reality is that grammars can

:37:28. > :37:31.have intentionally transformational impact in some of the most deprived

:37:32. > :37:36.communities, where we want to see the biggest changes. I'll make some

:37:37. > :37:42.progress, I've given away to a lot of members already. I was speaking

:37:43. > :37:47.about how we are improving and want to see more at teacher training.

:37:48. > :37:52.That is also why we started the Teaching And Innovation Fund. So

:37:53. > :37:59.more schools can build the capacity to have excellent teachers and

:38:00. > :38:03.leaders. And more broadly than academic roots, our education

:38:04. > :38:07.standards and quality of technical education in this country mirrors

:38:08. > :38:12.the excellence that we have been embedding an academic route. We

:38:13. > :38:18.focused on academic roots, it is now important for us states Emily focus

:38:19. > :38:22.on improving technical education for young people. And we are going to

:38:23. > :38:27.make sure that technical education is put on the same footing as

:38:28. > :38:31.academic education that young people already take. And through this Bill

:38:32. > :38:39.dies slimming down the system qualifications, butting employers in

:38:40. > :38:43.the dining set of how these are designed. So there is a smaller

:38:44. > :38:48.number, but more easy to understand roots that read directly to career

:38:49. > :38:53.pathways for young people. We also put a real focus on apprenticeships,

:38:54. > :38:59.so that young people get direct work experience as they learn. We are

:39:00. > :39:02.planning to create 3 million new apprenticeships by 2020, with

:39:03. > :39:06.British business, for the first time, butting investment into making

:39:07. > :39:13.sure that those apprenticeships are high quality through the

:39:14. > :39:15.apprenticeship levy. We also had the third reading of the higher

:39:16. > :39:18.education and research bill in this House, warrior putting in place a

:39:19. > :39:23.new framework to drive up teaching quality, making universities more

:39:24. > :39:28.transparent than ever in terms of their outcomes, and making sure we

:39:29. > :39:32.remote equality of opportunity browse our universities. We have to

:39:33. > :39:36.recognise though, that one of the biggest challenges we face in the

:39:37. > :39:40.education system right now is the growing need for more good school

:39:41. > :39:45.places. Because too many children, in spite of the progress we have

:39:46. > :39:51.made, don't have a place at a good school. We have 1.2 million children

:39:52. > :39:57.that are in schools that Ofsted says aren't good enough. That is why we

:39:58. > :40:02.published the Schools That Were Everyone Consultation, to pose

:40:03. > :40:06.questions about how we can use the education expertise that already

:40:07. > :40:11.exist in this country, independent schools, faith schools, universities

:40:12. > :40:18.and selective schools too, because we cannot afford to leave a single

:40:19. > :40:24.Stone unturned. I am grateful to the secretary of

:40:25. > :40:29.state, I would put it to her that that is more likely to happen if the

:40:30. > :40:32.Government sticks to its mandate in terms of education. Then she now

:40:33. > :40:36.read out the precise section in the Conservative Party manifesto from

:40:37. > :40:40.the last election that gives her at the mandate to lift the bar on the

:40:41. > :40:47.Grayson of new grammar schools? We talked about excellent school

:40:48. > :40:51.places, and the best schools in our country, including grammar schools.

:40:52. > :40:58.I say that it is not viable for the party opposite to say that we've got

:40:59. > :41:01.grammars, we don't like them, to be apparently in equivocal about

:41:02. > :41:05.whether or not it is still Labour Party policy to shut the grammars

:41:06. > :41:15.that we do have. I'm willing to give way to the honourable lady she wants

:41:16. > :41:20.to confirm that? So we have a gaping hole in the opposition party's

:41:21. > :41:25.policy in relation to grammars. What I don't think is tenable as that we

:41:26. > :41:28.have a country where we have grammars and selection, but an

:41:29. > :41:33.opposition that says they don't like that, but want to take those steps

:41:34. > :41:36.whatsoever to see how we can deliver more strongly on social mobility

:41:37. > :41:42.through the schools which are already in place. I give way.

:41:43. > :41:47.I'm grateful. She must surely be aware that we have had 18 years of

:41:48. > :41:54.Labour policies in Wales, and as a result we have lower education

:41:55. > :41:57.standards, according to three separate bodies. Does she think we

:41:58. > :42:04.should take any notice whatsoever of what they have to say on education?

:42:05. > :42:09.No, I don't. And I think the legacy that was left after 13 years of

:42:10. > :42:17.labour for our youngest people was a disastrous one. Not just in terms of

:42:18. > :42:22.grade inflation, which gave millions of young people a sense of achieving

:42:23. > :42:29.grades which were not, in fact, at a level they needed to be. But I say

:42:30. > :42:34.as well that under the last government, youth unemployment

:42:35. > :42:39.nearly went up by 15 present. And of opportunity is about anything, for

:42:40. > :42:44.any people in our country, it surely starts with the dignity of being

:42:45. > :42:48.able to have a job and a career. I was at Handsworth Grammar School

:42:49. > :42:54.last week. This is a school where around 25 present of pupils are

:42:55. > :42:58.eligible for the deprivation premium. These young people talk to

:42:59. > :43:02.me about how much they value the education they are getting. When

:43:03. > :43:06.students, who is planning to go to Oxford, and I can hear the

:43:07. > :43:11.opposition bench, and I think they'd is young man, I've not sure

:43:12. > :43:15.precisely he would say do the chattering from the opposition

:43:16. > :43:19.bench, Mr Speaker, I think he would be dismayed to see the school which

:43:20. > :43:25.is giving him a transformational opportunity in his life being talked

:43:26. > :43:29.down. But his family, just two generations before him, had arrived,

:43:30. > :43:34.his grandparents with nothing more than the clothes on their back, and

:43:35. > :43:39.within two generations, he is hoping to be able to go to Oxford. He

:43:40. > :43:44.talked to me about what the chance to go to a grammar school in

:43:45. > :43:49.Handsworth has made for him, his family and his prospects for the

:43:50. > :43:55.future. And it's levelling up. This is what we want to do. I hope we

:43:56. > :44:01.should all be able to agree that the agenda on social mobility is about

:44:02. > :44:04.having more young people with opportunity, not fewer. It's about

:44:05. > :44:11.having more young people aiming higher, not fewer. So in setting out

:44:12. > :44:14.our consultation, how we can make grammars more open to disadvantaged

:44:15. > :44:19.children, that is exactly what we should be doing.

:44:20. > :44:23.She is speaking very powerfully about the opportunities that grammar

:44:24. > :44:26.schools give to children from very ordinary backgrounds. Tissue grew

:44:27. > :44:33.with me that it is a real tragedy we haven't invested more in grammar

:44:34. > :44:38.schools. Those are my constituency around massive pressure from parents

:44:39. > :44:42.living around my constituency, restricting places for their

:44:43. > :44:47.children that live in rugby players. He is right, and I think it is

:44:48. > :44:50.untenable to say to parents who want more choice and two children who

:44:51. > :44:55.would otherwise have had a place in those schools that they can't have

:44:56. > :44:59.one, they are simply wrong. We certainly at least be allowing local

:45:00. > :45:04.communities to decide. Simply an approach are saying, you can't have

:45:05. > :45:09.them, we know better, your parents, your child, you have the grades ago,

:45:10. > :45:14.but you're not allowed to go, I don't think that is a terrible

:45:15. > :45:17.approach. I will make more progress, because I think there are more

:45:18. > :45:22.members who want to come into this important debate. We are asking in

:45:23. > :45:26.this consultation how we can make more grammars open to disadvantaged

:45:27. > :45:30.children. How we can make sure that excellence which exists within a

:45:31. > :45:33.grammar schools can play a stronger role in a school improvement

:45:34. > :45:38.throughout the system. That is also part of what we should be doing. And

:45:39. > :45:41.asking as we have seen elsewhere, how grammars can play a role in

:45:42. > :45:46.lifting the schools around them and doing a stronger job. Many are

:45:47. > :45:52.working extremely hard, we want to see that become the norm. Finally,

:45:53. > :45:57.selective and grammar schools are often hugely oversubscribed. So

:45:58. > :46:01.consulting on how we respond to the demand that's there from parents and

:46:02. > :46:06.pupils is exactly what we should be doing. We can't just simply say that

:46:07. > :46:09.those parents and students are wrong. In reality, it is now time

:46:10. > :46:14.that we should be looking at how we can use grammar schools to open up

:46:15. > :46:19.for opportunity to more people. Grammars close the attainment gap

:46:20. > :46:23.between pupils from deprived backgrounds and are more advantaged

:46:24. > :46:31.peers. For the top performing 25 present of primary schools, the gap

:46:32. > :46:35.in results for pupils on a free meals is significantly smaller than

:46:36. > :46:43.in non-selective schools. Children an selective schools are more likely

:46:44. > :46:49.to attaining GCSEs. Also twice as likely to secure a place and attend

:46:50. > :46:56.one of the top Russell group your rest is than their wealthier peers.

:46:57. > :46:58.You don't fix the challenges of social mobility and opportunity

:46:59. > :47:04.simply by just complaining about it. You have to take radical action.

:47:05. > :47:09.That is why a unique to give local communities choice, which is exactly

:47:10. > :47:12.what our consultation is proposing and asking about, and we are

:47:13. > :47:18.improving our school system standards. Those communities that

:47:19. > :47:21.want to keep the status quo of their existing good and outstanding

:47:22. > :47:26.schools will be able to do that. There's much more to do alongside

:47:27. > :47:30.this consultation to ensure that every child has the education they

:47:31. > :47:34.need and deserve. We had to recognise that some challenges we

:47:35. > :47:40.face inside schools also require solutions outside schools too. That

:47:41. > :47:43.is why I have announced the first six opportunity areas dashed as

:47:44. > :47:48.those parts of the country where social mobility is really stalling,

:47:49. > :47:51.but young people have huge potential we want to unlock, and we need to

:47:52. > :47:58.work to make sure that happens. I give way.

:47:59. > :48:02.As comprehensively educated lad from Wellingborough, it is music to my

:48:03. > :48:06.ears to hear this current is committed not just the academic, but

:48:07. > :48:10.also the technical side of things. With my right honourable friend

:48:11. > :48:13.agree with me that it's so important in our education policy to recognise

:48:14. > :48:19.that different things work in different areas.

:48:20. > :48:24.That is quite right. The first six opportunity areas that we picked our

:48:25. > :48:27.very different places. Some are present coastal communities, some

:48:28. > :48:39.more grasslike amenities, some more arrogant. That is because they face

:48:40. > :48:44.different challenges in how we raise challenges. We need to work inside

:48:45. > :48:48.schools, working with head teachers at leading those schools, but also

:48:49. > :48:53.outside schools will stop will have better careers advice, men touring,

:48:54. > :48:57.working with the CBI and Federation of Small Businesses so that we can

:48:58. > :49:04.work on work experiences, apprenticeships, of course. I will

:49:05. > :49:09.give way. I'm delighted the secretary of state

:49:10. > :49:12.is giving away on that point. London challenge, and at the last Labour

:49:13. > :49:18.Government, achieved something very similar by doing something similar

:49:19. > :49:21.to what she suggested. A huge transformation in terms of funding

:49:22. > :49:26.for teaching, school buildings, freedom for schools and teachers -

:49:27. > :49:29.is she sure she has nothing to learn from the last Labour Government?

:49:30. > :49:34.I certainly don't think, in relation to the outcomes that were achieved

:49:35. > :49:42.for young people who left the education system. All too often

:49:43. > :49:45.haven't taken exams that suffered from grade inflation, and also,

:49:46. > :49:51.critically, when you look at the reporter done by Alison will

:49:52. > :49:55.surname, by taking altercations that the employers simply didn't value.

:49:56. > :49:59.We were told this was because it was an easier route for the institution

:50:00. > :50:06.they were in. We have lots to learn from, but it is ostensibly what is

:50:07. > :50:11.not to do rather than what to do. As I can finally make some progress, Mr

:50:12. > :50:14.Speaker, and include. Opportunity areas on just about the need to

:50:15. > :50:19.address the need for school places in all parts of the country. We want

:50:20. > :50:24.them to act in the vanguard of helping us ensure that we can learn

:50:25. > :50:29.how to best drive social mud at a in a different places so it can spread

:50:30. > :50:33.what throughout England. -- social mobility in different places. We

:50:34. > :50:37.have seen further and higher education, schools and

:50:38. > :50:39.apprenticeships put back into one department within the Department for

:50:40. > :50:43.Education. I think this means we have never had a better chance to

:50:44. > :50:50.make sure that education and opportunity as a whole work to drive

:50:51. > :50:55.social throughout our country. In conclusion, improving social

:50:56. > :50:58.mobility as our country's greatest generational challenge. As

:50:59. > :51:04.complexity means that change won't happen overnight. As I say, no

:51:05. > :51:08.country has cracked how to drive great social mobility. But making

:51:09. > :51:13.the best possible success of Brexit, as is Government and party is

:51:14. > :51:18.committed to do, is why social model to matters, and is why education is

:51:19. > :51:22.at the heart of that agenda. Because in the end, it will be people who

:51:23. > :51:26.left this great country of ours. That is why we need to make ours a

:51:27. > :51:30.country that works for everyone. The Prime Minister has said that her

:51:31. > :51:35.intention and the intention of this Government. Now it's time for this

:51:36. > :51:39.House to do the same, so we can get on with making sure the education

:51:40. > :51:43.system in this country becomes the driver of social mobility that it

:51:44. > :51:57.really can be. Young people only get one shot at their education, so we

:51:58. > :52:06.have two urgently get this right. And it requires all of us to be

:52:07. > :52:18.An amendment has been proposed. The question is, that the original words

:52:19. > :52:21.stand part of the question. As I rise I would like to declare an

:52:22. > :52:28.interest as a physics teacher, who spent two years working in the

:52:29. > :52:38.comprehensive sector. Mr Speaker, my father sat and failed the 11 plus

:52:39. > :52:43.exam and ended up in the local secondary at Saint rocks in Glasgow.

:52:44. > :52:50.School was simply a holding area for them until they were old enough to

:52:51. > :52:56.enter the workforce. My dad set out the path that was laid for most of

:52:57. > :53:01.his classmates, who worked in the shipyards but instead he went to

:53:02. > :53:05.work for the parks department. He has some good memories but work was

:53:06. > :53:12.simply something you did to provide for your family. There was no

:53:13. > :53:18.element of choice within that. You were grateful that you had the job

:53:19. > :53:21.and he was grateful. By that time my siblings and I went to school,

:53:22. > :53:25.grammars had been completely abolished in Scotland. We also

:53:26. > :53:30.attended the local secondary but now as a conference if and there were no

:53:31. > :53:36.preconceived ideas or restrictions placed upon us. My father watched

:53:37. > :53:41.with pride as one by one his five children went on to university.

:53:42. > :53:47.Possible of course because we paid no fees and were awarded maintenance

:53:48. > :53:51.grants. By coincidence, early in my career I've taught in my father 's

:53:52. > :53:57.old school, however it was transformed by that point. By now it

:53:58. > :54:02.was a comprehensive, a much happier place, the walls were the

:54:03. > :54:12.suppression of past achievements and some were academic, some vocational,

:54:13. > :54:14.but the real difference was the expectation of achievement. Every

:54:15. > :54:18.young person entering that school was seen as a human being with

:54:19. > :54:22.potential and every young person felt the weight of that expectation,

:54:23. > :54:27.because the real problem with selective education is not that you

:54:28. > :54:33.end up with good schools, it is not that one set of features works

:54:34. > :54:37.harder than another, it is that whole swathes of our young people

:54:38. > :54:45.will be labelled, Rogne of course, as having failed. And with that,

:54:46. > :54:48.social mobility falls. Whilst it may be argued that those who have the

:54:49. > :54:55.intellectual maturity or whose parents can pay for the tuition to

:54:56. > :55:01.pass the 11 plus, themselves may offer a more sheltered experience,

:55:02. > :55:07.as a government benches opposite should be concerned with every

:55:08. > :55:12.single child. And with grammar schools on the horizon this is

:55:13. > :55:20.simply not the case. If I could give an example,... I will. Would she

:55:21. > :55:23.agree with me that the major flaw in the secretary of the's speech was

:55:24. > :55:29.that she could not bring herself to acknowledge that if she pursues this

:55:30. > :55:33.policy it will lead to the creation of more secondary modern schools.

:55:34. > :55:39.That is the truth they will not face. I actually think there was

:55:40. > :55:41.another floor, listening to the centre of state speaking in such

:55:42. > :55:49.glowing terms about grammar schools, I wondered why we don't just make

:55:50. > :55:54.every school grammar. That would solve every problem. Many secondary

:55:55. > :56:01.schools choose to set pupils within the schools according to academic

:56:02. > :56:04.ability. However, the educational evidence of the benefits of even

:56:05. > :56:09.setting is scanned. Certainly when pupils are working on the same

:56:10. > :56:13.curriculum content of the evidence is clear and mixed ability classes

:56:14. > :56:20.are far more successful in raising attainment. The most able pupils

:56:21. > :56:27.succeed in whatever class they are in. The least able pupils do a bit

:56:28. > :56:31.better in mixed ability but the massive advantages for your swathes

:56:32. > :56:41.of average attendance who within a mixed ability class have no ceiling

:56:42. > :56:45.placed on their admissions. In fact when this government uses one of its

:56:46. > :56:50.buzzwords, aspiration, it is indeed this large group of middle pupils

:56:51. > :57:01.who embody and embrace the site there. And conversely when

:57:02. > :57:04.admissions based on ability and post on pupils in sends a strong signal

:57:05. > :57:10.to that particular group. In other words it is a self-fulfilling

:57:11. > :57:14.prophecy. Rolling this out too much larger scales as has been considered

:57:15. > :57:18.in the return to grammar schools, we have young people who have had

:57:19. > :57:21.decisions made on their future attainment before they even have a

:57:22. > :57:27.chance to attain. The damage that this does cannot be underestimated.

:57:28. > :57:31.To be told age 11 that you are not good enough is an incredibly

:57:32. > :57:35.difficult thing to overcome. Despite the best efforts of teachers, that

:57:36. > :57:41.labelling is a blow to the confidence and self esteem that can

:57:42. > :57:47.remain throughout the person's life. Given what the honourable lady just

:57:48. > :57:51.said, would the Old Lady join me in welcoming the green paper proposal

:57:52. > :57:57.to allow for transfers into and out of selective schools at age 14 and

:57:58. > :58:00.16 as well as 11? , co-I would welcome very little of the green

:58:01. > :58:12.paper, I do not agree with selective schooling. Does she think that

:58:13. > :58:17.eligibility to stay on either a college six form based on the level

:58:18. > :58:22.of qualifications at GCSE level should also be abolished? Cobb

:58:23. > :58:31.actually I'm not sure I understood the question. Students should be to

:58:32. > :58:35.stay on as long as the score fits their requirements and as long as

:58:36. > :58:38.the school is able to offer them something. Maybe it is not what the

:58:39. > :58:44.honourable gentleman asked but I will move on. I have had some

:58:45. > :58:52.correspondence not from my own constituents but from people living

:58:53. > :58:58.in England to have shared their about grammar schools. I will share

:58:59. > :59:01.this concern from a letter from a gentleman in England. As an 11 plus

:59:02. > :59:05.failure the sense of failure are still with me so much so that I find

:59:06. > :59:10.it hard in this letter to admit I went to a secondary modern. Nearly

:59:11. > :59:13.all my fellow pupils came from poorer or deprived backgrounds. I

:59:14. > :59:18.cannot think of one who came from a well-off background. As children we

:59:19. > :59:22.accepted our lot and it was made clear to us that our choices of work

:59:23. > :59:27.were limited after school. There were small cohort of teachers who

:59:28. > :59:34.did the best for us despite, as I realise now, limited resources.

:59:35. > :59:40.However turnover of teachers was high and did not bode well for

:59:41. > :59:43.continuity of education. There was no question of taking exams for

:59:44. > :59:49.qualifications of any kind. University was unthinkable. Higher

:59:50. > :59:58.education was closed off to us, we were in the rubbish bin. It's

:59:59. > :00:03.well-known that young people's thinking skills development

:00:04. > :00:06.different rates. Some aged 11 will have advanced cognitive abilities,

:00:07. > :00:10.for others it would take several more years for thinking skills to

:00:11. > :00:16.mature. A number of years ago I taught a young boy who had come age

:00:17. > :00:21.11 from the primary with the extremely poor literacy and numeracy

:00:22. > :00:32.skills that as time of one he showed some talent for science. Despite all

:00:33. > :00:35.original expectations placed on him and not by teachers but probably by

:00:36. > :00:41.that young boy himself he managed to achieve in his national exams

:00:42. > :00:47.scraping by on went on to university. Thief went on to get a

:00:48. > :00:51.degree in chemistry and then a Ph.D. And now travels the world as a

:00:52. > :00:58.chemical engineer. That is social mobility. That is achieved in a

:00:59. > :01:04.comprehensive school. That boy would not have come close to passing an 11

:01:05. > :01:08.plus exam. I completely oppose selective education. Which

:01:09. > :01:21.thankfully will not be introduced in Scotland. I will give way. I am

:01:22. > :01:24.incredibly grateful. Would she agree that there is a tendency with this

:01:25. > :01:29.debate to send a message that anybody who has gone to a secondary

:01:30. > :01:32.modern is indeed failing. I say that because I did. Exactly the same

:01:33. > :01:38.machine identified with her father. So I know how tough it can be. But

:01:39. > :01:41.the reality is that can be achieved, we scanned succeed. It is not a

:01:42. > :01:45.question or success and failure, it is a question of making the

:01:46. > :01:51.alternative schools as good as those that will go to grammar schools. I'm

:01:52. > :01:57.extremely glad the honourable gentleman did and has made his way,

:01:58. > :02:00.however not every young person has the strength of character that he is

:02:01. > :02:10.displaying and for many young people that actually causes major issues. I

:02:11. > :02:13.do not make any point about whether I have succeeded or otherwise, many

:02:14. > :02:19.could argue why have and by being here. The point is more that we are

:02:20. > :02:24.in danger of going back to the farce of either it is success or failure.

:02:25. > :02:28.Whereas in fact it is possible to have a mix of schools and still see

:02:29. > :02:31.those who don't go to grammar schools being successful schools and

:02:32. > :02:40.thriving and we shouldn't talk that down in this house. We have swathes

:02:41. > :02:46.of teachers who are battling the labelling that has been put on these

:02:47. > :02:49.young people. They are working absolutely flat out to overcome the

:02:50. > :02:53.prejudices that have been put on these young people. It is not right

:02:54. > :02:56.as a government that we should make life more difficult for them by

:02:57. > :03:05.continuing this and in fact extending this. I have got another

:03:06. > :03:09.letter here, from a young person, from high Wycombe. He says, I

:03:10. > :03:14.currently attend a grammar school in high Wycombe. At the age of ten I

:03:15. > :03:18.was put under a ridiculous amount of stress and felt at a disadvantage

:03:19. > :03:22.going into the 11 plus. As my family could only afford a fortnight of

:03:23. > :03:34.private tuition. This system makes 70% of case feel second-best. The

:03:35. > :03:39.social mobility agenda in Scotland is quite different. We are looking

:03:40. > :03:43.at positive steps we can take to increase social mobility including

:03:44. > :03:51.early learning. 30 hours of early learning for all children regardless

:03:52. > :03:54.of the work status of their parents. We have the attainment fund which I

:03:55. > :03:57.believe my honourable friend will mention more in his speech, which

:03:58. > :04:06.has been used to target the attainment gap currently in some

:04:07. > :04:10.areas. . Bolivars for the excellent pupils and teachers in the comments

:04:11. > :04:14.is in my area so achieved great things alongside grammars which also

:04:15. > :04:20.recruit for my local area. She should not run this people down,

:04:21. > :04:25.they are doing a great job. As someone who has attended and has

:04:26. > :04:28.taught in a comprehensive school, I think these teachers and young

:04:29. > :04:34.people are doing some of the best jobs in the country. Far better than

:04:35. > :04:40.some who possibly are in other situations. Other things that the

:04:41. > :04:44.Scottish game and have or haven't done, they have not cut the

:04:45. > :04:46.educational maintenance allowance that allows young people from

:04:47. > :04:55.disadvantaged backgrounds to remain at school to achieve to their full

:04:56. > :05:00.potential. Maintenance grants still available for our young people going

:05:01. > :05:05.to university. I would like to give an example of something that has

:05:06. > :05:09.really proved successful in increasing social mobility. Within

:05:10. > :05:14.Glasgow there are areas of serious deprivation, and schools in these

:05:15. > :05:19.areas may only have one or two pupils that are planning to set the

:05:20. > :05:25.highest level of qualifications in Scotland, the advanced higher. It is

:05:26. > :05:30.unreasonable and an economic to run courses for these 12 pupils said

:05:31. > :05:35.they are now coming to Caledonia University as a group of 20 or 30

:05:36. > :05:39.students together. This has been funded by Scottish Government, by

:05:40. > :05:44.Caledonian University and by Glasgow City Council. They are coming

:05:45. > :05:48.together as a group, they are experiencing life on a university

:05:49. > :05:55.campus and they are achieving their advanced higher altercations. That

:05:56. > :05:59.is social mobility. I will finish up by saying that we support the

:06:00. > :06:05.original motion by the opposition benches, social mobility is

:06:06. > :06:08.definitely, definitely has to be increased but grammar schools are

:06:09. > :06:12.not the way to do it. Posterity is not the way to do it. And we have to

:06:13. > :06:20.start looking at positive steps we can be taking. On account of the

:06:21. > :06:24.level of demand there is a requirement for the imposition of a

:06:25. > :06:32.time limit. We will begin with a minutes limit on backbench speeches.

:06:33. > :06:37.Nicky Morgan. Thank you very much indeed. I think all members of this

:06:38. > :06:41.house can agree that a first-class education is the greatest investment

:06:42. > :06:47.we can make as a country in our next generation.

:06:48. > :06:53.I have no doubt about the Secretary of State's commitment to increasing

:06:54. > :06:59.social mobility having heard speak for the last few years. I think we

:07:00. > :07:03.can also agree that, post-Brexit, it is more important than ever that all

:07:04. > :07:06.at younger people in this country leave education well skilled and

:07:07. > :07:11.well educated, particularly if we are going to have a new education

:07:12. > :07:18.policy in the next few years. For me, Mr Speaker, we want to have an

:07:19. > :07:21.excellent education everywhere. As I said at a party conference a couple

:07:22. > :07:27.of years ago, that everywhere is absolutely fundamental. What I think

:07:28. > :07:31.is missing from the Green paper is that sense of a strong and

:07:32. > :07:34.consistent whole system. I think that might be because the green

:07:35. > :07:39.paper only talks about schools rather than some of the other issues

:07:40. > :07:45.that we know are facing our education system. Issues of equality

:07:46. > :07:50.of teaching, the need for more great teachers, the need for announcements

:07:51. > :07:59.on terror funding. I was pleased to hear the secretary of State talking

:08:00. > :08:04.about her commitment to the bank. In the White Paper published earlier

:08:05. > :08:07.this year, we identified achieving excellence areas which need

:08:08. > :08:12.attention. The Social Mobility Commission last week picked that up,

:08:13. > :08:20.and we have heard already about the report on Knowsley. I think we

:08:21. > :08:24.should pay tribute to this, paid for by the Knowsley commission, because

:08:25. > :08:28.they have recognised the underperformance in their own area,

:08:29. > :08:32.and they need to make sure that children in that area, and families

:08:33. > :08:39.in that area, have a real choice about schools. For me, there are two

:08:40. > :08:46.tests for new schools holidays. Firstly, are we tackling those areas

:08:47. > :08:51.of underperformance specifically? Secondly, and I think this is at the

:08:52. > :08:56.heart of debate about selection, is every child being offered an

:08:57. > :09:00.academic knowledge-rich curriculum? I know that knowledge-rich is

:09:01. > :09:06.something of fundamental importance to the Minister for schools. I think

:09:07. > :09:11.we have technology that the Government's own green paper sets

:09:12. > :09:16.out the dangers around the case for change in selective schools. It says

:09:17. > :09:20.on page 21, paragraph four, while those children who attend selective

:09:21. > :09:25.schools enjoy a fire greater chance of academic success, there is

:09:26. > :09:29.evidence that children who attend nonselective schools in certain

:09:30. > :09:33.areas may not fare as well academically compared to local

:09:34. > :09:37.selective schools and comprehensives in nonselective areas. The education

:09:38. > :09:46.policy Institute also published a report in September same analysis of

:09:47. > :09:56.educational reformers shows that a high incidence of academically

:09:57. > :09:59.selective schools is not an end... I would like to hear more from the

:10:00. > :10:05.Minister about the evidence that the Government is relying on and making

:10:06. > :10:10.puzzles in the green paper. We talk about being a one nation Government.

:10:11. > :10:16.So the focus has to be on tackling those areas where school

:10:17. > :10:20.underperformance is still entrenched. Those areas of the

:10:21. > :10:25.country where families do not have the choice, whether are no good or

:10:26. > :10:28.outstanding schools, where, for them, the opportunity to travel

:10:29. > :10:37.outside the borough boundaries does not exist. So if we are at serious

:10:38. > :10:50.that more selective schools raise standards across the, that they are

:10:51. > :10:54.at look at... My question to the ministers is, what of those areas

:10:55. > :10:59.most in need of standards being raised opt out of having new

:11:00. > :11:04.schools? Because of the inherent problems in what is being promoted

:11:05. > :11:09.as, -- being proposed, the Green paper has to talk about measures. My

:11:10. > :11:15.concern is that everything proposed is a distraction for the party of

:11:16. > :11:18.the Government for those issues facing our education system. I

:11:19. > :11:22.mention fair funding, which are no colleagues on all sides of the House

:11:23. > :11:28.take incredibly seriously as an issue that has to be sorted. The

:11:29. > :11:32.second test is whether we think all children can benefit from excellent

:11:33. > :11:38.academic knowledge-rich curriculum. I think that is what our future

:11:39. > :11:41.workforce needs. True social mobility needs every child to be

:11:42. > :11:46.given the same opportunity. I give way.

:11:47. > :11:51.I've listened very carefully to what she said. Was she agree with me that

:11:52. > :11:53.this policy is a distraction, and we wanted to make the biggest

:11:54. > :11:59.difference to education in our country, we would do that by

:12:00. > :12:05.focusing on 0- for, and making sure more children alight at class with

:12:06. > :12:08.the language and social skills they needed?

:12:09. > :12:12.The honourable gentleman is right is that education is critically

:12:13. > :12:15.important. One of the issues surrounding that is that the

:12:16. > :12:19.attainment gap is already wide by the time children get to the age of

:12:20. > :12:23.11, often before they reach primary school. He has also been a

:12:24. > :12:27.Government minister, and knows that Government departments can do more

:12:28. > :12:31.than one thing. We can focus on early years at the same time as

:12:32. > :12:35.making sure every child has an excellent academic education. True

:12:36. > :12:40.social mobility requires every child to be given the same opportunity.

:12:41. > :12:45.Not for other people to make judgments about what children are

:12:46. > :12:48.entitled to. I remember the visit I paid to a primary school in

:12:49. > :12:52.Lancashire, whether head teacher informed me that the children at her

:12:53. > :12:59.previous school, a city centre school, where only going to ever be,

:13:00. > :13:02.requires improvement. The children being written off before the age of

:13:03. > :13:07.11 by Summit tells me there is a problem, and that problem needs to

:13:08. > :13:12.be tackled first. I have been up honest, I have struggled with the

:13:13. > :13:16.motion an amendment today in terms of how to vote. Because what is

:13:17. > :13:20.being proposed in the green paper was not in our manifesto. I hope the

:13:21. > :13:23.ministers will listen to the sponsors they receive in the

:13:24. > :13:28.consultation. They will listen to what members on all sides say today.

:13:29. > :13:32.Can I also suggest that in taking forward these proposals, if the

:13:33. > :13:36.Government remains determined to do so, they must set out proposals that

:13:37. > :13:41.will lift standards in underperforming areas, and it will

:13:42. > :13:51.start with those areas. Can I say, it's a pleasure to follow

:13:52. > :13:55.the right honourable member for Loughborough. She and I disagreed

:13:56. > :13:59.many times in the past, but I agree with much of what you has just

:14:00. > :14:03.outlines, and I hope her successor is listening carefully to what she

:14:04. > :14:07.had to say. We don't have long, as I'll track and canter through some

:14:08. > :14:12.of the issues as best I can. Before we get into the meat of this, it is

:14:13. > :14:17.important to clarify for all of us what we mean about social mobility.

:14:18. > :14:23.Too often in this debate, we talk about plucking the lucky few from

:14:24. > :14:28.disadvantage to the very top, and that's not actually what the policy

:14:29. > :14:32.of social mobility needs to address. It's about economic and social

:14:33. > :14:35.progress and for the lucky, not the few. It is about the rungs on the

:14:36. > :14:43.ladder getting shorter distance between them and pulling up that

:14:44. > :14:48.bottom wrong altogether. The challenges we face a deep-seated and

:14:49. > :14:52.manyfold, but they are particularly important in the world of work of

:14:53. > :14:56.today and tomorrow. Automation and that authorisation, and a hollowing

:14:57. > :15:03.out of the low skilled and many skilled jobs mean that by 2022,

:15:04. > :15:11.there will be 9 million low-skilled people going after 4 million jobs

:15:12. > :15:16.with a 3 million shortfall to fill the 15 million of high-skilled jobs

:15:17. > :15:21.that will be available in that economy of the future. These are the

:15:22. > :15:24.big challenges our country faces. The educational landscape needs to

:15:25. > :15:28.address the challenges, but hark back to the challenges of the 50s

:15:29. > :15:37.and 60s and the different economy that was face then. We need a bold

:15:38. > :15:40.strategy for tackling social mobility in this country, and how we

:15:41. > :15:45.narrowed the gap in educational disadvantage. And that, as many

:15:46. > :15:51.successive governments have looked to do is about dealing with the long

:15:52. > :15:55.tail of underachievement, not, as is Government seems hell-bent on doing,

:15:56. > :16:02.creating an even more elite education for the already elite. I

:16:03. > :16:07.stated to this equity stake, who is shaking her head, the Government

:16:08. > :16:09.could start by adopting in full the recommendations of our own Social

:16:10. > :16:14.Mobility Commission report that was published just last week, and she

:16:15. > :16:21.would get widespread, cross-party support in so doing. There are three

:16:22. > :16:25.key areas that report set out which I fully agree with, and have been

:16:26. > :16:31.raised by others already. The first is about quality in the early years.

:16:32. > :16:34.In the early years, I'm phrase, we are yet again seeing the Government

:16:35. > :16:39.not understanding the policy question that they are being asked.

:16:40. > :16:44.They are putting more money into childcare, something which I very

:16:45. > :16:47.much welcome. But there are two reasons we invest in early years

:16:48. > :16:54.just as one is about enabling parents to get back into the labour

:16:55. > :16:58.market. The second is to narrow the educational attainment gap which

:16:59. > :17:04.exists by the age of five for many young people already. To narrow that

:17:05. > :17:09.gap, we had to have an absolute focus on quality. And that quality

:17:10. > :17:13.being available for the most disadvantaged children, not just for

:17:14. > :17:18.a few. The Government could be spending its money much more wisely

:17:19. > :17:23.in this area, and driving up quality across the board. We need a clear

:17:24. > :17:27.agenda going forwards to do theirs. I'm afraid many of these things have

:17:28. > :17:30.been going backwards under this Government. We've got to have more

:17:31. > :17:35.support for parents under the sure start programme, and parental

:17:36. > :17:39.support. The quality provision, where it is needed most in the most

:17:40. > :17:42.disadvantaged areas, and we see that with our maintained nursery schools

:17:43. > :17:48.and many other classes in primary schools, these are now all under

:17:49. > :17:52.threat with the new funding formula. We see a levelling down, not a

:17:53. > :17:58.levelling up in terms of quality in the early years. We could be using

:17:59. > :18:03.the early years premium much better, and we are not. I would say to the

:18:04. > :18:06.secretary of State, leveraged the money you're putting an iterator

:18:07. > :18:09.quality is at the heart of your strategy. We have is about

:18:10. > :18:14.childcare, and we hear is about working families and childcare and

:18:15. > :18:18.that is not what the social mobility debate is about. We need a pool of

:18:19. > :18:24.talented teachers everywhere, as we got in the London challenge. I say

:18:25. > :18:26.to the Secretary of State, the London Challenge was a fantastic

:18:27. > :18:30.achievement of the last government. We deceive need to see that draw

:18:31. > :18:35.that places like Knowsley, the ten worst areas in the country, in

:18:36. > :18:40.dealing with that. Camera schools were exacerbated the issues of

:18:41. > :18:46.quality teachers where we need them most. -- Grammar schools will

:18:47. > :18:50.exacerbate. Does she not notice the irony in

:18:51. > :18:58.mentioning Knowsley, when a council's own report says that the

:18:59. > :19:02.introduction of grammar schools would actually be transforming for

:19:03. > :19:07.those working-class boys are especially who were underachieving?

:19:08. > :19:11.I would say it was not a recommendation that the council has

:19:12. > :19:16.taken on board. What we need is to get the quality teachers in city

:19:17. > :19:20.areas. We know what works, it works in London, we need to see the London

:19:21. > :19:25.Challenge rolled out of the ten worst areas where we know the

:19:26. > :19:31.children of most disadvantaged and not getting the support they need.

:19:32. > :19:37.There is more we can do in the post-16 area as well, as the Social

:19:38. > :19:40.Mobility Commission said. Finally, on grammar schools, let's remind

:19:41. > :19:47.ourselves of the evidence. The OECD has found that selective countries

:19:48. > :19:51.do more well than those are nonselective. In England, the

:19:52. > :19:56.highest attainment gaps in selective boroughs, yet the highest performing

:19:57. > :20:02.boroughs are comprehensive. In Kent, 23 present of free school meal

:20:03. > :20:09.children are A-letter Charlie, whereas in London it is ten present.

:20:10. > :20:15.It is not can parable with the free school meal children elsewhere. So

:20:16. > :20:19.far, as David Willetts has described, grammar schools are in an

:20:20. > :20:23.arms race Private tuition for rich parents. The inequalities we have

:20:24. > :20:29.just described previously get greater and greater in the system.

:20:30. > :20:33.That's weighted chief inspector of schools, the very education the

:20:34. > :20:37.Social Mobility Commission, the Southern trust, the head teachers

:20:38. > :20:41.unions, all the heads and Surrey, Ruth Davidson and many members

:20:42. > :20:48.opposite, are all opposed to the reintroduction of grammar schools.

:20:49. > :20:54.So if she wants to have a robber, cross-party agreement on driving up

:20:55. > :20:57.social mobility, take forward her own Government's report every step

:20:58. > :21:00.of the way and agree with their recommendations on grammar schools,

:21:01. > :21:07.as you will get the consensus of this House.

:21:08. > :21:11.There is a happy consensus, well hidden within this debate -

:21:12. > :21:16.and that is all the parties in this House believes that education is of

:21:17. > :21:19.huge importance. And all of us believe that we want the best

:21:20. > :21:24.possible education for all the children in our country. We also

:21:25. > :21:27.accept that the state has the main obligation, because most of the

:21:28. > :21:32.children will need state finance and state support in order to achieve

:21:33. > :21:37.that great education. I pay tribute to ministers that there are now 1.54

:21:38. > :21:41.million children being educated in good and outstanding schools as

:21:42. > :21:45.proof that work by successive ministers, and buy more importantly,

:21:46. > :21:49.at whole army of head teachers and teachers in state schools is

:21:50. > :21:54.delivering a better education across the country. There are still more to

:21:55. > :21:57.do, and I hope others and who are so critical of our current levels of

:21:58. > :22:00.educational achievement in their own errors will be positively working

:22:01. > :22:02.with their schools and local education authorities to try and

:22:03. > :22:13.achieve the better performance. The shadow Secretary of State give

:22:14. > :22:17.boiler by revealing that since becoming Shadow Secretary of State

:22:18. > :22:21.she's made grammar schools are big thing in table of this motion, but

:22:22. > :22:24.hasn't actually visited any since taking on the job. I would have

:22:25. > :22:27.thought it would be a courtesy to the grammar schools she's attacking

:22:28. > :22:33.to go and visit one or two of them before mounting this challenge in

:22:34. > :22:37.this house. The argument runs that selection is wrong because we may

:22:38. > :22:42.not select all of the talented people at the age of choice. And

:22:43. > :22:46.that therefore it is unfair to give this advantage to those who are

:22:47. > :22:51.selected. But again there is a huge humbug on the opposition benches.

:22:52. > :22:56.When I asked the Shadow Secretary of State whether she was upset by the

:22:57. > :23:00.fact that our elite sports people have usually been selected at quite

:23:01. > :23:04.a young age for special training and special education, and that they are

:23:05. > :23:08.expected to achieve to a much higher level than the average, and they are

:23:09. > :23:12.given training in May to do extra work in order to be able to do so,

:23:13. > :23:17.and she didn't seem at all upset by that.

:23:18. > :23:22.I do not accept that that is completely useless analogy to draw.

:23:23. > :23:27.Education is about life. The skills that people need to get through

:23:28. > :23:31.life, the basic literacy, numeracy. Sport is not about the entirety of

:23:32. > :23:34.life. That is why education is different and that is why it's wrong

:23:35. > :23:39.to label any child as second-class at age 11.

:23:40. > :23:43.The right Honourable gentleman just doesn't understand. If a young

:23:44. > :23:45.person from a poor background becomes a top footballer, there is a

:23:46. > :23:51.transformation in their lives, and good luck to them. Why do they not

:23:52. > :23:54.understand is that exactly the same arguments apply to art, ballet,

:23:55. > :23:58.music? We take the children at quite a young age who we think are going

:23:59. > :24:01.to be the most talented musicians and we give them elite special

:24:02. > :24:06.training so that they can play to the highest standards in the world.

:24:07. > :24:12.I'm glad he mentioned football because actually 13% of our national

:24:13. > :24:16.football team went to a private school, which is double the number

:24:17. > :24:20.of children who go to private schools nationally. Does he think

:24:21. > :24:23.that might account for the performance of our national football

:24:24. > :24:25.team, if we're missing out on the tavern that exists in a

:24:26. > :24:32.comprehensive sector? Will he recognise that that is precisely the

:24:33. > :24:36.problem we are facing today? I don't think we will get a better

:24:37. > :24:40.team by training them less and no longer giving them any kind of elite

:24:41. > :24:44.education. I really think they're being very obtuse on the benches

:24:45. > :24:48.opposite. Let me try a different argument. The second argument

:24:49. > :24:50.against grammar school is that they claim in Buckinghamshire and

:24:51. > :24:54.Berkshire where we have some good grammar schools we must be suffering

:24:55. > :24:57.in all the other schools. They write off and write down the many

:24:58. > :25:02.excellent comprehensive schools in areas that have access to grammar

:25:03. > :25:06.school places. In a quite unrealistic and unpleasant way. I

:25:07. > :25:08.know my own area better than Buckinghamshire stopping my own

:25:09. > :25:15.constituency we don't have any grammar schools, but we have two

:25:16. > :25:21.excellent grammar schools, a girls' and boys's, just over in wedding,

:25:22. > :25:25.and they took from our brightest and most academically gifted pupils from

:25:26. > :25:27.the Wokingham area. What happens in our comprehensive area in Wokingham

:25:28. > :25:33.is that our comprehensive schools also have great academically gifted

:25:34. > :25:36.children. At the top of the school not having to compete with the ones

:25:37. > :25:40.you are grammar, they go on to compete very successfully and get

:25:41. > :25:44.good places at elite universities. The members opposite should not

:25:45. > :25:48.write those schools for pretend that some kind of failed secondary

:25:49. > :25:51.modern. I'm very glad that my honourable friend reminds us that

:25:52. > :25:54.there are some very good secondary modern schools and pupils to achieve

:25:55. > :25:57.great things. My honourable friend achieved great things before coming

:25:58. > :26:01.into this house. Others will think it's a great achievement that he is

:26:02. > :26:05.also in this house. I think it shows that you should not write off any

:26:06. > :26:08.whole category of school as I think in a more honest moments of those on

:26:09. > :26:12.the opposition benches pointed out, what really matters in the school is

:26:13. > :26:18.the talent of the teaching force and the goodwill and working spirit of

:26:19. > :26:22.the pupils. The two play off each other and you can get that in a good

:26:23. > :26:26.comprehensive and a good grammar school. But the opposition must

:26:27. > :26:29.understand we're not trying to create a series of schools for

:26:30. > :26:33.failures. We want to have great schools for everybody. But we do

:26:34. > :26:37.believe that if we select some pupils on academic ability and give

:26:38. > :26:42.them elite academic training, that can make sense for them but it

:26:43. > :26:45.doesn't write off the other school. I'm not at all opposed to giving the

:26:46. > :26:49.brightest pupils and elite education. That's not why I'm

:26:50. > :26:53.worried about grammar schools. I'm worried about grammar schools

:26:54. > :26:55.because they don't answer the central problem is our education

:26:56. > :27:01.system faces. Michael Wilshaw said that we had a mediocre education

:27:02. > :27:06.system. We are falling behind how international competitors. In a

:27:07. > :27:10.modern economy where innovation is creating jobs at 30 times the rate

:27:11. > :27:13.of the rest of the economy, we need to exploit all the talents of all

:27:14. > :27:22.our young people. That's why I'm worried about grammar school.

:27:23. > :27:25.You don't prevent providing a good education to everybody else by

:27:26. > :27:29.selecting some people who are good at football or good at academic

:27:30. > :27:33.subjects. If we want to have more Nobel Prize winners, they're very

:27:34. > :27:35.likely to be attending the great universities in our country. We want

:27:36. > :27:41.to feed those great universities with the best possible talent from

:27:42. > :27:44.our schooling system. Shouldn't that talent have been given an education

:27:45. > :27:49.which stretches them and get them further along the road to great work

:27:50. > :27:53.before they reach university? The most successful people at university

:27:54. > :27:57.have often had an extremely good education before they get to the

:27:58. > :28:00.university. Their self-starters. I really don't have the time and lots

:28:01. > :28:05.of other people wish to indulge in the debate. We need to make sure we

:28:06. > :28:08.get the maximum number of talented pupils throughout the highest

:28:09. > :28:12.possible level so that they can achieve even greater things at the

:28:13. > :28:14.elite universities. That brings me to my next problem with the

:28:15. > :28:21.opposition argument because they ignore completely the fee-paying

:28:22. > :28:25.schools. There are some fee-paying schools in our country that achieve

:28:26. > :28:29.enormous success academically. They have double privilege because they

:28:30. > :28:32.select bright pupils who also have rich family backgrounds. You put the

:28:33. > :28:38.two together and it's explosively successful. I don't begrudge people

:28:39. > :28:41.a great education if they came from a rich background. I didn't come

:28:42. > :28:44.from one myself but I'm very grateful they can get a great

:28:45. > :28:47.education. It's even better that they pay for it themselves as well

:28:48. > :28:52.as paying their taxes. I'm not jealous. But it must be a great

:28:53. > :28:55.problem if you are all kinds of elite education that we have those

:28:56. > :29:00.great schools that combine this double advantage. I think a grammar

:29:01. > :29:04.school provides people who are bright but didn't come from a rich

:29:05. > :29:07.background with an opportunity to compete better against those

:29:08. > :29:11.phenomenally successful elite schools in the public sector. The

:29:12. > :29:16.honourable lady rightly pointed out that all of our public schools are

:29:17. > :29:20.not only dominate -- not only dominate academically but in the

:29:21. > :29:23.sporting world as well, showing that the combination of resource and

:29:24. > :29:25.selection that they put together is a powerful combination. Surely we

:29:26. > :29:30.need more centres of excellence where you can get access to it

:29:31. > :29:35.without having rich parents. My final point is to say I do think

:29:36. > :29:40.it's deeply disappointing that the opposition front bench called a

:29:41. > :29:46.debate on this important subject yet cannot confirm or deny that they

:29:47. > :29:50.wish to abolish the grammar schools we've got. One little tip for the

:29:51. > :29:55.opposition, I remember how difficult it was, I always find it helpful if

:29:56. > :29:58.I've worked up the position of my party first as shadow spokesman

:29:59. > :30:03.before challenging the Government on its position. I need to make sure

:30:04. > :30:07.that my party's position on the topic I was responsible for was both

:30:08. > :30:12.sensible and unlikely to be popular. I think they failed the tests today.

:30:13. > :30:15.It sounds as if the shadow spokesman would like to abolish the grammar

:30:16. > :30:19.schools but doesn't have the courage to say she wishes to abolish the

:30:20. > :30:23.grammar schools. I would make a plea to this house, get behind the

:30:24. > :30:27.excellent grammar schools we've got. Get behind the excellent

:30:28. > :30:32.comprehensive we've got. Understand that were comprehensive and grammars

:30:33. > :30:36.coexist, the comprehensives can do very well and also achieve great

:30:37. > :30:40.things with their pupils. We don't have enough great schools. Let's not

:30:41. > :30:43.cripple the ones we've got and certainly I don't want to live in a

:30:44. > :30:52.world where you have to be rich to go to an elite academic Academy.

:30:53. > :30:55.Today's debate about how to ensure that every child, no matter what

:30:56. > :30:59.their background is, is able to make the most of their life. As the world

:31:00. > :31:04.changes and the labour market changes, that becomes more important

:31:05. > :31:09.than ever. Good education is the best possible route to opportunity.

:31:10. > :31:13.It is the liberator from circumstance. The open of mines and

:31:14. > :31:21.the means by which children can change the course of their lives. --

:31:22. > :31:25.the opening of minds. It is for the country as a whole. The

:31:26. > :31:32.well-educated country is a country better equipped to succeed in the

:31:33. > :31:38.modern world. It isn't just about 11 players. It's about tens of millions

:31:39. > :31:46.of people. A country which neglects education does it self harm. It not

:31:47. > :31:48.only cuts off opportunity for individuals and Luke 's discovered,

:31:49. > :31:54.it also disarms itself in the mission to make the country the best

:31:55. > :32:01.it can possibly be. -- and leaves talent undiscovered. There has been

:32:02. > :32:05.some progress. Last week's social mobility commission report pointed

:32:06. > :32:09.out that disadvantaged young people of 30% more likely to go to

:32:10. > :32:16.university now than many years ago. But despite this progress, we still

:32:17. > :32:21.have a long way to go before we can say that we have succeeded in our

:32:22. > :32:25.mission. Too many children still don't get the life chances they

:32:26. > :32:30.expect. Too many children are still held back by lack of ambition, by

:32:31. > :32:33.the view that their background dictates that they could never make

:32:34. > :32:41.it. And too much discussion about this issue begins with the awful

:32:42. > :32:47.defeatist phrase, "These kids". What I believe these kids can achieve is

:32:48. > :32:51.anything. I believe that children from any background can achieve as

:32:52. > :32:55.much as those from a better off background, given the chance and

:32:56. > :32:58.given the platform. And when that doesn't happen, we have lied

:32:59. > :33:05.unfulfilled. Jobs which people can't take up. -- we have lied

:33:06. > :33:09.unfulfilled. Resentment at being closed off from how the world is

:33:10. > :33:14.changing. And a country which is not making the most of its people. But

:33:15. > :33:20.it need not. We have the power to change it. And in some cases people

:33:21. > :33:24.are already doing so. In my constituency, for example, if we

:33:25. > :33:30.take a school like Holy Trinity Primary School, it ranks among the

:33:31. > :33:34.top 10% of primary schools in England for work with disadvantaged

:33:35. > :33:40.children. And it's rated outstanding. The Ofsted report

:33:41. > :33:45.speaks of a school where, I quote, school leaders and governments are

:33:46. > :33:49.relentlessly focused on achieving the very best for their pupils. From

:33:50. > :33:52.the moment they start in nursery, children achieve exceptionally well

:33:53. > :33:58.and this continues throughout the school. All of this is done in a

:33:59. > :34:02.school where the percentage of pupils receiving the pupil premium

:34:03. > :34:06.is twice the national average, and where the school is about half white

:34:07. > :34:12.British and half a diverse mix of other cultures. Holy Trinity

:34:13. > :34:17.achieves this because of the fantastic leadership of its

:34:18. > :34:20.headteacher, Carol McNally. Great stewardship from its governors. And

:34:21. > :34:27.a refusal to accept anything other than excellence. And it is an island

:34:28. > :34:32.of excellence. We've got other islands of excellence, too. But for

:34:33. > :34:36.all pupils to achieve an excellent education, we don't just need

:34:37. > :34:41.islands of excellence. We need a system of excellence. Where the kind

:34:42. > :34:46.of performance that we see at Holy Trinity, and other schools like it,

:34:47. > :34:51.runs right through the whole school system. So, do we have? I'm afraid

:34:52. > :34:57.we don't. In July of this year, West Midlands MPs received a letter from

:34:58. > :35:00.the regional director of Ofsted about the condition of secondary

:35:01. > :35:05.schools in the Black Country. They expressed concerns about low

:35:06. > :35:12.standards and weaknesses, inequality provision for secondary pupils in

:35:13. > :35:20.all four Black Country areas. The Z pupils' achievement by the age of 14

:35:21. > :35:26.is poor with that compared by others in the West Midlands and nationally.

:35:27. > :35:36.It follows by success to build -- failure to build on achievement in

:35:37. > :35:40.primary school. Were not enough has been done to address these failings

:35:41. > :35:45.over the years. I'm pleased to say that Wolverhampton has been

:35:46. > :35:50.improving fast. It the fourth most improved authority in the country.

:35:51. > :35:55.But that's from a low base and there is still a long, long way to go. So

:35:56. > :35:59.I want to commend my honourable friend, the member for Dudley North,

:36:00. > :36:04.whose convened a meeting between Black Country MPs and the regional

:36:05. > :36:09.director in a few weeks' time. And I hope that this letter is a rallying

:36:10. > :36:13.call for everyone concerned about local education. Everyone in a

:36:14. > :36:17.position of leadership to ask what we can do to improve the picture and

:36:18. > :36:22.create a system of excellence, not just islands of excellence. We

:36:23. > :36:27.cannot be satisfied with the status quo. We ought to be passionate about

:36:28. > :36:32.change. The easiest thing in the world in politics is to be a

:36:33. > :36:38.megaphone for anger. But real leadership is not just about

:36:39. > :36:40.amplifying disaffection. It's about giving people a chance and not a

:36:41. > :36:51.grievance. An improvement in all ability skills

:36:52. > :36:56.for all children has a real chance of doing so.

:36:57. > :37:00.I agree with nearly everything he said until the last line, but there

:37:01. > :37:06.we are. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in this debate

:37:07. > :37:09.given the inability of the Shadow Secretary of State to answer the

:37:10. > :37:13.question put by my honourable friend from Crawley as to whether a future

:37:14. > :37:18.Labour government would close existing grammar schools, which is a

:37:19. > :37:22.matter of importance to me and my constituents, and also the

:37:23. > :37:26.honourable gentleman sitting next on the opposition front bench, and I

:37:27. > :37:32.hope we'll have an answer to that important question before the end of

:37:33. > :37:36.this debate. Mr Speaker, fundamentally this debate is about

:37:37. > :37:40.social mobility, of course, but it is also about the question of who we

:37:41. > :37:47.believe should make choices in our society. Do we believe that we, in

:37:48. > :37:50.this House, should be directing what should be available to our

:37:51. > :37:54.constituents? Or should we be listening to what they want? Where

:37:55. > :38:01.ever we have selection in our country at the moment my

:38:02. > :38:05.constituents are perhaps the best performing in the country. That

:38:06. > :38:07.system is immensely popular with parents, it is hard to find

:38:08. > :38:12.significant numbers of people who would like to change it, because it

:38:13. > :38:19.works so well. But there are people in this House... Does he accept that

:38:20. > :38:24.in Northern Ireland, where nearly a quarter of the grammar schools for

:38:25. > :38:29.the whole UK exist, that academic results are actually the best of all

:38:30. > :38:35.the areas in the United Kingdom, just reinforcing his argument? If I

:38:36. > :38:38.have time I shall return to some of the excellent results from Northern

:38:39. > :38:42.Ireland later in my remarks. There are those in this House who think it

:38:43. > :38:46.is all right to have a choice of school, or type of school, if you

:38:47. > :38:50.can afford to pay the fees. There are those who think it is all right

:38:51. > :38:55.to have a choice of school if you can afford to buy a House in an

:38:56. > :39:03.expensive catchment area. It is instructive, Mr Speaker, to look at

:39:04. > :39:05.the results of that approach. The borough of Trafford, which has very

:39:06. > :39:14.excellent state education, only 5.2% of pupils go to independent schools.

:39:15. > :39:19.Manchester, 6.7%. Stockport, 10.1%. If you look at Camden, where, we are

:39:20. > :39:26.told, state education has been revolutionised, it is 28.9% of

:39:27. > :39:29.pupils go to independent schools. Let's open up opportunities to

:39:30. > :39:33.people regardless of their ability to pay, and that's exactly what they

:39:34. > :39:37.do in those areas which offer selection in the state sector. But

:39:38. > :39:39.Trafford is outstanding, not just because of the seven grammar

:39:40. > :39:52.schools, it is also the outstanding quality of the

:39:53. > :39:55.high schools. This persistent myth from the 1950s and 60s but if you

:39:56. > :39:58.have grammar schools you have sink schools is an utter nonsense and

:39:59. > :40:00.should be rejected. We have heard mentions of Knowsley and the report

:40:01. > :40:04.produced for it. One thing that has not been mentioned is that one of

:40:05. > :40:08.the so-called secondary modern schools in my constituency, we call

:40:09. > :40:13.them high schools, it spawned the Dean trust, a very good, effective

:40:14. > :40:18.Academy trust, and is so good that it has been brought into Knowsley,

:40:19. > :40:22.as my honourable friend, former Secretary of State said, looking for

:40:23. > :40:27.excellent from outside. It is to Trafford high schools that they have

:40:28. > :40:31.turned. That gives the lie to the nonsense about no attainment in

:40:32. > :40:38.those schools. Also, we should reflect on some of really damning

:40:39. > :40:43.evidence about the degree of social segregation elsewhere in the system.

:40:44. > :40:48.If we look at the record of the last Labour government, it was alluded to

:40:49. > :40:54.earlier, let's look at the findings in 2010, from the Sutton trust. It

:40:55. > :40:59.looks at the 100 most socially selective schools in the country.

:41:00. > :41:04.And 91 of them were comprehensive schools. Selecting by catchment, by

:41:05. > :41:13.postcode, by the ability to buy a House in the catchment area. I know

:41:14. > :41:17.he is a passionate advocate of grammar schools in his constituency

:41:18. > :41:22.but one of the issues that has not been thrown into the debate so far

:41:23. > :41:32.is ethnic segregation. Does he agree that white British pupils make up

:41:33. > :41:34.70% of all pupils but only 16% in selective schools. One of the items

:41:35. > :41:39.is that white working-class boys would benefit from the selection,

:41:40. > :41:43.does he agree that it is not the case? Actually those numbers are

:41:44. > :41:47.rising fast, I would say. And if you look at the answer to a written

:41:48. > :41:53.question I tabled recently you will see the evidence that every single

:41:54. > :41:57.ethnic minority group, including white British, performs better in

:41:58. > :42:00.partially selective areas than in comprehensive areas, and better

:42:01. > :42:06.still in partially selected areas. If we look at A-level results, I

:42:07. > :42:13.can't... I have given my time up for interventions. If we look at A-level

:42:14. > :42:18.results. Eight of the top ten local authorities are selective or

:42:19. > :42:26.partially selective. Trafford, 35.8% achieving those top A-level grades.

:42:27. > :42:31.GCSE, those achieving a star through to see, the national average is

:42:32. > :42:36.52.8%, if you look at the top achieving authorities, seven out of

:42:37. > :42:39.ten are selective or part selective. That is not the grammar schools,

:42:40. > :42:48.that is the whole local education authority areas. Trafford sees a

:42:49. > :42:56.70.8% this year getting five or more a- C grades. 70% getting those

:42:57. > :42:58.grades in English and maths. If we look at participation levels and

:42:59. > :43:05.higher education Trafford gets a 72%. If I can come back to Trafford

:43:06. > :43:09.and its participation in higher education, 72% go into higher

:43:10. > :43:13.education, and if you look at those going into the top third of higher

:43:14. > :43:18.education institutions, nine of the top ten authorities are selective or

:43:19. > :43:21.part selective. If you look at students going to Russell group

:43:22. > :43:25.universities, seven of the top ten are selective or part selective, and

:43:26. > :43:39.Trafford, as my honourable friend will know very well, is the only one

:43:40. > :43:41.in the top 20 in the country in the north or the Midlands, in their

:43:42. > :43:43.entirety. Members opposite in the north of the Midlands who want to

:43:44. > :43:47.see more opportunities for the constituents would be wise to pay

:43:48. > :43:52.close attention to that. I have to say, the culture of expectation and

:43:53. > :43:57.aspiration runs so deep in Trafford, we saw at the weekend of the parent

:43:58. > :44:03.power top 250 primary schools in the country in the Sunday Times, nine of

:44:04. > :44:08.them work Trafford schools. The second was Park Road primary School

:44:09. > :44:14.in my constituency. I am obviously delighted to congratulate it on this

:44:15. > :44:19.occasion. Returning, because I was asked to do so by the honourable

:44:20. > :44:25.gentleman from Northern Ireland, if we look at the performance of the

:44:26. > :44:29.most effective selective systems in Northern Ireland, holy selective

:44:30. > :44:34.education systems, which it has been for a very long time, the percentage

:44:35. > :44:40.of children eligible for free school meals in Northern Ireland, achieving

:44:41. > :44:50.five or more A- C grades at GCSE, 70%. That compares to the figure for

:44:51. > :44:54.England and Wales. 45.6%. So dramatically better. If we look at

:44:55. > :45:00.those in England achieving that performance, including English and

:45:01. > :45:04.maths, 33%, against 45% in Northern Ireland. What we need to look at Mr

:45:05. > :45:10.Speaker is how we can expand this real choice, how we can expand the

:45:11. > :45:15.number of good schools of all sorts, but we cannot tolerate any longer a

:45:16. > :45:19.situation in this country where people are allowed the choice of

:45:20. > :45:26.good school, which can transform life chances if they are rich enough

:45:27. > :45:35.to pay the fees of rich enough to buy a House in the catchment area of

:45:36. > :45:42.one of the top comprehensive schools. I am very pleased that it

:45:43. > :45:45.is my honourable friend from Ashton-under-Lyne who initiated this

:45:46. > :45:49.important debate, making an absolutely excellent speech. The

:45:50. > :45:53.whole House will agree that education is the most powerful

:45:54. > :45:58.engine of social mobility that there is. It broadens horizons, open

:45:59. > :46:03.stores, and should be accessible to all. There is nothing more inspiring

:46:04. > :46:08.and transformative and then people increasing their knowledge,

:46:09. > :46:11.realising their potential, and changing their life circumstances. I

:46:12. > :46:24.owe my grandmother a debt of gratitude for pushing me to do well

:46:25. > :46:26.at night school and giving me a lifelong love of reading. Education

:46:27. > :46:29.later in life gave me the opportunities that changed my life.

:46:30. > :46:30.I want others to be able to have those same chances.

:46:31. > :46:33.As the government social mobility commission state of the nation

:46:34. > :46:38.report showed, this engine is spluttering, rather than firing on

:46:39. > :46:42.all cylinders. As the commission's report concludes, the runs on the

:46:43. > :46:48.social mobility that are growing further apart. Those words should be

:46:49. > :46:53.a call to action. Yet the government appears to only of a mere words. The

:46:54. > :46:57.action we need is not falling back on the field prescriptions of the

:46:58. > :47:08.past, like trying to revive grammar schools. We need to be looking at a

:47:09. > :47:11.future face of all bridging the gap between education and employment.

:47:12. > :47:15.The traditional world of work is rapidly changing, but much of our

:47:16. > :47:21.curriculum is hopelessly lagging behind the pace of change. If

:47:22. > :47:26.education is to be a powerhouse of social mobility it needs to work in

:47:27. > :47:30.tandem with the demands of a modern economy. Government seems to

:47:31. > :47:37.recognise this in fits and starts. It launched a half baked initiative

:47:38. > :47:41.that rightly drew much criticism. Not least because the executive

:47:42. > :47:46.director did not even know how to code. Advisers were quitting, saying

:47:47. > :47:51.that they wanted nothing to do with it, and the government has come

:47:52. > :47:55.scurrying back to its comfort zone of 1950s Britain, where privileged

:47:56. > :47:59.children learned Latin and grammar schools were the great hope. That is

:48:00. > :48:03.where we are now and it is just not good enough. There is a wealth of

:48:04. > :48:10.evidence highlighting how ill-prepared we are. A study

:48:11. > :48:15.revealed that a lack of digital skills, digital poverty, is causing

:48:16. > :48:19.the failure of far too many UK start-ups. But it is not just things

:48:20. > :48:23.like vital text skills we are failing to equip our children must.

:48:24. > :48:27.Failing to meet engineering skills demand is costing the United Kingdom

:48:28. > :48:33.?27 billion per year according to engineering UK. The gap between the

:48:34. > :48:39.New World of work and education continues to widen. We need to start

:48:40. > :48:45.narrowing the gap between education and employers. A survey by the

:48:46. > :48:48.Gatsby foundation found that in only 40% of schools did a young person

:48:49. > :48:54.have an encounter with an employer at least once a year from year seven

:48:55. > :48:59.onwards. We can do better than this. I do believe that Labour, the party

:49:00. > :49:05.of work, recognises that education cannot exist in a vacuum. Unless

:49:06. > :49:09.education adapt to changing employment landscape that we set up

:49:10. > :49:15.then we will set up our children to fail. With recent research by Oxford

:49:16. > :49:20.University and Deloitte suggesting that 850,000 public sector jobs

:49:21. > :49:25.could be lost due to automation by 2030. It is clear that we should be

:49:26. > :49:31.preparing now for a brave New World. In Autumn Statement that is that the

:49:32. > :49:35.Chancellor is able to able to rise to this challenge, and kick-start a

:49:36. > :49:42.vision for social mobility. If the government does not act those who

:49:43. > :49:50.are just about managing now will soon become left on the scrap heap.

:49:51. > :49:54.Finally, any vision of social mobility has to have a chance of

:49:55. > :49:58.laying down roots and being seen as credible. Then we will need

:49:59. > :50:04.Parliament to start being seen as a proper, living example of social

:50:05. > :50:08.mobility. We have seen the reaction in America to the Clintons and

:50:09. > :50:12.bushes as the American dream of social mobility has withered away.

:50:13. > :50:15.People want their governments to get real and create a genuine

:50:16. > :50:21.stakeholder Society where everyone is a chance to get on. In Britain

:50:22. > :50:27.they want the British promise we are hard work is rewarded to finally

:50:28. > :50:32.mean something again. That is now the challenge for this government.

:50:33. > :50:40.With immediate effect the time limit and backbench speeches must now be

:50:41. > :50:43.reduced to five minutes. It is a particular pleasure to speak in this

:50:44. > :50:48.debate having attended a south London grammar school myself, I can

:50:49. > :50:53.say from personal experience I would not be here were not for that

:50:54. > :50:55.grammar school, and so I feel an obligation to other youngsters

:50:56. > :51:00.growing up in south London from ordinary backgrounds like mine to

:51:01. > :51:04.speak up when the opportunity arises. I would like to echo many of

:51:05. > :51:07.these things my honourable friend from altering said earlier, in

:51:08. > :51:15.particular highlighting the terrible unfairness that in our system today

:51:16. > :51:18.very often the only way to be sure of an outstanding education is to

:51:19. > :51:23.pay for it either by going private or buying a much more expensive

:51:24. > :51:27.House in the catchment area of a good school. It is a disgrace that

:51:28. > :51:33.the only way to be sure of an academic education is to pay for it

:51:34. > :51:37.today. Let me pick up on the... In a moment, I will take interventions in

:51:38. > :51:40.a moment. Let me begin by responding to a question which the Treasury

:51:41. > :51:44.Select Committee colleague of mine posed to the Secretary of State. He

:51:45. > :51:45.asked for evidence that children from ordinary backgrounds do better

:51:46. > :51:59.in grammar schools. Firstly, in areas where at least 10%

:52:00. > :52:04.of pupils are collected, free school meals kids get seven GCSE grade

:52:05. > :52:09.notches better than equivalent children in nonselective schools.

:52:10. > :52:15.That is as seven great boost. Secondly, for white, male children,

:52:16. > :52:19.the former Secretary of State asked about white, male children from

:52:20. > :52:23.privileged backgrounds, those who go to grammar schools have a 30% higher

:52:24. > :52:30.chance of going to university than those who do not go to grammar

:52:31. > :52:34.schools. I have to say that I think that any parent or teacher watching

:52:35. > :52:37.this and hearing somebody from the government benches saying the only

:52:38. > :52:43.way to guarantee an excellent education is to pay for it is

:52:44. > :52:48.absolutely ravishing our excellent education system. The fact is many

:52:49. > :52:54.parents want to socially select their children, but if we flip this

:52:55. > :52:57.issue and look at the progress being made, with preschool real children

:52:58. > :53:04.he will find the comprehensive system massively exceed that of the

:53:05. > :53:09.private system. It is very clear in my area in Croydon that parents who

:53:10. > :53:13.want an academic education have to travel out of the borough to either

:53:14. > :53:18.Bromley or Saturn because the kind of education they want for their

:53:19. > :53:23.children is not available. Where parents want a particular kind of

:53:24. > :53:29.education for their children it is not up to this house on ideological

:53:30. > :53:32.grounds to deny them that choice. We should be enabling choice. No one on

:53:33. > :53:40.this side of the House is suggesting a return to the 1944 education act

:53:41. > :53:44.system. The kind of system we are proposing is a diverse system where

:53:45. > :53:49.there are a whole range of different schools with different specialisms.

:53:50. > :53:54.We have different kinds of academies and free schools and grammar schools

:53:55. > :53:59.have a place in that diverse system along with lots of other schools.

:54:00. > :54:05.Parents can exercise choice over which kind of school works for them.

:54:06. > :54:08.What is clear is that where children from ordinary backgrounds go to

:54:09. > :54:15.grammar schools they do significantly better than if they

:54:16. > :54:20.did not. I am grateful to my colleague for giving way. Part of

:54:21. > :54:23.the reason for that is by their very nature of academic selection the

:54:24. > :54:27.higher attaining pupils from the poorest backgrounds are attending

:54:28. > :54:31.those schools. When you look at the evidence base as a whole, the

:54:32. > :54:34.evidence shows if you are from a deprived background going to a

:54:35. > :54:39.grammar school you are less likely to do as well as you're better off

:54:40. > :54:43.counterparts and the impact on the system as a whole is not positive.

:54:44. > :54:53.Every leading educational expert says this is a bad policy. I would

:54:54. > :55:02.refer him to the educational is situation report. Perhaps he has not

:55:03. > :55:06.had a chance to read it. That found the seven great advantage adjusts

:55:07. > :55:10.for the prior academic attainment. The child with the same level of

:55:11. > :55:17.attainment does better in a grammar school. Let me come onto the two

:55:18. > :55:22.objections that I have heard from the opposition. There are two

:55:23. > :55:27.reasonable objections which one might make. It is fair to

:55:28. > :55:33.acknowledge them and answer them. The first is grammar schools only

:55:34. > :55:39.admit 3% of their pupils with free school meals were as the population

:55:40. > :55:44.as a whole it is 13%. It is right to draw attention to that deficiency

:55:45. > :55:47.and question it. It is possible by being inventive to radically

:55:48. > :55:53.increase the free school meal percentage and there is a great

:55:54. > :55:57.example at the King Edward VI Grammar School in Birmingham where

:55:58. > :56:05.they have increased their intake from 3% up to over 20%, above the

:56:06. > :56:09.national average by doing a series of innovative things, including

:56:10. > :56:17.active outreach into primary school areas, free school coaching on the

:56:18. > :56:22.tests to deprived families. They provide bursaries so parents who are

:56:23. > :56:27.worried about the cost of school uniforms or a musical instrument or

:56:28. > :56:32.travel costs have those concerns are taken care of. They have transformed

:56:33. > :56:40.their free school meal intake. He will be aware of the evidence given

:56:41. > :56:44.by Becky Allen to the Education Select Committee which shows the

:56:45. > :56:48.negative impact on other grammar schools who have now lost free

:56:49. > :56:52.school meal children. He is arguing that overall the number of preschool

:56:53. > :56:58.children will go up if he wants this policy to work. I am arguing for

:56:59. > :57:03.them to do outreach to make sure we go from 3% to a higher figure so

:57:04. > :57:08.children from deprived backgrounds can do well and get in. The County

:57:09. > :57:13.Grammar School next door to my borough in Saturn has a slightly

:57:14. > :57:17.lower test threshold for free school meals children and they have

:57:18. > :57:23.increased their intake. I am happy to see in the green paper on page 25

:57:24. > :57:26.the government is saying a number of these things we have seen working in

:57:27. > :57:33.King Edward VI and in Warrington boys school will be the conditions

:57:34. > :57:37.of new grammar schools opening. By attaching those conditions the

:57:38. > :57:40.government is addressing the reasonable concerns that have been

:57:41. > :57:46.raised on both sides of the House. The other objection I have heard and

:57:47. > :57:51.the former Secretary of State just alluded to it, is that in selected

:57:52. > :57:55.areas nonselective schools do worse because the selective schools have

:57:56. > :58:02.creamed off the best pupils. There is not clear evidence for that.

:58:03. > :58:08.There are reports on both sides. The Sutton trust in 2008 found no such

:58:09. > :58:11.effect and another study found a marginal effect and we have heard my

:58:12. > :58:18.honourable friend referred to Northern Ireland. We will not have

:58:19. > :58:24.sedentary interventions and waving around of documents. It is simply

:58:25. > :58:30.not done in here. Thank you for defending me so valiantly. We heard

:58:31. > :58:33.from my honourable friend how Northern Ireland is an excellent

:58:34. > :58:40.case study where the entire educational system has done well in

:58:41. > :58:44.that system. Let me conclude that I believe with the reforms in the

:58:45. > :58:50.green paper this system can work and help children from deprived

:58:51. > :58:55.backgrounds fulfil their potential. Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for

:58:56. > :59:00.calling me to speak in this important but sadly repetitive

:59:01. > :59:05.debate. It is an issue that rears its head every time we have a

:59:06. > :59:10.Conservative government. What is the Conservative Party's fascination

:59:11. > :59:14.with grammar schools? When it comes to social mobility the conservative

:59:15. > :59:19.response is to resort to dogma will stop a return to grammar schools in

:59:20. > :59:24.bodies retrograde thinking. It is a system that benefits only a few.

:59:25. > :59:29.There is no evidence, no justification and no basis to the

:59:30. > :59:33.belief that selective education leads to improved social mobility.

:59:34. > :59:40.You do not have to take my word for it. The government's advisory body

:59:41. > :59:44.on social mobility says grammar schools do not work. Education is

:59:45. > :59:49.the single most important tool available to each and every

:59:50. > :59:55.government in improving social mobility within this country. It is

:59:56. > :59:59.that this government's fascination with selective education makes any

:00:00. > :00:03.real dialogue about how we can improve social mobility in this

:00:04. > :00:07.country and is lost to the noise of Tory MPs calling for the

:00:08. > :00:13.reintroduction of grammar schools. This is a debate we have time and

:00:14. > :00:18.time again with the same conclusion, grammar schools do not work. There

:00:19. > :00:22.is no basis to the belief that selective education leads to

:00:23. > :00:30.improved social mobility. There is no easy way to improve social

:00:31. > :00:34.mobility in this country. Anyone who believes so is sadly deluded. Social

:00:35. > :00:41.mobility can only be improved through a tide of political will.

:00:42. > :00:47.Most importantly through unwavering investment long-term and not just

:00:48. > :00:52.during one Parliamentary term. I am proud that under the previous Labour

:00:53. > :00:57.government such political will did exist and we were funding to help

:00:58. > :01:03.all children, not just the select few educated in our private school

:01:04. > :01:08.system. Under a Labour government school budgets increased year on

:01:09. > :01:11.year. Under this government the ISS forecasts school budgets will fall

:01:12. > :01:17.in real terms by 8% over this Parliament. Under a Labour

:01:18. > :01:21.government the educational maintenance allowance was introduced

:01:22. > :01:25.to help children from low income families to continue in further

:01:26. > :01:30.education. Under the party opposite it was scrapped. The further

:01:31. > :01:37.education sector has faced real term cuts of 14%. The maintenance grant

:01:38. > :01:43.in the higher education sector is set to be scrapped. This is a recipe

:01:44. > :01:48.for social mobility disaster undermining all the progress of

:01:49. > :01:52.recent years to raise aspiration. At this time in my constituency we need

:01:53. > :02:00.more help, investment and for long-term planning, not less. In

:02:01. > :02:07.2010-2011, the last year of the maintenance grants, there were over

:02:08. > :02:14.8000 recipients in my district. It was ranked 64th nationally on the

:02:15. > :02:20.index of multiple deprivation. By 2015 its position has worsened to

:02:21. > :02:23.41st, pointing to an increase in need and suggesting a greater number

:02:24. > :02:31.of young people would have benefited from the maintenance grant. Of 656

:02:32. > :02:38.constituencies in the UK, my constituency ranked 600 a night for

:02:39. > :02:43.the percentage of individuals with a level four qualification or above.

:02:44. > :02:46.When it comes to the percentage of individuals without any

:02:47. > :02:51.qualifications whatsoever, Bradford South is 74th in our league tables.

:02:52. > :02:55.The grammar school will not change that. This government should reflect

:02:56. > :03:00.on their record in government, there is adequate investment, and do the

:03:01. > :03:08.right thing. And their fascination with grammar schools and most

:03:09. > :03:18.importantly committed to investment over the long term. Thank you, Madam

:03:19. > :03:22.Deputy Speaker. Can I welcome the debate and there is wide agreement

:03:23. > :03:26.about the stagnant state of social mobility in the UK, but less

:03:27. > :03:33.agreement about the right way to revive it. There are also, and it is

:03:34. > :03:35.an elephant in the room in this debate, deep philosophical

:03:36. > :03:40.differences by those inspired by America cripple situation and those

:03:41. > :03:47.who take an eagle at area and view and that is healthy and respectable.

:03:48. > :03:52.You will find the idea of meritocracy very hard to reconcile

:03:53. > :03:58.with your worldview. Some members opposite ought to be a bit more

:03:59. > :04:05.honest about that. The truth is I support the meritocratic vision on

:04:06. > :04:11.moral grounds because in my view, unlike the egalitarian mirage, it is

:04:12. > :04:15.a vision that can reinforce, not paralyse, a healthy, vibrant and

:04:16. > :04:22.competitive economy that creates jobs, wages and tax revenues for our

:04:23. > :04:25.public services. I want to come onto the issue of evidence around

:04:26. > :04:30.selection and I think there is strong evidence in favour of it if

:04:31. > :04:34.it is done right way. We see that in existing selection we have in the

:04:35. > :04:39.current school system at 16 when pupils want to stay on to do

:04:40. > :04:42.A-levels and into university. The opposition motion says there is no

:04:43. > :04:49.evidence that selection will improve social mobility. But this is clearly

:04:50. > :04:55.still a very contentious issue. I am not saying it is cut and dried, but

:04:56. > :04:59.there is compelling evidence in favour of it. The review conducted

:05:00. > :05:07.by a former chief inspector of schools in 2009. On a Select

:05:08. > :05:11.Committee I sat on in 2013 there was evidence that supported selection as

:05:12. > :05:17.long as admissions were Don on a clear and objective basis and as

:05:18. > :05:22.long as there were opportunities for selection later on. The opposition

:05:23. > :05:29.motion is flawed. But expanding grammar schools needs to be done the

:05:30. > :05:34.right way and it needs to be fair with grammar school expanded beyond

:05:35. > :05:38.a middle-class preserve. There is a strong case for making sure the

:05:39. > :05:46.first charge is done in those areas with very high levels of deprivation

:05:47. > :05:49.and lower educational standards. It creates an opportunity from those

:05:50. > :05:54.kids from the council estates or the backwaters. It is a reasonable

:05:55. > :05:59.question at what age selection should take place. I agree with the

:06:00. > :06:04.OECD that there ought to be doors at different ages to make sure we do

:06:05. > :06:11.not close off opportunities for late developers. Of course it goes

:06:12. > :06:15.without saying this is not a 0-sum gate. You can support grammar

:06:16. > :06:19.schools and raise standards right across the whole state education

:06:20. > :06:24.system and particularly in the most deprived areas which is what we have

:06:25. > :06:28.seen under the existing government with 1.4 million children going to

:06:29. > :06:34.schools that are good or outstanding compared to 2010 and specifically

:06:35. > :06:35.with policies like the pupil premium specifically designed to target

:06:36. > :06:49.children in the most deprived areas. The other mode of -- note of

:06:50. > :06:53.caution, this is not a silver bullet, it is one piece of a jigsaw,

:06:54. > :06:56.patiently putting together a jigsaw that will help provide social

:06:57. > :07:01.mobility. I support the proposals of the Green paper on harnessing the

:07:02. > :07:05.talent and innovation of the independent sector and they would go

:07:06. > :07:08.further, I like the idea of the Sutton trust opening up all

:07:09. > :07:12.independent schools on a meritocratic, means tested basis, it

:07:13. > :07:16.would massively widen their intake of youngsters from humble

:07:17. > :07:19.backgrounds. Notwithstanding the great strides made in

:07:20. > :07:22.apprenticeships and vocational training this country still has a

:07:23. > :07:26.massive hang-up with the technical route to making a success of

:07:27. > :07:29.yourself, whether it is through vocational training or

:07:30. > :07:33.apprenticeships. We don't have the same parity of esteem you see in

:07:34. > :07:38.France, Switzerland, Germany. I would like to see us do more in

:07:39. > :07:41.relation to those errors, and non-graduate roots to the

:07:42. > :07:46.professions, to create the ladders of opportunity, not just for bright

:07:47. > :07:54.academic youngsters, but also for bright and not necessarily bookish

:07:55. > :08:00.youngsters. One look at the issue across the board I share the

:08:01. > :08:04.inspiring vision set out to make Britain the great meritocracy of the

:08:05. > :08:07.world, this is only the first step, many people talk a good game about

:08:08. > :08:15.social mobility without being willing to get behind, deliver and

:08:16. > :08:23.will the means to let -- means to it. We face two major challenges in

:08:24. > :08:25.education in Britain. First, we are falling rapidly behind other

:08:26. > :08:34.countries in basic numeracy and youth literacy, Estonia, Poland,

:08:35. > :08:37.Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and it is a reason why recently the

:08:38. > :08:43.education select committee was told that we have a mediocre education

:08:44. > :08:46.system in our country. Secondly, with the innovation economy creating

:08:47. > :08:50.jobs at a much higher rate than the economy as a whole, and with jobs

:08:51. > :08:54.that require no skills or low skill is disappearing at a rapid rate, we

:08:55. > :08:58.need to educate all of our young people to a high standard. Last

:08:59. > :09:04.week's social mobility commission report, as we heard, compared

:09:05. > :09:09.children from the most advantaged areas with the private areas, most

:09:10. > :09:13.deprived areas are 27 times more likely to go to an inadequate

:09:14. > :09:17.school, more likely to drop out of education at 16, 30% less likely to

:09:18. > :09:22.study A-levels and reach a top university. White working-class boys

:09:23. > :09:25.are even worse. New research by the Sutton trust shows that three

:09:26. > :09:31.quarters been badly let down, failing to achieve five good GCSEs

:09:32. > :09:34.grades, compare that to pupils from independent schools, just five

:09:35. > :09:39.public schools send more pupils to Oxbridge than 2000 state schools,

:09:40. > :09:51.two thirds of the entire state sector. Despite accounting for just

:09:52. > :09:54.7% of school pupils rose from independent schools represent seven

:09:55. > :09:56.out of ten High Court judges, more than half our leading journalists,

:09:57. > :09:59.doctors, more than a third of MPs. I want to see the whole country united

:10:00. > :10:02.around the mission of driving up standards and open opportunity for

:10:03. > :10:06.all pupils. But grammar schools will only improve social mobility of poor

:10:07. > :10:09.children are able to go to them. Analysis by the education data that

:10:10. > :10:14.showed poor children are much less likely to get in then they're better

:10:15. > :10:18.off peers. Poor children of already had a poor start to their education,

:10:19. > :10:22.by the age of 11, making it harder for them to get into grammar

:10:23. > :10:25.schools, but even if you take two children from the same schools at

:10:26. > :10:35.Key stage two, the poorer child is less likely to pass an entry exam

:10:36. > :10:38.entered into a grammar school. In areas with selective grammar schools

:10:39. > :10:40.the gap between rich and poor is greater than in areas without any

:10:41. > :10:42.grammar schools at all. Grammar schools also put a barrier between

:10:43. > :10:45.the pupils in some of the most experienced teachers in the country.

:10:46. > :10:48.Again the education data showed that 54%

:10:49. > :10:55.teachers in grammar schools have been in the industry for ten years,

:10:56. > :10:59.and secondary modern, there's less experience. I think there should be

:11:00. > :11:02.better schools for every child, and instead of using scarce resources on

:11:03. > :11:06.the new grammar schools, focus on improving early years education and

:11:07. > :11:09.tackle stubborn levels of underachievement, as we heard

:11:10. > :11:12.earlier, in areas like the Midlands and the North. Provide incentives

:11:13. > :11:16.and support for experienced teachers, get them into schools with

:11:17. > :11:19.poorer children, and help them stay in the profession. Anyone who visits

:11:20. > :11:33.a school that has been turned round seen a

:11:34. > :11:36.dramatic improvement in results will know it is impossible without the

:11:37. > :11:39.inspirational leadership that the heads provide, so we need new ways

:11:40. > :11:41.of identifying, recruiting, training a new generation of headteachers,

:11:42. > :11:43.and new grammar schools will not tackle the fundamental problem is

:11:44. > :11:45.that our education system faces. They will not transform the quality

:11:46. > :11:48.of education for all pupils, they will not tackle the social mobility

:11:49. > :11:50.crisis we face in Britain, this policy will do nothing to tackle the

:11:51. > :11:53.chronic shortage of teachers, the teacher recruitment and retention

:11:54. > :11:58.crisis that we face in our country, it will not help identify, train,

:11:59. > :12:01.and recruit a new generation of brilliant heads, it will not improve

:12:02. > :12:04.early years education which is the key to giving every child a

:12:05. > :12:33.first-class start, it will not improve the status and

:12:34. > :12:36.quality of vocational education, it will do nothing about the funding

:12:37. > :12:38.crisis facing post-16 education, and the deepest cuts, the deepest cuts,

:12:39. > :12:41.that the further education sector has ever seen, and these are the

:12:42. > :12:44.issues that the government ought to address, and I think we should agree

:12:45. > :12:46.is a country, education is in a more priority. Let's sweep aside the

:12:47. > :12:48.all-party political dogma and instead of using time, energy, and

:12:49. > :12:49.resources on expensive and time-consuming structural changes

:12:50. > :12:51.for which there is absolutely national debate about education,

:12:52. > :12:53.let's involve all parties, employers, the teaching profession,

:12:54. > :12:56.and so based on the evidence we can work out how a modern education

:12:57. > :12:58.system can be structured and what young people need to look for the

:12:59. > :13:00.modern let's have a national debate about education, let's involve all

:13:01. > :13:03.parties, employers, the teaching profession, and so based on the

:13:04. > :13:05.evidence we can work out how a modern education system can be

:13:06. > :13:12.structured and what young people need to learn for the modern reforms

:13:13. > :13:16.since 2010 that there are 1.4 million more children now attending

:13:17. > :13:20.schools that are rated as good or outstanding then compared with six

:13:21. > :13:29.years ago. Furthermore, ?2.5 billion has been invested this year in the

:13:30. > :13:32.pupil premium that is reducing the attainment gap between children from

:13:33. > :13:34.thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, the recent publication of the social

:13:35. > :13:37.mobility commission annual State of the nation report highlight the

:13:38. > :13:39.challenges that we continue to face when it comes to tackling education

:13:40. > :13:41.inequality and improving social mobility. Thanks to the government

:13:42. > :13:43.reforms since 2010 that there are 1.4 million more children now

:13:44. > :13:45.attending schools that are rated as good or outstanding then compared

:13:46. > :13:48.with six years ago. Furthermore, ?2.5 billion has been invested this

:13:49. > :13:49.year in the pupil premium that is reducing the attainment gap between

:13:50. > :13:50.children from disadvantaged backgrounds and they're better off

:13:51. > :14:07.peers in both primary and and I would say to the

:14:08. > :14:10.member from Bradford South that he is having a much bigger impact than

:14:11. > :14:13.TMA ever did or ever would have, however, there is still far more to

:14:14. > :14:16.do, if you live in the Midlands or the North you have less of a chance

:14:17. > :14:18.of attending a good school and children in the South, just 5% of

:14:19. > :14:21.children eligible for free school meals came in those five a grades at

:14:22. > :14:24.GCSE, while work working-class boys, as we have heard many times today,

:14:25. > :14:26.are less likely to go to university than any other group in as was

:14:27. > :14:28.mentioned earlier it is absolutely vital age as we know that

:14:29. > :14:31.educational inequality time is given to children of a young age as we

:14:32. > :14:33.know that educational inequality year stated that children from the

:14:34. > :14:35.North are already behind their southern counterparts by the age of

:14:36. > :14:38.five. By September next year the government will double the current

:14:39. > :14:40.number of 15 hours of free charge per week for all 34 school age.

:14:41. > :14:42.Indeed, a report from the institution of public policy

:14:43. > :14:44.research in this year stated that children from the North are already

:14:45. > :14:47.behind their southern counterparts by the age of five. By September

:14:48. > :14:56.next year the government will double the current number of 15 hours of

:14:57. > :14:59.recharger per week for all three and in England to 30 hours, part of a

:15:00. > :15:01.record ?6 billion per year in investment and childcare by the end

:15:02. > :15:04.of this Parliament. The introduction of the early years pupil premium has

:15:05. > :15:06.equipped providers with the flexibility to innovate towards

:15:07. > :15:15.improving the quality of early years provision for each eligible

:15:16. > :15:18.children. I would mention one incredible important group of young

:15:19. > :15:20.people who we must also consider as part of this, and that is children

:15:21. > :15:22.who are looked after in the state system, outcomes for our looked

:15:23. > :15:34.after children in education are poorer than their peers, and the gap

:15:35. > :15:38.gets wider as the children get should not have and how far they go

:15:39. > :15:41.in life, it is imperative that we remain mindful of looked after

:15:42. > :15:46.children and they sometimes unique obstacles that they face. And all of

:15:47. > :15:49.this is where we are in their current system. We can while trends

:15:50. > :15:51.in the educational attainment of children are generally improving

:15:52. > :15:53.these children are still far less likely than their peers to achieve

:15:54. > :15:56.good GCSE results, A-level results, and indeed they tend not to go to

:15:57. > :15:58.university. When we speak out about social mobility consumer that HR's

:15:59. > :16:01.background should not have and how far they go in life, it is

:16:02. > :16:03.imperative that we remain mindful of looked after children and they

:16:04. > :16:06.sometimes unique obstacles that they face. And all of this is where we

:16:07. > :16:08.are in their current system. We can that despite the improvements that

:16:09. > :16:11.have been made since 2010 in many parts of the country there is still

:16:12. > :16:13.a shortage of good school places. And adequate choice for parents when

:16:14. > :16:15.it comes to choosing the best education for their child. There are

:16:16. > :16:17.two grad schools within my local both provide an excellent education

:16:18. > :16:20.to children and are proving incredibly popular with it is only

:16:21. > :16:24.those in middle income and high net worth families that tend to access

:16:25. > :16:26.these schools because of the area for many years. Sadly though, whilst

:16:27. > :16:29.popular with all parents, it is only those in middle income and high net

:16:30. > :16:37.worth families that tend to access these schools because and access to

:16:38. > :16:40.the right school places for each individual child cost associated,

:16:41. > :16:42.whether it is tuition, or private schooling. This has been a bugbear

:16:43. > :16:45.of mine for many years. If only our local primary schools were serious

:16:46. > :16:47.about social mobility and access to the right school places for each

:16:48. > :16:49.individual why don't they offer tuition to access grammar schools

:16:50. > :16:56.for those children who are capable and, from how much they get from

:16:57. > :17:00.pupil premiums. It is because they oppose the principle means? This,

:17:01. > :17:03.Madam Deputy Speaker, is not because of schools cannot afford to, we have

:17:04. > :17:05.already heard how much they get from pupil premiums. It is because they

:17:06. > :17:08.oppose the indeed, to the many members opted to suppose this in --

:17:09. > :17:12.post is in principle, I would say, this is already an in-built part of

:17:13. > :17:16.the comprehensive system at present. Having a ban on grammar schools only

:17:17. > :17:19.causes an in-built discrimination against those without monetary

:17:20. > :17:24.means. Comprehensive schools also tend to be highly selective on

:17:25. > :17:28.wealth in other areas, as is widely acknowledged, good or outstanding

:17:29. > :17:30.schools are disproportionately in well to -- post this in principle, I

:17:31. > :17:33.would say, this is already an in-built part of the comprehensive

:17:34. > :17:35.system at present. Having a ban on grammar schools only causes an

:17:36. > :17:36.in-built discrimination against those without monetary means.

:17:37. > :17:38.Comprehensive schools also tend to be highly selective on wealth in

:17:39. > :17:40.other areas, as is widely acknowledged, good or outstanding

:17:41. > :17:43.schools are disproportionately in well to do unfortunately I do not

:17:44. > :17:46.have a great deal of time left for my increasing choice for parents I

:17:47. > :17:48.believe there is a case for relaxing restrictions on selective education

:17:49. > :17:50.and that in this proposal, along with what I would say is that in the

:17:51. > :17:53.interest of educating standards and increasing choice for parents I

:17:54. > :17:55.believe there is a case for relaxing restrictions on selective education

:17:56. > :17:57.and that in this proposal, along with other indeed will increase

:17:58. > :17:59.social mobility. Indeed will increase social mobility. Thank am

:18:00. > :18:02.afraid we are overrunning and I must reduce the time limit to there are

:18:03. > :18:05.so many interventions that I am afraid we are overrunning and I must

:18:06. > :18:10.reduce the time four minutes. Liz that the government plans many

:18:11. > :18:16.speakers said that the government plans to will increase not decrease

:18:17. > :18:19.it. All the evidence shows that poor children are more likely to fall

:18:20. > :18:23.behind their better off peers and the effects can be long-lasting. Our

:18:24. > :18:25.opposition to grammar schools and to the government not decreasing. All

:18:26. > :18:28.the evidence shows that poor children are more likely to fall

:18:29. > :18:30.behind their better off peers and the effects can be long-lasting. Our

:18:31. > :18:33.opposition to grammar schools and to the does not mean we are in how well

:18:34. > :18:36.poor and better of children do at complacent about the achievement gap

:18:37. > :18:43.between how well poor and better of children do at far from it. Members

:18:44. > :18:49.on this side of the most deprived areas. But this must never be used

:18:50. > :18:51.as an excuse for tolerating failure of low the complex problems facing

:18:52. > :18:54.many children and families in our most deprived areas. But this must

:18:55. > :18:57.never be used as an excuse for tolerating failure of low we must be

:18:58. > :19:00.fearless champions of. Getting a great education is about more than

:19:01. > :19:03.and always put their needs first. Getting a great education is about

:19:04. > :19:06.more than the the chance to fulfil their potential, it must be at the

:19:07. > :19:11.heart of our response to globalisation also. The world is

:19:12. > :19:14.changing faster than ever before. New technologies emerge and jobs

:19:15. > :19:18.move in what seems like the brink of an eye. This is opening up

:19:19. > :19:23.opportunities for some but is leaving too many people behind also.

:19:24. > :19:29.Yet our response to global change cannot simply be to hold up a mirror

:19:30. > :19:38.to anger and despair. That leads nowhere and does not create a single

:19:39. > :19:43.job opportunity. Neither should we try to keep people has the chance to

:19:44. > :19:45.fulfil their potential, it must be at the heart of our response to

:19:46. > :19:47.globalisation also. The world is changing faster than ever before.

:19:48. > :19:50.New technologies emerge and jobs move in what seems like the brink of

:19:51. > :19:52.an eye. This is opening up opportunities for some but is

:19:53. > :19:55.leaving too many people behind also. Yet our response to global change

:19:56. > :19:57.cannot simply be to hold up a mirror to anger and despair. That leads

:19:58. > :20:00.nowhere and does not create a single job opportunity. Neither should we

:20:01. > :20:02.try to keep people we can somehow turn back the clock, because we

:20:03. > :20:05.cannot stop or the huge changes we are seeing in China, India, or

:20:06. > :20:07.chance, no grievance. We should not shy away from change but instead

:20:08. > :20:09.equip people with the skills, knowledge, chances, and choices in

:20:10. > :20:12.life to make change work for them. There are three priorities I think

:20:13. > :20:14.the government should focus on. First, early years. When poor

:20:15. > :20:16.children as my honourable friend says, we must be the champions of

:20:17. > :20:18.chance, no grievance. We should not shy away from change but instead

:20:19. > :20:21.equip people with the skills, knowledge, chances, and choices in

:20:22. > :20:23.life to make change work for them. There are three priorities I think

:20:24. > :20:32.the government should focus on. First, early years. When poor

:20:33. > :20:37.children... I children... I will give money devoted to this new

:20:38. > :20:41.policy would be better spent on early years intervention. I

:20:42. > :20:45.completely agree with my right honourable friend. There is nothing

:20:46. > :20:52.economically credible about paying more for problems that could be

:20:53. > :20:55.prevented, and having a genuinely long-term economic policy means

:20:56. > :21:00.prioritising early years. We should make it a national mission that

:21:01. > :21:06.every child starts school ready to learn. If the Prime Minister really

:21:07. > :21:08.wants a country that works for everyone in recent years the money

:21:09. > :21:10.devoted to this new policy would be better spent on early years

:21:11. > :21:12.intervention. I completely agree with my right honourable friend.

:21:13. > :21:14.There is nothing economically credible about paying more for

:21:15. > :21:16.problems that could be prevented, and having a genuinely long-term

:21:17. > :21:18.economic policy means prioritising early years. We should make it a

:21:19. > :21:20.national mission that every child starts school ready to learn. If the

:21:21. > :21:32.Prime Minister really wants a country that works for everyone she

:21:33. > :21:34.should scrap tax cuts for the wealthiest few and put the money

:21:35. > :21:36.into transforming early years services instead. All the evidence

:21:37. > :21:37.shows that strong leadership and great teachers make the biggest

:21:38. > :21:40.difference in improving attainment for disadvantaged children. For poor

:21:41. > :21:42.pupils the difference between a good teacher and a poor teacher is a

:21:43. > :21:44.whole year of they cannot wait and we should not let them. The

:21:45. > :21:49.government should focus relentlessly on getting the best headteachers

:21:50. > :21:51.into the most new incentives should also be trialled like writing of a

:21:52. > :22:10.proportion of teacher's students loans.

:22:11. > :22:17.I also think the government should look at trying a new help to buy

:22:18. > :22:26.scheme for teachers to help them move to areas with struggling

:22:27. > :22:30.schools. Finally, we must transform vocational education to equip people

:22:31. > :22:36.with the skills they need to succeed in the global economy. Britain has

:22:37. > :22:41.nowhere near enough apprenticeships of high enough quality focusing on

:22:42. > :22:46.the skills our country really needs. Two thirds of the apprenticeships

:22:47. > :22:51.created in recent years were only at level two or GCSE equivalent and

:22:52. > :22:58.three quarters of people aged over 25 who are already in work got them.

:22:59. > :23:03.This is in stark contrast to people in Germany which has much higher

:23:04. > :23:10.levels of participation and 90% of apprenticeships last three or four

:23:11. > :23:16.years and are higher graded. They need to create up to 300,000 quality

:23:17. > :23:19.apprenticeships at level three or higher every single year. They

:23:20. > :23:27.should focus on areas with the biggest skill gaps, help more small

:23:28. > :23:31.firms take part with minimal bureaucracy, and ensure young people

:23:32. > :23:37.can move from vocational to academic qualifications and vice versa at

:23:38. > :23:45.every stage post 16. When I visit schools in my constituency, I see

:23:46. > :23:48.the energy, hope and enthusiasm in the children's' eyes, but I know the

:23:49. > :23:53.cards are stacked against them before they have even begun in a

:23:54. > :23:58.world that is now so unforgiving of people without skills. It is my job

:23:59. > :24:02.and all of our job is to break down the barriers to their success.

:24:03. > :24:07.Expanding grammar schools is not the answer and will do nothing to

:24:08. > :24:15.address the very real challenges created by globalisation. The

:24:16. > :24:20.government must think again. I am a conservative because I believe

:24:21. > :24:23.fiercely in aspiration and it does not matter where you start in life

:24:24. > :24:28.or what your parents did or how wealthy your family is. You can

:24:29. > :24:32.achieve your dreams and improve your life through your own endeavours,

:24:33. > :24:39.your dedication and through an attitude of service and community.

:24:40. > :24:43.That for me is real compassion. It is no more abundantly clear than in

:24:44. > :24:47.relation to the educational policies and achievements of this government

:24:48. > :24:54.and on this side of the House. But if we look at the evidence, the side

:24:55. > :25:00.opposite has no grounds to complain because when Labour left office in

:25:01. > :25:02.2010, two in five children were leaving secondary school

:25:03. > :25:08.functionally illiterate or not numeric. In a country where we have

:25:09. > :25:14.some of the best schools in the world that is an unacceptable

:25:15. > :25:18.scandal. Employers had lost confidence in exams because of grade

:25:19. > :25:23.inflation and kids were left to catch up when they got to

:25:24. > :25:27.university. Thanks to the bold reforms on structures and standards

:25:28. > :25:34.progress has been made. The free schools movement has reinvigorated

:25:35. > :25:36.the teaching profession to inject innovation and allowed teachers and

:25:37. > :25:42.schools to provide the standards that they want in their community.

:25:43. > :25:48.Prior to my election to Parliament I co-founded and now chair one of the

:25:49. > :25:52.early free schools called Michaela community School in Wembley. We are

:25:53. > :25:57.now in our third year of opening and it is a secondary school in a

:25:58. > :26:02.rundown part of London. Pupils come from a wide range of backgrounds.

:26:03. > :26:07.40% are Afro-Caribbean and more than 50% are on the pupil premium. Nearly

:26:08. > :26:12.half speak English as a second language and one in five has special

:26:13. > :26:17.educational needs. One third started with the reading age below their

:26:18. > :26:20.chronological age and many have been thrown out of their previous

:26:21. > :26:26.schools. But our philosophy of an academically rigorous curriculum,

:26:27. > :26:31.high expectations and zero tolerance on behaviour has proved popular with

:26:32. > :26:34.children and parents in the area. Every child is treated as though

:26:35. > :26:41.they have the potential to get to Oxbridge even if some enter with low

:26:42. > :26:48.attainment and poor behaviour. We have children who make up five years

:26:49. > :26:50.of in one year. That is because of our invigorated teachers, innovation

:26:51. > :26:57.in teaching and the standards we apply. Our teachers recently

:26:58. > :27:04.published a book about what makes Michaela excellent. I will read a

:27:05. > :27:08.story about one of our pupils. Last September, Corey joined Michaela. He

:27:09. > :27:13.is black, has special education and lives on an estate. His father was

:27:14. > :27:17.absent. His primary school said he was the worst behaved child they had

:27:18. > :27:26.ever seen. We invited him into Michaela. We are a very inclusive

:27:27. > :27:30.school. My headmistress explained to Corey's mother how the school works.

:27:31. > :27:34.We have silent classrooms with hard-working children learning more

:27:35. > :27:47.than anyone could have imagined possible. I point to our silent and

:27:48. > :27:52.ordinary and ordinarily corridors. It works because we do not pander to

:27:53. > :27:59.every parental whim, making exceptions in order to accommodate.

:28:00. > :28:03.Could you tell me whether it is the case whether they focus on the

:28:04. > :28:09.quality of teaching which is so important for high achievement in

:28:10. > :28:14.schools? It is exactly about the quality of teaching that has made

:28:15. > :28:18.the difference to Corey's life. He is one of our extraordinary

:28:19. > :28:25.successes. He has progressed in reading and numeracy and is

:28:26. > :28:26.transformed in his behaviour. It is quality of teaching and high

:28:27. > :28:33.expectations that make the difference to our children. Would

:28:34. > :28:38.she agree with me that quality teaching does not need to take place

:28:39. > :28:44.within the confines of a grammar school? It can take place within a

:28:45. > :28:49.quality comprehensive? Quality teaching is what makes the

:28:50. > :28:55.difference. Empowered heads, it impassioned teachers, high standards

:28:56. > :28:59.and rigour and that is what is working in our schools and that is

:29:00. > :29:04.why we have seen progress. I pay tribute to the Minister for schools

:29:05. > :29:08.because he has focused relentlessly and tirelessly on phonics for

:29:09. > :29:17.example. By introducing a phonics test in 2012 we have seen hundreds

:29:18. > :29:23.of what children achieving basic literacy enabling them to enjoy

:29:24. > :29:27.reading. We have seen a rigorous curriculum that is raising standards

:29:28. > :29:30.for thousands of children around the country and that makes a difference

:29:31. > :29:34.and it is this party that is standing up and calling out low

:29:35. > :29:39.standards. In terms of our structures and standards, this party

:29:40. > :29:44.has made a massive difference and is trying to remedy the failures of the

:29:45. > :29:48.Labour Party that left education in 2010. When it comes to grammar

:29:49. > :29:54.schools they have got it wrong again. What parents and pupils like

:29:55. > :29:59.in those grammar schools is exactly the point made by my honourable

:30:00. > :30:04.friend, it is high quality teaching, high standards, zero tolerance on

:30:05. > :30:07.behaviour, cultivation of an environment where study is valued

:30:08. > :30:13.and confidence is engendered. That is what works in schools. Why does

:30:14. > :30:17.the Labour Party want to curb that and restrict a whole generation of

:30:18. > :30:21.children from accessing excellent schools? They should be ashamed of

:30:22. > :30:28.themselves and they should support this policy as much as they can.

:30:29. > :30:34.Thank you, Mrs Deputy Speaker. The question we are trying to answer is

:30:35. > :30:39.if you are talented, can you succeed in modern Britain? Why does it

:30:40. > :30:43.matter if you cannot? I think we should be unashamedly selfish about

:30:44. > :30:46.social mobility. Living in a country where more people can achieve their

:30:47. > :30:52.potential means they are more likely to do things that help us all.

:30:53. > :30:57.Whether they become doctors, entertainers or even MPs. When

:30:58. > :31:04.brains, not birth forms the basis of achievement, we all benefit. Today

:31:05. > :31:07.in my short contribution I want to take up the challenge of the member

:31:08. > :31:15.for Bradford who talked about the repetition of an this debate.

:31:16. > :31:20.Focusing on schools and education in itself is not enough. We have to

:31:21. > :31:25.address the divisions around access to finance and networks. We have to

:31:26. > :31:30.address the fact it is the bank of mum and dad and all that it offers

:31:31. > :31:34.both in terms of cash and connections that increasingly makes

:31:35. > :31:39.a difference to social mobility in our modern world. We miss a trick if

:31:40. > :31:45.we do not think about those things. Education too often drives out

:31:46. > :31:51.people and money and privilege have a big hand in that. It is not just

:31:52. > :31:57.about academic talent, it is about creative talent as well wear the

:31:58. > :32:04.same patters are clear in acting and sport, with the exception possibly

:32:05. > :32:10.of music. We know our young people have the X Factor. We have to

:32:11. > :32:15.understand the barriers they face in this post Brexit, low growth world

:32:16. > :32:19.which means they will hold several different jobs in their lifetime,

:32:20. > :32:24.two of which have not yet been invented. It is in that environment

:32:25. > :32:31.that understanding where access to finance makes the difference. It is

:32:32. > :32:37.not just catchment areas, but the options for families to be able to

:32:38. > :32:43.subsidise their children. It is also about understanding in today's

:32:44. > :32:47.disruptive world have the back of mum and dad can be the option

:32:48. > :32:55.between taking the leap between one carrier and the next. We cannot

:32:56. > :32:58.afford to ignore this challenge. Where previous generations sought to

:32:59. > :33:05.ensure their children could advance up the ladder, the next generation

:33:06. > :33:10.have to access multi-ladders. Many are being taken away just as they

:33:11. > :33:15.are being created. They need the contacts and the confidence to get

:33:16. > :33:18.their foot through many doors. One great hope for us should be the

:33:19. > :33:25.entrepreneurship amongst young adults. What do we have to offer to

:33:26. > :33:31.them? Whether you are educated at University or want to start a new

:33:32. > :33:36.business, the bank of mum and dad offers not just money, but contacts

:33:37. > :33:41.and networks in a world where access to internships of unpaid experience

:33:42. > :33:46.all too often do not have defined outcomes. It is time for us to ask

:33:47. > :33:51.how we ensure 100% of all 18 numerals can take out a loan for the

:33:52. > :33:57.pathway they want to take. We have to make sure every child has access

:33:58. > :34:01.to that internship opportunity, not just those with parents who can get

:34:02. > :34:09.them in the door. We have to ask why the last government got rid of the

:34:10. > :34:12.Child trust fund. Michael Young talk about a meritocracy and that is why

:34:13. > :34:18.grammar schools are such an outmoded way of thinking. The future will be

:34:19. > :34:22.about those many doors that we want children to walk through and to make

:34:23. > :34:27.sure that the bank of mum and dad is open to every single young person,

:34:28. > :34:35.not just the few. We have to reduce the time limit to three minutes.

:34:36. > :34:39.Social mobility for me is one of the most fundamental objectives of an

:34:40. > :34:44.education system and a government. It runs deep in my veins. Last week

:34:45. > :34:52.I had to give a tribute to my father who very recently died and without

:34:53. > :34:57.his commitment to my education as somebody who, like my mother, left

:34:58. > :35:02.school at 16, I would not have had the opportunity to break free from

:35:03. > :35:06.the pattern of manual work, work in service or growing plants as he did.

:35:07. > :35:14.In fact, each morning when I leave my flat I see a friend letter from

:35:15. > :35:20.King George VI in 1943 to my great aunt Maud who worked as a maid in

:35:21. > :35:24.Buckingham Palace and I regard that in three generations someone from my

:35:25. > :35:29.family can move from being made to a member of Parliament is a function

:35:30. > :35:35.of the social mobility that should exist in our country. Before it is

:35:36. > :35:40.suggested that somehow being an MP is the summit of human achievement,

:35:41. > :35:44.I do not believe that is the case. But I do believe education is about

:35:45. > :35:49.choice and I want to address the core motivation behind those who

:35:50. > :35:58.scheduled the debate today that somehow grammar schools inhibit

:35:59. > :36:02.those choices that restrict social mobility to a chosen few whilst

:36:03. > :36:06.consigning children who go to non-grammars to a future without

:36:07. > :36:10.those opportunities. Education is not about the type of school, it is

:36:11. > :36:16.about instilling a fundamental belief in the Valley of hard work,

:36:17. > :36:22.it is about access to high-quality teaching, rigorous standards in

:36:23. > :36:26.education whatever of school. It is all about parental support and

:36:27. > :36:32.encouragement. My father passed his 11 plus and got some O-levels, but

:36:33. > :36:36.whereas his parents did not see the point of further study, his grandson

:36:37. > :36:41.sees a different focus as my sister and I tried to take advantage of

:36:42. > :36:46.every learning opportunity. Let's see that social education and

:36:47. > :36:50.mobility is not just a function of school type, but less value the

:36:51. > :36:54.framework, the teaching, and the resources.

:36:55. > :37:01.I want to challenge the notion of stigma. They believe that if you do

:37:02. > :37:04.not pass the 11 plus you are consigned to a different life

:37:05. > :37:09.trajectory. It is said by some that the child is labelled a failure.

:37:10. > :37:14.That is not my experience looking at the secondary schools in my I want

:37:15. > :37:17.to challenge the notion of stigma. They believe that if you do not pass

:37:18. > :37:19.the 11 plus you are consigned to a different life trajectory. It is

:37:20. > :37:22.said by some that the child is labelled a failure. That is not my

:37:23. > :37:32.experience looking at the secondary schools in my a very important point

:37:33. > :37:34.that the age of 11 should not be the cut-off point that defines the

:37:35. > :37:36.future of a child. Does he support the proposals that some colleagues

:37:37. > :37:39.have referred to this afternoon that there should be multiple entry

:37:40. > :37:41.points into any I totally welcome of academies, and the range of options

:37:42. > :37:44.that exist. There is a lot of mobility between those schools. A

:37:45. > :37:47.lot of transferring at sixth form. But it is also wrong, I think, to

:37:48. > :37:52.suggest we should have targets for work children go when they leave

:37:53. > :37:55.school and I welcome the value of academies, and the range of options

:37:56. > :37:57.that exist. There is a lot of mobility between those schools. A

:37:58. > :38:00.lot of transferring at sixth form. But it is also wrong, I think, to

:38:01. > :38:02.suggest we should have targets for work children go when they leave the

:38:03. > :38:04.target university. We need to work hard to generate parity of esteem

:38:05. > :38:06.for higher-level apprenticeships, vocational education, and all types

:38:07. > :38:09.of higher going to university. We need to work hard to generate parity

:38:10. > :38:10.of esteem for higher-level apprenticeships, vocational

:38:11. > :38:13.education, and all types of higher we should enable movement to these

:38:14. > :38:17.different settings and different schools for their sixth form is

:38:18. > :38:20.testimony to the enduring quality of their academic A-level offer. The

:38:21. > :38:23.fact that others choose the fact that so many young people go to

:38:24. > :38:25.grammar schools for their sixth form is testimony to the enduring quality

:38:26. > :38:28.of their academic A-level offer. The fact that others choose the sixth

:38:29. > :38:30.form is a reflection of how they provide for diverse needs that

:38:31. > :38:32.grammar schools do not suit sixth form is a reflection of how they

:38:33. > :38:42.provide for diverse needs that grammar schools do not suit every

:38:43. > :38:44.range of to my way of thinking we need to recognise that social

:38:45. > :38:48.mobility is achieved by embracing the broadest possible range that and

:38:49. > :38:55.the widest context we can provide for our young diversity, and the

:38:56. > :38:59.widest context we can provide for our young social mobility is an

:39:00. > :39:09.issue for the white working discuss in this it is an issue that we have

:39:10. > :39:11.failed to discuss in this and the GCSE benchmark last year. That

:39:12. > :39:13.isonly 32% of working class white British students receive free school

:39:14. > :39:28.meals and the GCSE benchmark last year. That and 47% of Pakistani

:39:29. > :39:32.students, all also receiving free school meals. This is because the

:39:33. > :39:37.educational attainment of white working class students has improved

:39:38. > :39:41.a much more slowly than almost any other ethnic group over the last ten

:39:42. > :39:47.years. I could take members of this House to the grammar schools next to

:39:48. > :39:52.my constituency and I will show you classes of young Tamil kids, first

:39:53. > :39:57.and second generation, and free school meals, because their parents

:39:58. > :40:00.understand the importance of education, and they live the

:40:01. > :40:07.immigrants dream, which many members in this House have shared and

:40:08. > :40:11.benefited from. But it is our own white working class kids who like

:40:12. > :40:17.not getting the benefit of that and the issue, I suggest, is so much

:40:18. > :40:24.bigger than the type of school. It exists for all social inputs. But

:40:25. > :40:27.what we do know from the education select committee report into

:40:28. > :40:34.underachievement of white working class kids is that going to a good

:40:35. > :40:39.school disproportionately affects poor white kids. And there are

:40:40. > :40:45.schools out there who are doing a brilliant job and who are changing

:40:46. > :40:51.lives. In so many cases members should have a look at the Harris

:40:52. > :40:57.Academy chain in south London. Last year 56% of white British students

:40:58. > :41:02.nationwide secured five they - C GCSEs. But in Harris, 65% of

:41:03. > :41:08.students secured the grades, just five years ago the school had been

:41:09. > :41:14.under special measures. Now, under the excellent leadership of a strong

:41:15. > :41:19.principle the school has undertaken quite an unimaginable trans

:41:20. > :41:23.formation, and Harris has a staggering 73% white British

:41:24. > :41:31.students securing these great. Yet again in the rate of success of the

:41:32. > :41:34.school is incredible. In 2008 only 17% of students achieved these

:41:35. > :41:42.grades but under the leadership of the principle the school is now

:41:43. > :41:46.judged outstanding by Ofsted. , the schools should be our ideals, not

:41:47. > :41:54.whether they are mainstream, grammar, or academies I am

:41:55. > :41:56.enormously grateful for the schools my constituency but also grateful

:41:57. > :42:05.for all those people who lead our schools and teach. I feel keenly the

:42:06. > :42:09.importance of everybody, every child having a chance to succeed. I feel

:42:10. > :42:14.it never more than when I visit schools in my constituency or when

:42:15. > :42:18.dropping off my children at school. When you see those faces in the

:42:19. > :42:23.playground or lined up in assembly, full of hope and potential. The

:42:24. > :42:28.question today is how we best nurture that potential and enable

:42:29. > :42:32.every child to make the most of their talents. From preschool

:42:33. > :42:36.through primary school, secondary School, further education, every

:42:37. > :42:40.stage is an opportunity, but indeed at every stage there is a risk that

:42:41. > :42:45.some children may do relatively less well but a fear of difference in

:42:46. > :42:53.results must not try policy as I fear it does for those opposite.

:42:54. > :42:55.There is a clear consensus in the House about the importance of

:42:56. > :42:59.preschool and early years education, the importance of primary school.

:43:00. > :43:03.And progress is being made in those areas, particularly standards in

:43:04. > :43:07.primary schools. But there's more to do and particularly so that children

:43:08. > :43:09.who arrive already with good language skills in their first

:43:10. > :43:16.language, which is not at moment always the case. But today we are

:43:17. > :43:20.talking primarily about selection, opposition MPs have been attacking

:43:21. > :43:24.academic selection. Oddly they attack it but not any other forms of

:43:25. > :43:28.selection. They have not countered the point about why they are happy

:43:29. > :43:32.with selection for sport or arts. And they do not make it clear where

:43:33. > :43:37.they stand on existing grammar schools, they appear to have a

:43:38. > :43:41.pretty confused policy. I represent a constituency where we have

:43:42. > :43:45.excellent grammar schools and they are extremely popular with parents,

:43:46. > :43:50.so I would ask the members opposite to listen to parents who like those

:43:51. > :43:54.schools and understand why. There has been a significant

:43:55. > :43:58.misinformation put out about the achievement in the education system

:43:59. > :44:03.in Kent, children there achieve above national average in GCSEs, the

:44:04. > :44:07.system does well, and we know that within that system children on low

:44:08. > :44:12.incomes, free school meals, pupil premium, are arguing especially well

:44:13. > :44:16.to enable our children to make up the gap between themselves and other

:44:17. > :44:20.children with greater advantages. I will give way. Can she inform the

:44:21. > :44:26.House of what proportion, what amount of children who go to grammar

:44:27. > :44:29.schools, go on to university, or Russell group universities? We know

:44:30. > :44:33.children are more likely to go to Russell group universities if they

:44:34. > :44:37.attended grammar schools but also in Kent we see an increasing number of

:44:38. > :44:42.children who have received pupil premium, attending grammar schools.

:44:43. > :44:55.So Kent is working at widening access.

:44:56. > :44:59.I welcome the points in the government Green paper to widen

:45:00. > :45:01.access so that more children have a chance to attend excellent grammar

:45:02. > :45:03.schools. One of the critical things is whether primary school head

:45:04. > :45:05.teachers support their pupils in getting into grammar schools.

:45:06. > :45:07.Schools that do make a huge different, those that don't, that is

:45:08. > :45:11.a huge disadvantage to the children. So I would like to see children

:45:12. > :45:15.supported to go to the best school for themselves. We also have a

:45:16. > :45:19.grammar schools that favour in their admissions criteria children on low

:45:20. > :45:23.incomes and do an outreach to make sure the children who have the right

:45:24. > :45:28.academic potential to do well in grammar schools get a place and make

:45:29. > :45:33.the most of that potential. I would like to emphasise, where we see

:45:34. > :45:38.selective and nonselective schools working so well together if they are

:45:39. > :45:41.part of a trust, an excellent example of that is the Invicta

:45:42. > :45:47.trust, I would encourage the Secretary of State to visit, so she

:45:48. > :45:51.can visit a comprehensive School and a grammar school in one go and see

:45:52. > :45:57.what excellent results both of them are getting for their pupils. Before

:45:58. > :46:01.I conclude I should mention the importance, underlying all of this,

:46:02. > :46:06.of high quality teaching, something that academies and grammar schools

:46:07. > :46:13.are doing so well. Making sure that all the children who go to those

:46:14. > :46:17.schools can truly succeed. I want to thank you for the opportunity to

:46:18. > :46:23.speak in this vital debate, it gives to the heart of how we grow and

:46:24. > :46:27.shared prosperity for all. We live in a divided nation and those

:46:28. > :46:31.divisions are becoming deeper and more entrenched. Children in this

:46:32. > :46:36.country should feel they have a society and a government that is on

:46:37. > :46:41.their side. Poverty is on the increase and social mobility has

:46:42. > :46:44.stalled. I want to share the perspectives from my constituency. A

:46:45. > :46:53.dose of reality for what life is like on the ground. The lives of

:46:54. > :46:58.thousands of young people are being blighted by family poverty. And low

:46:59. > :47:03.educational attainment of inflows from family stress. Schools which

:47:04. > :47:06.can and should be engines of opportunity and mobility are

:47:07. > :47:12.themselves struggling and now find themselves a feeling that welfare

:47:13. > :47:16.gap. I want to highlight the number of schools in my constituency who

:47:17. > :47:19.have helped with research on how we can come together as a local

:47:20. > :47:22.community to support them much more as they struggle, in particular

:47:23. > :47:27.Cranford community college, Spring West Academy, and reach academy. The

:47:28. > :47:32.social mobility commissions report last week was a grim read. Britain

:47:33. > :47:41.has a deep social mobility problem which is getting worse. According to

:47:42. > :47:45.the commission and those born in the 1980s are the first generation since

:47:46. > :47:50.the Second World War to not start their careers with higher incomes

:47:51. > :47:55.than their parents and immediate predecessors. We also know that more

:47:56. > :47:59.than one third of our young people nationally, and the same in

:48:00. > :48:04.Hounslow, in my constituency, are leaving school without the

:48:05. > :48:10.equivalent of five good GCSEs. That is a matter of shame for us all.

:48:11. > :48:15.There are 900 people in Hounslow alone year. The recent conversation

:48:16. > :48:18.I had with head teachers about the impact of benefits changes and

:48:19. > :48:24.rising family poverty are giving way to consistent themes. A picture

:48:25. > :48:30.emerges of a family struggling to make ends meet, not always been able

:48:31. > :48:35.to afford food, children arriving at school hungry, stress, overcrowding,

:48:36. > :48:41.damp conditions, and an inability to work. And a rising family debt where

:48:42. > :48:44.parents must borrow money for school uniforms and shoes. One teacher told

:48:45. > :48:49.me that the school hand out money for shoes two or three times a day.

:48:50. > :48:53.There is no getting away from the fact that government cuts are making

:48:54. > :48:57.life harder for families and schools. The choices made by this

:48:58. > :49:01.government and the previous Chancellor show there can be no

:49:02. > :49:05.greater false economy than underfunding schools. It is time the

:49:06. > :49:13.government did more than just rhetoric. It is time to understand

:49:14. > :49:16.that it is the reality of the choices they make that are impacting

:49:17. > :49:19.on the lives and prospects of children across this country. I have

:49:20. > :49:21.sat for hours listening to one opposition member after another

:49:22. > :49:27.criticising government policies and try to offer a few policies of their

:49:28. > :49:31.own. The interesting thing for me is that not one opposition speaker has

:49:32. > :49:34.mentioned the fact that for the last 18 years they have been implementing

:49:35. > :49:40.the policies in another corner of the United Kingdom, where I come

:49:41. > :49:44.from, Wales, and in any reasonable comparison on the difference between

:49:45. > :49:48.education systems between England and Wales, England comes out on top,

:49:49. > :49:50.and I say that as a former Welsh comprehensive pupil with three

:49:51. > :49:56.children going through the state system in Wales at the moment. The

:49:57. > :50:01.comparisons are absolutely clear. Fewer teachers take time off for

:50:02. > :50:05.sickness than in Wales. More money per head is spent on pupils in

:50:06. > :50:09.England than in Wales. Children in England have a much better chance of

:50:10. > :50:14.getting into university, this headline from the BBC says, top

:50:15. > :50:20.grade A-level performance falls in Wales. That was only a month or two

:50:21. > :50:24.ago. Pupils have the best chance of getting into better universities and

:50:25. > :50:28.their first chance honours degree than in England and Wales. Why?

:50:29. > :50:32.Because in Wales Labour have followed the same outdated policies

:50:33. > :50:37.they are trying to suggest we impose in England. They scrapped testing.

:50:38. > :50:40.They don't like selection. They don't like classroom assessment

:50:41. > :50:43.because they think it puts teachers under pressure. And they don't want

:50:44. > :50:47.to give the choice that my honourable friend wants to give to

:50:48. > :50:53.parents in England. Nobody has to take my word for it. People can look

:50:54. > :51:01.at the Independent reports, the OECD organisation that works and

:51:02. > :51:03.education systems around the world, within the United Kingdom, which

:51:04. > :51:05.clearly shows England's doing far better than Wales. They can look at

:51:06. > :51:10.the recent report showing Wales is far behind England in areas such as

:51:11. > :51:14.English language. And if that does not convince them, neutral reports,

:51:15. > :51:18.they can listen to the former Labour education ministers in Wales

:51:19. > :51:24.themselves, who said, we have taken our eye off the ball. Or another

:51:25. > :51:28.education minister, a Labour education ministers in Wales, who

:51:29. > :51:32.issued an apology to the learners of Wales for his own government

:51:33. > :51:39.failure, because of their failed policies. The reality is that Labour

:51:40. > :51:44.members like to promise a nation fit from cradle to grave but as far as

:51:45. > :51:46.education is concerned they have delivered a failure from the nursery

:51:47. > :52:06.to the bursary. I will give way. He is painting a bleak picture of

:52:07. > :52:10.education in Wales. Those quotes are some considerable years out of date

:52:11. > :52:14.and in the last five years significant improvement has been

:52:15. > :52:21.made in GCSE and A-level results and the gap has closed significantly. I

:52:22. > :52:27.notice he says the gap has closed, he did not say that Wales is doing

:52:28. > :52:32.any better than England. One of the newspaper headlines are referred to

:52:33. > :52:37.was only a couple of months old. There are still very many problems

:52:38. > :52:43.there. The reality is that in England we have rejected this sort

:52:44. > :52:46.of left wing, anti-selection, anti-testing, anti-choice dogma

:52:47. > :52:50.which Labour have been following since the 1960s and which is

:52:51. > :52:57.completely out of date. That is why we are going to bring high standards

:52:58. > :53:00.to pupils in England and Wales. It is why Labour members did not want

:53:01. > :53:05.to talk about their failure in Wales. It is why they are having to

:53:06. > :53:10.apologise to their own constituents by their own failures and it is why

:53:11. > :53:15.the members of the public know that this government can be trusted on

:53:16. > :53:22.education, the economy, defence and law and order. We have put public

:53:23. > :53:27.services at the heart of our agenda and will continue to do so and will

:53:28. > :53:31.proudly shout from the rooftops at the enormous successes we have

:53:32. > :53:38.delivered in terms of education and health in public services for the

:53:39. > :53:44.people of England. The evidence and the adverse effects of poverty on

:53:45. > :53:48.educational attainment and achievement is undeniable. My own

:53:49. > :53:52.constituency has one of the highest child poverty rates in Scotland. In

:53:53. > :53:59.some parts one of three children live in poverty. Data shows children

:54:00. > :54:03.living in poverty are much more likely to face social, emotional and

:54:04. > :54:07.behavioural differences, be overweight and to have multiple

:54:08. > :54:13.problems and all these factors will have an impact on future levels of

:54:14. > :54:17.attainment and achievement. Poverty ruins childhood. I am proud of the

:54:18. > :54:20.Scottish Government is focusing on closing that attainment gap and the

:54:21. > :54:28.First Minister has made education a priority. Higher proportion of

:54:29. > :54:36.entrance to Scottish universities are from our poorer communities. The

:54:37. > :54:42.gap between the most and least deprived communities has reduced.

:54:43. > :54:47.Part of this is down to the fantastic work of many of our

:54:48. > :54:51.universities and colleges that are working on positive routes into

:54:52. > :54:58.higher education. I would like to pay tribute to the Ayrshire College,

:54:59. > :55:03.and the University of the West of Scotland, all have campuses in my

:55:04. > :55:08.constituency. They have encouraged and supported students in the

:55:09. > :55:12.transitioning between further and higher education. But more needs to

:55:13. > :55:18.be done and more is being done. When you see the attainment gap starting

:55:19. > :55:25.long before children get to school, it is clear we need to focus on

:55:26. > :55:28.early learning. Whilst the UK Government pursues grammar schools,

:55:29. > :55:33.the Scottish Government is making sure that each child has access to

:55:34. > :55:40.the same opportunities. Does she agree with me that the education

:55:41. > :55:44.system in Scotland which prioritises the ability to learn, not the

:55:45. > :55:52.ability to pay, enables more children to go to university as

:55:53. > :55:57.opposed to the English system? Absolutely, I agree with what she is

:55:58. > :56:02.saying. Our curriculum is combining academic excellence with the

:56:03. > :56:06.attitude and skills for success and giving young people the opportunity

:56:07. > :56:11.to gain vocational qualifications without them being perceived as

:56:12. > :56:17.second best. We are making sure every child has the ability to

:56:18. > :56:22.pursue their full potential. We are working hard to improve life

:56:23. > :56:27.chances, but ultimately our efforts are tackling the symptom and not the

:56:28. > :56:30.cause of inequality. The Prime Minister says our government is

:56:31. > :56:36.committed to fighting injustice wherever it arises. Poverty has a

:56:37. > :56:41.devastating impact on the lives of young people in the UK. We live in a

:56:42. > :56:47.society where the rich enjoy the trappings of wealth and the Pru rely

:56:48. > :56:51.on charities. This government is driving people further into poverty

:56:52. > :56:56.while offering to siphon a few of the brightest put kids for a place

:56:57. > :57:04.in grammar schools and pretending this is equality. Finally, a two

:57:05. > :57:12.tier system is totally unacceptable. In January this year, the opening

:57:13. > :57:16.ceremony of the new ?25 million new academy was cancelled because the

:57:17. > :57:20.teachers were strike. The same day a window cleaner came to my surgery

:57:21. > :57:24.and said he could not send his bright sun to the local grammar

:57:25. > :57:28.school in Gainsborough across the border in Lincolnshire because he

:57:29. > :57:33.could not afford the ?400 it would cost to get him there every day.

:57:34. > :57:39.This year 55% of the children in my town are going out of town to

:57:40. > :57:44.school, the 50% who can afford it, not the 50% who might need it the

:57:45. > :57:49.most. It is no coincidence that new work and Sherwood as a district has

:57:50. > :57:54.amongst the lowest levels of social mobility anywhere in the United

:57:55. > :57:57.Kingdom. The story of our secondary schools is a near complete

:57:58. > :58:03.description of the failures of our state schools since the 1960s. The

:58:04. > :58:08.destruction of a successful grammar school established in 1531, the

:58:09. > :58:13.pre-emption of places at the good schools in the neighbouring better

:58:14. > :58:18.off towns with articulate parents with the resources to work the

:58:19. > :58:20.system to their advantage and can afford the cost of travel to them

:58:21. > :58:26.because the options were not available to them in their own town.

:58:27. > :58:30.The flight of middle-class parents to Lincolnshire for grammar schools

:58:31. > :58:37.where one needs 500 to ?1000 a year to bust your child to the school.

:58:38. > :58:43.The toleration of failure, or at least consistent underperformance,

:58:44. > :58:49.with a great deal of complacency with lines like, what do you expect?

:58:50. > :58:53.It is only new work. The gradual decline in aspiration and a

:58:54. > :58:57.pervasive culture of low expectations, the kicking away of

:58:58. > :59:01.the ladder out of ignorance and poverty by neglect and complacency

:59:02. > :59:07.dressed up as egalitarian, progressive educational policy. Will

:59:08. > :59:13.my honourable friend agree that this culture of low expectation, this

:59:14. > :59:18.self bigotry is exactly what needs to be changed and what this

:59:19. > :59:21.government stands up against? I could not agree more. In Newark

:59:22. > :59:28.social inequality is not the problem, it is the symptom of a real

:59:29. > :59:33.malaise. The condition of education in this town has been allowed to

:59:34. > :59:38.reach an appalling level. In diagnosing the problem there are

:59:39. > :59:41.many solutions. A lack of choice of school, an unwillingness to

:59:42. > :59:47.intervene and an unwillingness to embrace selection in any form even

:59:48. > :59:52.when parents are crying out for it. In my town, armed with a range of

:59:53. > :59:57.tools under this government, we are starting to make progress and I am

:59:58. > :00:01.convinced we have finally turned the corner. We have intervened to remove

:00:02. > :00:06.the Academy sponsor which was not working and brought in a number one

:00:07. > :00:11.school in the county to run the school thanks to a conservative

:00:12. > :00:16.policy. Next year in September we will open a new free school in

:00:17. > :00:21.Newark which I have the leisure of being a governor of. The school will

:00:22. > :00:24.be committed to the highest standards of education, discipline

:00:25. > :00:28.and committed to repatriating parents from across the county who

:00:29. > :00:34.have had to send their children away. The dioceses that runs the

:00:35. > :00:38.other school in the town, the Magnus, have now increased their

:00:39. > :00:42.commitment to driving up standards, driven by the competition and choice

:00:43. > :00:47.that we are now putting into the system. The apprenticeship level is

:00:48. > :00:51.forcing a long overdue conversation between the employers in the town

:00:52. > :00:57.and the schools. The common thread that runs through all these policies

:00:58. > :01:01.is parental choice. Parents in my town want the choice to send their

:01:02. > :01:10.children to the school that suits them and their needs and not to be

:01:11. > :01:12.told by others that only a privileged few who can afford the

:01:13. > :01:18.bus fare or the fees at the private school deserve it. I do not want to

:01:19. > :01:23.repeat the many points made by members. I would like to indulge in

:01:24. > :01:28.a moment of pedantry. The subject of this debate is social mobility and

:01:29. > :01:33.it is not a one-way ticket, you can go up or down. There was a lot of

:01:34. > :01:38.social mobility in the great depression and most of it downwards.

:01:39. > :01:43.The happiest societies are not necessarily those with the greatest

:01:44. > :01:48.level of social mobility. Secondly, many of those who go on about social

:01:49. > :01:55.mobility are quiet on the subject of social inequality. The assumption is

:01:56. > :02:00.it is acceptable as long as there is some level of social mobility. I

:02:01. > :02:06.have a problem with that assumption. It is easier in some ways to court

:02:07. > :02:11.it a wider distribution opportunity than a wider distribution of wealth

:02:12. > :02:19.even if there is some evidence that societies without vast differences

:02:20. > :02:22.in wealth are happier. But vast differences in wealth between

:02:23. > :02:28.individuals in modern societies are growing. When we examined the wage

:02:29. > :02:33.ratios of those at the top and the bottom of businesses compared to the

:02:34. > :02:38.60s and 70s, we can see this happening. It is hard to believe

:02:39. > :02:43.this is due to some sort of super talent, which is why we should all

:02:44. > :02:48.worry that hard-working people, the less talented in an affluent society

:02:49. > :02:53.cannot gain a decent standard of living where people are struggling

:02:54. > :02:58.in a gig economy with poorer housing prospects and living hand to mouth,

:02:59. > :03:04.even if there is some prospect of social mobility. Education, no

:03:05. > :03:09.matter how good, cannot make us all talented and cannot give us all the

:03:10. > :03:14.same life chances. Even to improve those chances it is not sufficient

:03:15. > :03:19.at times. Often we need cultural changes that go beyond the child,

:03:20. > :03:23.changes in the community, the parents and the society. Housing and

:03:24. > :03:30.economic growth, low crime rates, local empowerment, are all key

:03:31. > :03:36.determinants of mobility and social aspiration in any area. Education by

:03:37. > :03:43.it self is rarely sufficient, which is probably why, despite many

:03:44. > :03:46.schemes and many millions spent in education, we failed to produce

:03:47. > :03:53.across-the-board improvements. Yes, it is possible for educational

:03:54. > :03:57.achievement, but we are second bottom in the league for deprivation

:03:58. > :04:01.and there is a connection somewhere. I have heard it said that the magic

:04:02. > :04:09.ingredient we need here is a grammar school, middle-class, Tiger parents

:04:10. > :04:14.want this. I have heard it said that Knowsley has never had a grammar

:04:15. > :04:19.school. That is false, it pioneered a comprehensive education and I had

:04:20. > :04:26.the privilege of going to a grammar school in Knowsley. The grammar

:04:27. > :04:33.school recipe has been tried. It did not produce a noticeable result.

:04:34. > :04:38.Thank you for calling me at the end of this debate. There is a gaping

:04:39. > :04:46.hole at the centre of the opposition case. If grammar schools are good,

:04:47. > :04:54.it is a good principle, why would they be opposed to losing them? On

:04:55. > :04:59.the contrary it is a bad idea and a bad principle, so why are they

:05:00. > :05:06.committed to abolishing them? Surely if it is good, then a cap or a ban

:05:07. > :05:11.is a crazy way to proceed in terms of widening opportunity and choice.

:05:12. > :09:17.If it is a bad idea, why should we allow them to exist? Why should we

:09:18. > :09:23.Which is why recent child care interventions are so important. On

:09:24. > :09:27.top of the childcare plans outlined by my honourable friend from Glasgow

:09:28. > :09:33.North West. Every nursery in the poorest local area is having an

:09:34. > :09:39.additional teacher or childcare place for 2018. And it was written

:09:40. > :09:44.announced that funding changes will be made to follow the child, another

:09:45. > :09:48.welcome intervention. Every child in Scotland will receive a baby box, a

:09:49. > :09:51.box of essential item to help level the playing field in the first days

:09:52. > :09:56.of their lives, starting mixture. But if we are serious about

:09:57. > :10:00.improving social mobility in helping along people the government must do

:10:01. > :10:04.more in other areas also. I hope the Autumn Statement will see a greater

:10:05. > :10:08.investment in good quality, affordable social housing, and we

:10:09. > :10:11.should also expect plans on how the UK Government will overturn the

:10:12. > :10:17.stagnation in average wages that we have seen since 2009. Education

:10:18. > :10:20.policy can help children out of poverty to some extent. But we

:10:21. > :10:25.cannot expect teachers to fix everything for us in this regard,

:10:26. > :10:29.the real change will come when the government commits to addressing the

:10:30. > :10:36.causes of child poverty, low incomes, Social Security cards, and

:10:37. > :10:40.insecure work. Thank you for calling me during this debate. To me, the

:10:41. > :10:45.conundrum is how we break the grammar school system, is perhaps

:10:46. > :10:50.the preserve of the middle-class, but at the same time, we must not go

:10:51. > :10:55.backwards to what I recall the apartheid system that used to be in

:10:56. > :10:59.place. I reference that because I myself failed my 12 plus, as it was,

:11:00. > :11:06.and went to a secondary modern School, in a small town where there

:11:07. > :11:10.two schools, divided by a hedge. The state school was such that the

:11:11. > :11:14.siblings were unable to talk to each other across the hedge because the

:11:15. > :11:17.grammar school head would refuse to countenance it. You left school at

:11:18. > :11:21.16 and you were told by your teachers that there was little point

:11:22. > :11:27.going on to do A-levels because why would someone like you passed them?

:11:28. > :11:31.I ignored that advice and I am glad I did. I certainly wasn't a vote for

:11:32. > :11:41.a return of a grammar school system that takes us back to those days.

:11:42. > :11:43.Equally, we have a huge problem with grammar schools now been the

:11:44. > :11:46.preserve of a middle-class. Where I represent, in East Sussex, we ride

:11:47. > :11:49.on the border with Kent. In my daughter's primary school a quarter

:11:50. > :11:53.of the class move to the grammar school, leading to a brain drain

:11:54. > :11:59.from East Sussex. Those children will either go to a school that was

:12:00. > :12:02.based on ability, or -based, therefore only parents that can

:12:03. > :12:06.afford the increased House prices will see their children go to that

:12:07. > :12:12.school. Or a further school will be based on real pure ability. So only

:12:13. > :12:15.those parents that can afford the tuition, the rail fare, or indeed

:12:16. > :12:20.the prep school fees, to have got those children to school the first

:12:21. > :12:24.place, will be able to enjoy it. Therefore I would maintain that the

:12:25. > :12:30.current system does not work. Therefore, do we stick or twist? I

:12:31. > :12:38.was surprised by the opposition spokesperson's speech, I expected

:12:39. > :12:41.the opposition to state that the system does not work at all and

:12:42. > :12:43.should be abolished, because if they wish to continue with the status quo

:12:44. > :12:46.then the middle-class preserve is that which they are inadvertently

:12:47. > :12:50.supporting. So perhaps somewhat reluctantly I welcome the shift

:12:51. > :12:54.toward the government approach on expansion of grammar schools. The

:12:55. > :12:58.situation is so bad with social mobility that something must be

:12:59. > :13:02.done. Research in the last 50 years which I have spent the last couple

:13:03. > :13:05.of days reading through is completely inconclusive as to

:13:06. > :13:12.whether the competence of all the grammar system is better or worse.

:13:13. > :13:15.What is undeniable is that social mobility statistics are so bad that

:13:16. > :13:20.something must be done but I call on the front bench to consider that by

:13:21. > :13:22.creating more grammar schools, therefore perhaps turning his back

:13:23. > :13:27.to the towns with a choice of two schools, that we do not

:13:28. > :13:31.inadvertently moved back to a situation where it is either success

:13:32. > :13:37.or failure. It must be success for all regardless of the entrance

:13:38. > :13:41.tests. Thank you Madam Deputy Speaker. Last week in my capacity as

:13:42. > :13:48.the chair of the social mobility all parliamentary group are heard a

:13:49. > :13:52.damning indictment of the status quo, for too long we have been too

:13:53. > :13:56.ready to accept that those from poorer backgrounds proportionately

:13:57. > :14:00.do worse, for too long we have allowed privileged connections to

:14:01. > :14:04.override ability and potential, and for too long we have diluted

:14:05. > :14:09.ourselves that economic growth translate into increased prosperity

:14:10. > :14:12.and opportunity for all. Yes, let's invest in children for their early

:14:13. > :14:19.years, that a school system offering opportunity for all, but don't kid

:14:20. > :14:23.ourselves that will be enough if we still have a country where access to

:14:24. > :14:26.opportunities completely closed off to sections of society. The social

:14:27. > :14:30.mobility all-party Parliamentary group are conducting an enquiry and

:14:31. > :14:34.the report is due out soon and we have seen many similarities between

:14:35. > :14:38.the evidence we have heard and the commission findings. One such area

:14:39. > :14:42.was internships. Too often they are a way to get a foot in the door but

:14:43. > :14:48.not just that, the only way to open the door at all, they have become a

:14:49. > :14:52.further compulsory step into many professions, but by their very

:14:53. > :14:57.nature they exclude many. Too often these placements are determined by

:14:58. > :15:00.existing connections, family or business contacts, and a foot in the

:15:01. > :15:05.door is often available only to those who know someone on the other

:15:06. > :15:08.side of it. Another area where we found remarkably consistent evidence

:15:09. > :15:11.is in terms of young people's aspirations, they need role models

:15:12. > :15:15.and mentors from the community who have been there and done it to say

:15:16. > :15:23.to them, you can be whatever you want to be, but for too many it is

:15:24. > :15:25.simply not on the radar. The evidence I heard persuaded me it was

:15:26. > :15:28.simply not enough to encourage companies to do more, we must make

:15:29. > :15:32.sure social mobility is on a par with career prospects and rightly

:15:33. > :15:35.challenge things when minority sections do not get equal

:15:36. > :15:39.opportunities, so we should not do the same here, we cannot allow the

:15:40. > :15:42.situation to continue where your background is likely to be the

:15:43. > :15:46.biggest factor in determining your chances of success in life, I would

:15:47. > :15:51.like to see companies producing data every year on how many people they

:15:52. > :15:54.have recruited from the most disadvantaged backgrounds and

:15:55. > :15:59.crucially how many people who have addressed it in that company, we

:16:00. > :16:03.need a publicly available record as to what individual companies do,

:16:04. > :16:06.only then we would see the change in attitude we need, the UK stands

:16:07. > :16:10.alongside the USA is having the lowest social mobility of advanced

:16:11. > :16:14.nations and we only need to look across the Atlantic to see where

:16:15. > :16:19.ignoring these issues for successive generation leads, be in no doubt, we

:16:20. > :16:23.are heading the same way, I feel it when I speak to people, the anger,

:16:24. > :16:28.the frustration, the helplessness at the lack of opportunity around them,

:16:29. > :16:33.and they feel the same or worse for their children, automation and

:16:34. > :16:36.artificial intelligence will narrow the gap further in coming years, and

:16:37. > :16:43.we need to work further now before it is too late. We have had a good

:16:44. > :16:46.debate this afternoon but what is clear is that the government

:16:47. > :16:51.obsession with new grammar schools is simply a rehash of failed

:16:52. > :16:57.policies from the past, policy is not fit for purpose from the digital

:16:58. > :17:01.age in the 21st century, as pointed out by my friend from Manchester

:17:02. > :17:05.Central and the MP for Rochdale, pure dogma, as pointed out by the MP

:17:06. > :17:10.for Bradford South. The government has no answers to the real

:17:11. > :17:17.challenges facing our schools. While they waste time and energy on the

:17:18. > :17:19.new grammar schools they have nothing to say about falling school

:17:20. > :17:22.budget, a crisis in teacher recruitment, and the fact that

:17:23. > :17:28.there's not enough good school places. They would segregate our

:17:29. > :17:35.children. And our education for a privileged few. And a second-class

:17:36. > :17:38.education for rest. The member for Glasgow North West spoke

:17:39. > :17:42.passionately of her personal testimony of her father who failed

:17:43. > :17:47.the 11 plus. As for the number of Wolverhampton South East in his

:17:48. > :17:51.excellent speech, policies should be designed for tens of millions, not

:17:52. > :17:56.the few. I give way to my honourable neighbour, the MP for Altrincham

:17:57. > :18:00.south. I thank my friend and neighbour for giving way. Will he

:18:01. > :18:02.take the opportunity to make it clear, will a future Labour

:18:03. > :18:10.government scrap existing grammar schools or not? Yes or no? I always

:18:11. > :18:13.like to debate with my honourable neighbour, it was great that he was

:18:14. > :18:19.in my constituency visiting sale Grammar School just the other week,

:18:20. > :18:22.where I go in and speak to the children regularly, this current

:18:23. > :18:27.government is nationalising and privatising the current system at

:18:28. > :18:30.the same time, what Labour will do, and what the honourable members from

:18:31. > :18:35.the debate in the mid-90s should remember is that we will introduce a

:18:36. > :18:40.system of subsidiarity back into the education system and it will be to

:18:41. > :18:44.local people to decide, and we will not having nationalised system. I

:18:45. > :18:52.need to make progress. I have answered question. The front bench

:18:53. > :18:55.opposite have provided no evidence whatsoever of how extra grammar

:18:56. > :19:00.schools will increase social mobility of our young people. Issues

:19:01. > :19:05.more pronounced in the Midlands and the North, is the member rightly

:19:06. > :19:11.pointed out, and I cannot agree more. Let me be clear, citing

:19:12. > :19:17.evidence about access to Russell group universities is a complete red

:19:18. > :19:20.herring. A corrupt use of statistics, and failing to compare

:19:21. > :19:25.like with like. Let me provide evidence from the government's own

:19:26. > :19:29.Chief inspector. Sir Michael Wilshaw said that in Hackney the attainment

:19:30. > :19:34.gap between those eligible for free school meals and their colleagues is

:19:35. > :19:40.14%. In Kent, which retained a selective system, the member for

:19:41. > :19:47.Havisham and mid Kent is in her place, and the gap is 34%. In Kent,

:19:48. > :19:53.just 27% of pupils are eligible for free school meals and get five good

:19:54. > :19:58.GCSEs compared with 45% in London. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has

:19:59. > :20:03.said that those in selected areas who do not pass the 11 plus do worse

:20:04. > :20:09.than they would have done in a comprehensive system. Research by

:20:10. > :20:13.the education policy Institute has shown that once the data is

:20:14. > :20:20.controlled for prior performance Grammar schools do not actually

:20:21. > :20:22.improved results, even for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The

:20:23. > :20:29.issue has divided the party opposite, for sure. Many senior MPs

:20:30. > :20:34.coming out against the plans. The minister currently working with a

:20:35. > :20:37.previous minister who did not want it and now working for a Secretary

:20:38. > :20:40.of State who does want it, and orders from the Prime Minister. And

:20:41. > :20:45.the former Secretary of State, who spoke eloquently in this debate,

:20:46. > :20:51.does not believe in it. My neighbour in altering, and sale West, he needs

:20:52. > :20:54.to remember that Trafford has an excellent primary school system, I

:20:55. > :20:57.taught many of your children, I will have you know, that is why you have

:20:58. > :21:04.such good results in your constituency! And the primary system

:21:05. > :21:09.isn't selective. Turning to social mobility, the honourable member for

:21:10. > :21:12.Feltham and Heston said, this will be the first generation since the

:21:13. > :21:17.Second World War that will be less well off than their parents. The

:21:18. > :21:22.government have failed to build an education system that provides

:21:23. > :21:26.opportunity for all. Under this government the system is mediocre

:21:27. > :21:30.and falling behind, as pointed out by the member for Dudley North. They

:21:31. > :21:35.are increasingly obsessed with structures, rather than what matters

:21:36. > :21:40.most, the quality of education for young people. We have scandal after

:21:41. > :21:44.scandal in our multi-Academy trusts, they cannot even get to grips with

:21:45. > :21:48.the structures they are putting into place. There is no effective

:21:49. > :21:55.governance, as the Department for Education creaks under the strain.

:21:56. > :22:02.Declining budgets and chronic shortages of teachers and places.

:22:03. > :22:07.They have failed to invest in our young people at every stage of their

:22:08. > :22:13.education. Schools are facing their first real-time cuts since the 90s.

:22:14. > :22:18.Spending on education has been cut time and time again and student debt

:22:19. > :22:23.continues to rise. The government policies are no more than a series

:22:24. > :22:28.of roadblocks against aspiration and social mobility. The impact of these

:22:29. > :22:35.policies is clear to all but government. 71% of state school

:22:36. > :22:41.students went on to university under a Labour of a man and last year it

:22:42. > :22:47.fell to 62%, down from 66% the year before. We remain fully committed to

:22:48. > :22:51.ensure all of our young people are given the opportunity to succeed in

:22:52. > :22:56.whatever educational path they choose and their opportunities are

:22:57. > :23:01.based on what they can aspire to and not on what they can afford. We will

:23:02. > :23:06.be fearless champions for every child as pointed out by the member

:23:07. > :23:12.for Leicester West. Figures published last week show for the

:23:13. > :23:17.third consecutive year school leaders, there is a complete problem

:23:18. > :23:23.with recruitment across all roles from teachers to senior leaders.

:23:24. > :23:29.Overall a very high proportion of posts were difficult to recruit two.

:23:30. > :23:36.62% recruited were filled with a struggle and respondents were unable

:23:37. > :23:39.to recruit to 17% of all posts. Recruitment difficulties for the

:23:40. > :23:46.middle leadership roles in schools are pronounced. For post teaching

:23:47. > :23:52.and learning and special educational needs, only 17% of roles were filled

:23:53. > :23:56.with ease. High housing and living costs remain a serious barrier to

:23:57. > :24:01.recruitment in London and the South East. The cost of living is becoming

:24:02. > :24:09.increasingly problematic nationally. There has been a 7% rise in school

:24:10. > :24:15.leaders citing this reason for the problems faced. Difficulties in

:24:16. > :24:18.recruiting means 41% of responding schools have had to cover lessons

:24:19. > :24:26.with senior leadership staff, 70% have had to use supply teachers at

:24:27. > :24:35.higher costs. I must make progress. Madame Deputy Speaker, I mentioned

:24:36. > :24:39.funding earlier. According... According to the National Union of

:24:40. > :24:43.Teachers and the Association of teachers and lecturers, as I said

:24:44. > :24:48.England are experiencing the largest real terms funding cuts in more than

:24:49. > :24:54.a generation. In real terms schools will lose a huge amount of money

:24:55. > :24:59.rising to 2.5 billion by the year 2020 and 92% of schools will have

:25:00. > :25:10.their funding cut. The average cut for primary schools will be 96,000,

:25:11. > :25:13.going up to secondary schools. The Secretary of State chanters from a

:25:14. > :25:19.sedentary position. There is a website she can go on and see this.

:25:20. > :25:24.Budgets are protected only in cash terms, rather than real terms,

:25:25. > :25:29.meaning schools budget is at the mercy of rising pressures, pupil

:25:30. > :25:32.numbers and inflation. Schools are now worried about being further

:25:33. > :25:37.punished with the fair funding formula that the government have yet

:25:38. > :25:44.to consult on. The Minister has refused to guarantee that no school

:25:45. > :25:53.will lose out. This amounts to chaos and confusion. I need to thank

:25:54. > :25:58.everybody who has contributed to the debate. I have not agree with

:25:59. > :26:03.everyone, the member for working on, the member for Croydon and south,

:26:04. > :26:09.the member for Fareham, Eddery and shots, Bexhill and Battle. The

:26:10. > :26:14.member for Ellesmere Port, can I wish him a happy birthday today. The

:26:15. > :26:19.member for Walthamstow, the member for Salisbury. I am sure the whole

:26:20. > :26:27.house joins with me in wishing his family all the very best on the loss

:26:28. > :26:31.of his father. I am sorry to hear that. Mitcham and Morden, the member

:26:32. > :26:39.for Monmouth who always effectively seems to run down his own country.

:26:40. > :26:43.The member for Carrick Cumnock, Europe and Spelthorne even. Madame

:26:44. > :26:47.Deputy Speaker, we have a government front bench team that require

:26:48. > :26:53.special measures, and government failing on the selection, failing on

:26:54. > :26:57.social mobility, failing on the recruitment and retention of

:26:58. > :27:08.teachers, failing to provide enough good school places and letting our

:27:09. > :27:13.future generation down badly. Madame Deputy Speaker, improving social

:27:14. > :27:17.mobility has been the driving force behind our reforms to the education

:27:18. > :27:20.system over the past six years and thanks to these reforms and the

:27:21. > :27:26.tireless work of hundreds of thousands of teachers there are now

:27:27. > :27:31.1.4 million now good or outstanding school places than in 2010. The

:27:32. > :27:35.government has given powers to teachers and heads to deal with

:27:36. > :27:40.disruptive behaviour. We have created the education endowment

:27:41. > :27:45.foundation to promote the use of evidence -based teaching practice.

:27:46. > :27:50.We have rewritten primary and secondary curriculum is to raise

:27:51. > :27:55.expectations and the focus has halted the drift away from those

:27:56. > :28:00.important core academic subjects, adrift that was particularly marked

:28:01. > :28:05.in areas of disadvantage. We have removed over 3000 so-called

:28:06. > :28:09.equivalent qualifications that too many children from disadvantaged

:28:10. > :28:14.backgrounds were being misled into taken instead of GCSEs and we have

:28:15. > :28:21.improved the quality of technical qualifications and promoted an

:28:22. > :28:26.improved the importance and status of apprenticeships, 624,000 starts

:28:27. > :28:31.since May 2000 and 15. We have revolutionised the teaching of

:28:32. > :28:35.reading in primary schools. Systematic synthetic phonics gives

:28:36. > :28:41.children a flying start with reading, writing and spelling.

:28:42. > :28:49.147,000 more year one pupils are on track to becoming full readers than

:28:50. > :28:54.in 2012. Despite improved practice and a growing number of good places,

:28:55. > :28:59.there are still parents who do not have a choice of a good school plays

:29:00. > :29:04.for their child. Fewer than half of pupils have a good or outstanding

:29:05. > :29:08.school within five kilometres of their home. As the Prime Minister

:29:09. > :29:11.said, if you are white, working-class boy you are less

:29:12. > :29:18.likely than anyone else in Britain to to university. White British boys

:29:19. > :29:23.on free school meals have now been either the lowest or second lowest

:29:24. > :29:27.performing ethnic group every year for a decade. This is why we are

:29:28. > :29:32.consulting on a range of measures to look at more ways to increase the

:29:33. > :29:37.number of good school places, serving communities that have yet

:29:38. > :29:41.fully to benefit from our reforms. We want the education system to help

:29:42. > :29:46.build an even more meritocratic Britain and we want to use the

:29:47. > :29:52.knowledge and expertise of our universities and independent schools

:29:53. > :29:57.to benefit our schools system. We want to remove restrictive

:29:58. > :30:05.regulations that remove pupils from going to the schools. Reintroducing

:30:06. > :30:11.Grammar schools is potentially a transformative idea for

:30:12. > :30:16.working-class areas. We know grammar schools are vehicles of social

:30:17. > :30:20.mobility for those pupils who attend them, almost eliminating the

:30:21. > :30:24.attainment gap between pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and their

:30:25. > :30:33.peers. Pupils in grammar schools and make more progress compared to

:30:34. > :30:39.similar pupils. An aggregate score of 0.334 grammar schools compare to

:30:40. > :30:44.a national average of zero. 82% are rated as outstanding and in a school

:30:45. > :30:48.system were over 1 million pupils are not getting the education they

:30:49. > :30:53.need, it cannot be right to prevent more good and outstanding selective

:30:54. > :30:57.school places from being created. The key is to make the alternative

:30:58. > :31:03.schools just as good and that is what we are delivering. We recognise

:31:04. > :31:09.that grammar schools can do more to promote social mobility. Young

:31:10. > :31:15.people are six times less likely to go to Oxbridge if they grow up in a

:31:16. > :31:20.poor household. In the North East not one child on free school meals

:31:21. > :31:25.went to Oxbridge after leaving school in 2010 and yet of the state

:31:26. > :31:30.school pupils securing a place at Cambridge, 682 came from

:31:31. > :31:37.comprehensive schools and 589 from grammar schools, almost as many come

:31:38. > :31:42.from the 163 grammar schools as come from all the comprehensive schools

:31:43. > :31:46.put together. We know disadvantaged pupils from grammar schools are

:31:47. > :31:52.almost twice as likely to go to a top Russell group universities. The

:31:53. > :31:57.government is committed to ensuring this country works for everyone, not

:31:58. > :32:05.just a privileged few. Strict conditions apply to grammar schools,

:32:06. > :32:11.including ensuring more black pupils are admitted, we will introduce

:32:12. > :32:21.social mobility in Britain. I want to thank my honourable friend and I

:32:22. > :32:26.want to give my condolences to the death of my honourable friend's

:32:27. > :32:32.father. The honourable member for Glasgow North West let the cat out

:32:33. > :32:36.of the bag when she said the SNP's view is not just against grammar

:32:37. > :32:42.schools, but also against setting and streaming viability within a

:32:43. > :32:46.school. This is not within the mainstream opinion and it explains

:32:47. > :32:51.why attainment gaps have widened in Scotland. I listened carefully to my

:32:52. > :32:55.right honourable friend the member for Loughborough as I learned to do

:32:56. > :33:01.in the two years when she was my boss at the Department for

:33:02. > :33:05.Education. She is right, we have to tackle underperformers wherever it

:33:06. > :33:09.exists. She is right we have to ensure every child is being offered

:33:10. > :33:16.and academic common knowledge rich curriculum. We will take on board

:33:17. > :33:20.seriously representations made about the policies in the consultation

:33:21. > :33:26.document, including those that relate to selective education. My

:33:27. > :33:31.honourable friend, the member for Bexhill, made the point it is about

:33:32. > :33:35.making alternative schools just as good as the selective ones, a point

:33:36. > :33:40.made by the right honourable friend the member for Woking. Grammar

:33:41. > :33:44.schools and comprehensive schools can coexist together with both

:33:45. > :33:49.delivering a very high academic standards as we see in his

:33:50. > :33:54.constituency. Since 2010, more pupils have benefited from our core

:33:55. > :33:58.academic curriculum. Increased numbers of pupils have a good or

:33:59. > :34:03.outstanding school plays and parents have a wider choice of type of

:34:04. > :34:08.school for their children. But these opportunities have not yet been

:34:09. > :34:11.spread widely enough. We want to create a meritocracy where every

:34:12. > :34:17.child has access to an education that will take them as far as their

:34:18. > :34:22.talents will allow. That is why our consultation document is looking at

:34:23. > :34:29.every possible way to provide new, good schools, particularly in areas

:34:30. > :34:36.that need to improve. I worry about those will 1.25 million pupils. The

:34:37. > :34:40.time is now and it is why we need to do more than we have been doing over

:34:41. > :34:45.the past six years to improve education standards for those

:34:46. > :34:48.pupils. I worry about the social mobility commission's finding that

:34:49. > :34:55.not one pupil eligible for free school meals in the North East went

:34:56. > :35:00.to Oxbridge in 2010. I worry about the so-called missing talent, highly

:35:01. > :35:04.able pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds who leave primary school

:35:05. > :35:07.with results weight above the average, but who achieve

:35:08. > :35:13.significantly less well than similarly able but more advantage

:35:14. > :35:21.pupils. Nationally 78% of level five pupils go on to achieve the eve

:35:22. > :35:25.that. But from those from disadvantaged backgrounds, that

:35:26. > :35:30.figure is 52%. You should be as concerned as we are and you should

:35:31. > :35:33.be looking at every option and asking how we spread the excellence

:35:34. > :35:38.that we see in our schools to every part of the country. You should be

:35:39. > :35:46.more concerned about the education and these children are receiving. If

:35:47. > :35:50.you really care, you will look at the proposals in the consultation

:35:51. > :35:54.document and take seriously the suggestions of how to eradicate

:35:55. > :36:00.inadequate school provision wherever it exists. We will take seriously

:36:01. > :36:07.the responses to that consultation. We will listen to views and we will

:36:08. > :36:11.understand the concerns, but on the clear understanding that our joint

:36:12. > :36:16.endeavour is to promote social mobility and ensure that a child's

:36:17. > :36:24.one chance of an education is not sacrificed on the altar of political

:36:25. > :36:28.posturing. The question is that the original words stand part of the

:36:29. > :36:32.question. As many as are of that opinions they eye, on the contrary

:36:33. > :38:32.say no. Clear the lobby. As many of the opinion that say Aye.

:38:33. > :44:39.The contrary, No. Tell us for the Ayes and Noes. -- tellers.

:44:40. > :49:46.In order, order. We Ayes, 263, we Noes, 210.

:49:47. > :50:09.The Ayes to the right, 263, the Noes to the left, 310. The Noes have it.

:50:10. > :50:19.Unlock. The question is that the proposed words be there at that, as

:50:20. > :50:28.many other opinion say Aye? Of the contrary, No? The Ayes have it. We

:50:29. > :50:35.now come to the second opposition Day motion in the name of the Leader

:50:36. > :50:39.of the Opposition. On the NHS funding. I inform the House that Mr

:50:40. > :50:44.Speaker has selected the amendment in the name of the Prime Minister.