08/12/2017

0:00:04 > 0:00:13Lord Archbishop of Canterbury.My lords. I'm grateful to the usual

0:00:13 > 0:00:21channels for making time for me to lead a debate. It is something of a

0:00:21 > 0:00:29tradition for the debates to be held in early December. Although later

0:00:29 > 0:00:33and less well-established than the John Lewis adverts, it is a sure

0:00:33 > 0:00:39sign that Christmas is around the corner. Last year, I lead a debate

0:00:39 > 0:00:43on shared national values which featured some thoughtful speeches.

0:00:43 > 0:00:51I'm sure that today's debate will be equally as impressive and I am

0:00:51 > 0:00:55grateful to many of your Lordships for making time to attend. It will

0:00:55 > 0:01:04be a pleasure to hear the first speech from the noble Lord. I'm

0:01:04 > 0:01:14delighted that Lord Sachs will be speaking today. He has told me he

0:01:14 > 0:01:22will need to leave in order to get home in time for the sabbath but it

0:01:22 > 0:01:30is good that he has come here at all. There is a link between today's

0:01:30 > 0:01:35debate on education and the previous one on shared values. I hope to give

0:01:35 > 0:01:42an outline of the sort of values that we suggest should underpin our

0:01:42 > 0:01:49education system and the structures that might support them so that we

0:01:49 > 0:01:52may create a society where mutual and individual flourishing become

0:01:52 > 0:02:00the norm. As in so many areas of our public life, it was the churches

0:02:00 > 0:02:06that pioneered the idea of a universal system of education free

0:02:06 > 0:02:13for all. In 1811, Joshua Watson founded the National Society for

0:02:13 > 0:02:20promoting the education of the poor in England and Wales. Fortunately,

0:02:20 > 0:02:26our titles are shorter nowadays. He was described as the best layman in

0:02:26 > 0:02:38England. That is a title due for revival. What was started in 1811

0:02:38 > 0:02:43lives on today as the National Society. I declare an interest, as

0:02:43 > 0:02:50the co-president. My right honourable friend, the Bishop of

0:02:50 > 0:02:55Ely, here's the Council of the National society. He set of values

0:02:55 > 0:03:02framework that was important, as was the imperative in his idea to

0:03:02 > 0:03:09improve productivity and fight embedded squalor. By 1870 there were

0:03:09 > 0:03:15too many children in schools for the churches to cope with alone. The

0:03:15 > 0:03:21first of the great education act brought them under state control.

0:03:21 > 0:03:25Still with a strong religious participation. Today, the Church of

0:03:25 > 0:03:34England alone educates over 1 million pupils each year each day.

0:03:34 > 0:03:4026% of all primaries and 6% of all secondary schools. Joshua Watson and

0:03:40 > 0:03:45his friends conceived their plans at a time of great national crisis and

0:03:45 > 0:03:53upheaval. The Luddite movement was a response to fear of redundancy

0:03:53 > 0:03:58because of growing technological advances. Two centuries later and

0:03:58 > 0:04:07the advances are different but still there. We are calling it the fourth

0:04:07 > 0:04:12industrial revolution. As the World Economic Forum describes it, the

0:04:12 > 0:04:15digital revolution that has been occurring since the middle of the

0:04:15 > 0:04:20last century is today accompanied by emerging technological breakthroughs

0:04:20 > 0:04:25in fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet

0:04:25 > 0:04:30of things, autonomous vehicles, nanotechnology, biotechnology,

0:04:30 > 0:04:41material science, energy storage and quantum computing. How our schools

0:04:41 > 0:04:49can equip us for this seismic shift and our systems Social Security can

0:04:49 > 0:04:54enable us to keep society cohesive and healthy are among the greatest

0:04:54 > 0:04:57challenges facing this generation and the generation to come. And of

0:04:57 > 0:05:02course there is also Brexit. It has unforeseeable changes and

0:05:02 > 0:05:09opportunities. We need an educational system that can bear the

0:05:09 > 0:05:13weight of the changes that are coming. We must be sure that whilst

0:05:13 > 0:05:19we might find some inspiration in our past, we don't waste our time

0:05:19 > 0:05:23rummaging their for the solutions of tomorrow. We must challenge the

0:05:23 > 0:05:26pockets of deprivation and underachievement that exist across

0:05:26 > 0:05:34our communities. We must face the poverty of aspiration which forms

0:05:34 > 0:05:44such a barrier to human flourishing. The church of England has looked to

0:05:44 > 0:05:49promote an education that allows children, young people and adults to

0:05:49 > 0:05:58live out Jesus's promise of life in its fullest. To learn skills and

0:05:58 > 0:06:05develop character, and the spiritual, intellectual and

0:06:05 > 0:06:10emotional resources needed to live a good life, as an individual but also

0:06:10 > 0:06:19in a community. In listening to a debate recently about science and

0:06:19 > 0:06:24innovation strategy, I was struck by an observation made from the front

0:06:24 > 0:06:33bench. He echoed other speakers in that extraordinarily good debate and

0:06:33 > 0:06:40said, the cultural divide that we have had has been a disaster for

0:06:40 > 0:06:47this country since 1944 and earlier. The truth is that the myth of a

0:06:47 > 0:06:52golden age or a disastrous misstep are wide of the mark. The noble Lord

0:06:52 > 0:06:58went on to describe how our universities are some of the best in

0:06:58 > 0:07:07the world for academic achievement but where we succeed in research we

0:07:07 > 0:07:21fail in development. As the noble Lord pointed out, Germany spends 3%

0:07:21 > 0:07:26and is aiming to spend 3.5%. We cannot fall further behind in this

0:07:26 > 0:07:31area but it can only happen through the effective work of education.

0:07:31 > 0:07:38We've neglected the value of further education within our overall

0:07:38 > 0:07:47educational landscape for far too long. Since the 19 44 education act.

0:07:47 > 0:07:52It is a legacy of the class system especially in England. The children

0:07:52 > 0:08:01of privilege are continuing to inherit privilege. This is true not

0:08:01 > 0:08:09only in educational institutions but also the whole country. Unless we

0:08:09 > 0:08:23embark on cultural change, and the entirety of our education services,

0:08:23 > 0:08:30IC is little prospect for remedying this wrong. Human flourishing

0:08:30 > 0:08:39requires flexible and imaginative training based in attitude. Going

0:08:39 > 0:08:42towards a more inclusive approach with those with disabilities or

0:08:42 > 0:08:50specially educational needs is an example of the way that

0:08:50 > 0:08:52comprehensive education has improved and a welcome step for an education

0:08:52 > 0:08:59that seeks the fullest and most abundant life for each human being

0:08:59 > 0:09:01regardless of their ability. One which draws the best out of every

0:09:01 > 0:09:09person. But the academic selective approach to education which

0:09:09 > 0:09:13prioritises separation as a necessary precondition for the

0:09:13 > 0:09:18nurture of excellence makes a statement about the purpose of

0:09:18 > 0:09:25education that is contrary to the notion of the common good. At its

0:09:25 > 0:09:29best, education must be a process of shaping human beings to reach out

0:09:29 > 0:09:36and enjoy abundant life. To do so in such strong communities of widely

0:09:36 > 0:09:42varying ability with distinctive approaches to each student, so that

0:09:42 > 0:09:46each around them flourish. An approach that neglects those of

0:09:46 > 0:09:52lesser ability or does not give the fullest opportunity to those of

0:09:52 > 0:09:58higher stability or enable all to develop a sense of community and

0:09:58 > 0:10:03mutuality of love in action, fullness and abundance of life, will

0:10:03 > 0:10:10ultimately fail. One of the areas I'm most concerned about and we on

0:10:10 > 0:10:16these benches seems clearly through the parish system and which was

0:10:16 > 0:10:24highlighted in the review into opportunity and social integration

0:10:24 > 0:10:30is how the handing down of poverty and deprivation between generations

0:10:30 > 0:10:32presents a barrier to achieving social cohesion as well as

0:10:32 > 0:10:36injustice.

0:10:36 > 0:10:42All those receiving free school meals, only 32% of girls and 28% of

0:10:42 > 0:10:55boys in the white British category achieved five A-C grades at GCSE. --

0:10:55 > 0:11:00A*-C grades at GCSE. One might conclude from this that white

0:11:00 > 0:11:03British children brought up in economic poverty stand a high chance

0:11:03 > 0:11:09of being among the least well equipped to integrate into a rapidly

0:11:09 > 0:11:13changing world where skills in science, technology, new Morrissey,

0:11:13 > 0:11:18literacy and IT will be essential. Not enough has been done to break

0:11:18 > 0:11:25down entrenched disadvantages or to improve integration and cohesion.

0:11:25 > 0:11:28The church of England, with its wide and widening schools network, can

0:11:28 > 0:11:35and must do more to address this problem. This is the Josh Law Watson

0:11:35 > 0:11:40challenge of our generation. The aim of the founders of the National

0:11:40 > 0:11:45Society was to be Universalist, unapologetically Christian in the

0:11:45 > 0:11:49nature of their vocation and service and committed to the relief of

0:11:49 > 0:11:52disadvantage and deprivation where ever it was to be found. Ours must

0:11:52 > 0:11:59be the same. 200 years on, the role of the church of England in

0:11:59 > 0:12:05education can be to encourage and support excellence, provide a values

0:12:05 > 0:12:08-based education for all, with a laser-like focus on the poorest and

0:12:08 > 0:12:15the most deprived. That means a renewed vision that focuses as much

0:12:15 > 0:12:21an deprivation of spirit and poverty of aspiration as did our forebears

0:12:21 > 0:12:26on material poverty and inequality. What follows from that is a clear

0:12:26 > 0:12:31move towards schools that not only deliver academic excellence, but

0:12:31 > 0:12:34which have the boldness and vision to do so outside the boundaries of a

0:12:34 > 0:12:40selective system. The Church of England's educational offer to our

0:12:40 > 0:12:47children, our nation, is church schools that are, in its own words,

0:12:47 > 0:12:50deeply Christian, nurturing the whole child, spiritually,

0:12:50 > 0:12:53emotionally and mentally as well as academically, yet welcoming the

0:12:53 > 0:12:59whole community. I pay tribute to the immense hard work of heads,

0:12:59 > 0:13:02teachers, leadership teams, governors and parents associations,

0:13:02 > 0:13:06who make so many church and other schools the successes that they are.

0:13:06 > 0:13:11And with the strong Christian commitment of heads and leadership

0:13:11 > 0:13:14teams, the ethos and values of church of England schools, which

0:13:14 > 0:13:18makes them so appealing to families of all faiths and none, will be

0:13:18 > 0:13:25guarded and will continue. A major obstacle, though, to our education

0:13:25 > 0:13:32system, is a lack of clear internal and commonly held values. We live in

0:13:32 > 0:13:36a country where an overarching story, which is the framework for

0:13:36 > 0:13:42explaining life, is more or less disappeared. We have a world of

0:13:42 > 0:13:47unguided and competing narratives, where the only common factor is the

0:13:47 > 0:13:50inviolability of personal choice. That means that for schools that are

0:13:50 > 0:13:54not of a religious character, confidence in any personal sense of

0:13:54 > 0:14:01ultimate values has diminished. Utilitarianism rules and skills move

0:14:01 > 0:14:07from being talents held for the common good, which we are entrusted

0:14:07 > 0:14:12with as benefits for all, to being personal possessions for our own

0:14:12 > 0:14:18advantage. We see this already in our universities, in the economic

0:14:18 > 0:14:23sword of Damocles that dangles over their heads of so many students who

0:14:23 > 0:14:28have vast financial investments at stake in their degree qualification.

0:14:28 > 0:14:34The challenge is the week, secular and functional narrative that

0:14:34 > 0:14:39successive governments have sought to insert in the place of our

0:14:39 > 0:14:43historic, Christian-based understanding, whether explicitly or

0:14:43 > 0:14:48implicitly. Factionalism or utilitarianism offers neither a

0:14:48 > 0:14:53meaningful alternative to those who are threatened by peddlers of

0:14:53 > 0:14:56extremism, nor a confident framework within which to educate those of

0:14:56 > 0:15:02different cultures and beliefs. It is no great surprise to those of us

0:15:02 > 0:15:07familiar with church schools, and I should say that all five of our

0:15:07 > 0:15:14children went to state schools, both church and non-church, that there is

0:15:14 > 0:15:17strong, values -based approach remained so attractive, especially

0:15:17 > 0:15:22to communities of other faiths. In many church of England schools in

0:15:22 > 0:15:27areas of high immigration over the last 60 years, although in some

0:15:27 > 0:15:32cases almost all the children are of a non-Christian faith, the narrative

0:15:32 > 0:15:35of the school has remained Christian, while respecting

0:15:35 > 0:15:44religious diversity, including no faith at all. Schools, FC and HD

0:15:44 > 0:15:46institutions are important intermediate institutions,

0:15:46 > 0:15:51positioned between the individuals and the state. Which exists to bring

0:15:51 > 0:15:58fullness of life and to be nurseries of community living. As well as

0:15:58 > 0:16:02inspire, they need to develop stories of the common good, of

0:16:02 > 0:16:07community, not merely of tolerance. This is achievable so long as our

0:16:07 > 0:16:11education system remains diverse in provision is accountable and well

0:16:11 > 0:16:15funded, enabling different streams and approaches within its overall

0:16:15 > 0:16:21ecosystem. Lifelong learning and training and developing the prestige

0:16:21 > 0:16:27of technical education is vital for giving us the flexibility and

0:16:27 > 0:16:33capacity necessary for the fourth Industrial Revolution. The church of

0:16:33 > 0:16:36England has recently set up the church of England foundation for

0:16:36 > 0:16:39educational leadership, in order to begin to tackle the need for deeper

0:16:39 > 0:16:44and more effective training in issues of values and practices, as

0:16:44 > 0:16:47well as in the hard skills of leading schools and nurturing new

0:16:47 > 0:16:53leadership talent. Education must combine the provision of skills with

0:16:53 > 0:17:00the creation of values and practices that enable those values to be

0:17:00 > 0:17:05developed and to become virtues. Where that happens, life in all its

0:17:05 > 0:17:09fullness becomes accessible to all young people. It is not a magic

0:17:09 > 0:17:13wands to solve all society's problems. But it is an essential

0:17:13 > 0:17:18building block for achieving an education system that can help to

0:17:18 > 0:17:23build a more prosperous and cohesive society. I beg to move the motion

0:17:23 > 0:17:29standing in my name on the order paper.The question is that this

0:17:29 > 0:17:35motion be agreed to.I think we are all greatly in the debt, once again,

0:17:35 > 0:17:41of the most Reverend Archbishop. His words last year on British values, I

0:17:41 > 0:17:45think many of us reflected on through the year, and so today, with

0:17:45 > 0:17:51his words about education, are deeply important at this moment. I

0:17:51 > 0:17:54speak also as someone whose three children and six of our

0:17:54 > 0:18:00grandchildren went to exactly the same Church primary school, and

0:18:00 > 0:18:05warmly applaud the work of faith schools, the work they do to create

0:18:05 > 0:18:09the citizens of tomorrow, the work they do for the local community. 100

0:18:09 > 0:18:15years ago, my grandfather wrote a book, Education And World

0:18:15 > 0:18:20Citizenship, working closely with the noble Lord Judd's Father and he

0:18:20 > 0:18:25went on to start a series of programmes called the Council for

0:18:25 > 0:18:28education and world citizenship and this was precisely at the heart of

0:18:28 > 0:18:34the issue that education is not only about skills, it isn't only about

0:18:34 > 0:18:37qualifications, it is about preparing the citizens we need for

0:18:37 > 0:18:42tomorrow. Now I would argue that over many decades, we deeply failed

0:18:42 > 0:18:46very intelligent children from impoverished backgrounds. My early

0:18:46 > 0:18:51years were spent in Brixton, Peckham, Bethnal Green, where

0:18:51 > 0:18:55children did not even take A-levels. Teaching reading and writing was

0:18:55 > 0:18:59described as imposing middle-class values on working-class children.

0:18:59 > 0:19:04There was a wonderful document produced by the Maudsley, 15,000

0:19:04 > 0:19:08Hours, which showed that the dimmest children, the least achieving

0:19:08 > 0:19:11children at one school were doing better than the most able children

0:19:11 > 0:19:17were at a bad school. And Sir Keith Joseph, my Lord Baker, many others

0:19:17 > 0:19:23in this room, in this house, worked really hard to improve the

0:19:23 > 0:19:26curriculum, to improve the achievements, to improve the

0:19:26 > 0:19:29teaching, and we have seen a dramatic change in the ability of

0:19:29 > 0:19:33young people to fulfil their potential. But it still isn't

0:19:33 > 0:19:41enough. Of course, I applaud also the primate's words about education

0:19:41 > 0:19:49not only being functionalist but the chief inspector of schools, a man I

0:19:49 > 0:19:53greatly admire, spoke only the other day about the importance of not

0:19:53 > 0:19:57reducing education to functionalist level. Our job is to young people to

0:19:57 > 0:20:02succeed in life, broadening of mind, enriching communities, advancing

0:20:02 > 0:20:11civilisation. Now, if you come with me to the University of Hull, and it

0:20:11 > 0:20:15wasn't going to be long before we got there, you will see on the main

0:20:15 > 0:20:21staircase wonderful engraving with the words of Winston Churchill,

0:20:21 > 0:20:24"Religion has been a rock in the life and character of the British

0:20:24 > 0:20:29people upon which they have built their hopes and cast their cares"

0:20:29 > 0:20:30people upon which they have built their hopes and cast their cares".

0:20:30 > 0:20:34And in today's world of multicultural, multi-faith, this is

0:20:34 > 0:20:40more complex but nobody better than the Church of England, the words of

0:20:40 > 0:20:45the most reverend primate can lead us forward. I speak with great pride

0:20:45 > 0:20:51of the Chancellor -- as the Chancellor of the University of

0:20:51 > 0:20:57Hull, this is an anchor institution in an impoverished region. The

0:20:57 > 0:21:01University believes in transforming the individual as well as positively

0:21:01 > 0:21:07impacting society. It is placed based, an area with low aspirations,

0:21:07 > 0:21:13with low achievement in the past but it is globally engaged. And last

0:21:13 > 0:21:19year, I invited the primate to visit Hull during the City of Culture. I

0:21:19 > 0:21:22don't think he was able to fulfil that invitation but I'm delighted to

0:21:22 > 0:21:31say that two weeks ago, the Queen came... LAUGHTER

0:21:31 > 0:21:37To open the new medical school and meet all those involved in the City

0:21:37 > 0:21:42of Culture. And I say that as the news that has come through that

0:21:42 > 0:21:46Coventry is to be the next City of Culture, and I know the primate has

0:21:46 > 0:21:52very close connections with Coventry. But the ability to give

0:21:52 > 0:21:58people hope and optimism and a sense of collaboration is quite

0:21:58 > 0:22:03remarkable. The University of Hull trains doctors and nurses in a

0:22:03 > 0:22:09modern, patient -based, community focused manner. It has

0:22:09 > 0:22:14entrepreneurial activities. It has pioneered environmental, maritime,

0:22:14 > 0:22:20renewable energy projects, bringing prosperity, skills, investment and

0:22:20 > 0:22:24success. And the City of Culture has given inspiration, encouragement and

0:22:24 > 0:22:30energy to the city and to the individuals who live there. They

0:22:30 > 0:22:35have got a leading department on modern slavery. Last year, Kofi

0:22:35 > 0:22:39Anand came to speak. Their campaign, hidden in plain sight, tackles the

0:22:39 > 0:22:45current situation of modern slavery, focused on by the Prime Minister. It

0:22:45 > 0:22:50is placed based, it is globally engaged and it is modern -- a model

0:22:50 > 0:22:55to so many. The right reverend, the primate, reminded us of the

0:22:55 > 0:23:02importance of teachers, of headteachers. The headteacher is the

0:23:02 > 0:23:08closest thing to a magic wand in education and I applaud all those

0:23:08 > 0:23:12new routes into education, like teach first, teach now, and all the

0:23:12 > 0:23:16many other ways. There is no more important obligation than preparing

0:23:16 > 0:23:25the next generation. When the house starts in another place, the prayer

0:23:25 > 0:23:29is that we shall govern wisely and avoid love of power and desire to

0:23:29 > 0:23:37please. Now, research, innovation, the fourth Industrial Revolution,

0:23:37 > 0:23:42all the great achievements of our universities are important but if we

0:23:42 > 0:23:46don't have the wisdom, the judgment, the moral basis to make decisions,

0:23:46 > 0:23:53we will be lost and at a time when democracy is fuelled by social

0:23:53 > 0:23:58media, by sound bites, by the short-term, it is all the more

0:23:58 > 0:24:04important that we retain a moral compass, a faith -based approach,

0:24:04 > 0:24:06and the principles of citizenship.

0:24:11 > 0:24:19It gives me great pleasure to speak of this moment in this debate as to

0:24:19 > 0:24:24thank the Archbishop of Canterbury for creating this possibility of all

0:24:24 > 0:24:31of us to look at this important sector and aspect of our life. We

0:24:31 > 0:24:36must content ourselves with a cameo contribution and do our best here

0:24:36 > 0:24:43and there but together I'm sure we will have a multifaceted look at

0:24:43 > 0:24:51this vital subject. May I express my delight at the presence in the

0:24:51 > 0:24:57chamber of our noble friend, the second coming of the noble Lord

0:24:57 > 0:25:06charters, here in this house. I look forward to his speech. We have

0:25:06 > 0:25:10collaborated together for 20 years in London. Here we are discussing

0:25:10 > 0:25:19this vital subject. It is at the heart of all other activities that

0:25:19 > 0:25:25we seek to envisage and build. I've been a school governor for over 35

0:25:25 > 0:25:34years. In Laurel, suburban, and inner-city sects without hands to

0:25:34 > 0:25:41specialise. I was a member of the board of Roehampton University and

0:25:41 > 0:25:47I'm currently the chair of trustees. I have that vantage point from which

0:25:47 > 0:25:58to speak today. We have two remarkable schools, one for boys and

0:25:58 > 0:26:09one for girls.

0:26:10 > 0:26:13I have read countless articles, and they will come to the same

0:26:13 > 0:26:23conclusion.

0:26:26 > 0:26:34We are worthy of the name. It embraces the spiritual, moral and

0:26:34 > 0:26:42intellectual development of young people. I would add adults to that

0:26:42 > 0:26:47since education, in my view, is a lifelong affair. The catholic spirit

0:26:47 > 0:26:54of this definition is surely self-evident. We would wonder about

0:26:54 > 0:26:58the need to have a debate of this kind at all since we have such a

0:26:58 > 0:27:12common platform to stand on. And yet, it is more complicated. I've

0:27:12 > 0:27:15received a letter from a leading British composer, complaining about

0:27:15 > 0:27:24the narrowly defined curriculum of the English baccalaureate. It

0:27:24 > 0:27:27concentrates on subjects in a way that makes it virtually impossible

0:27:27 > 0:27:34for schools to give their proper attention to the creative arts at

0:27:34 > 0:27:38the spiritual subjects, to say nothing of personal health and other

0:27:38 > 0:27:46related topics. Asking whether pressure cannot be put on those to

0:27:46 > 0:27:55make a more flexible view. We could actually welcome as an essential

0:27:55 > 0:28:05part of education, these creative and spiritual subjects. And that is

0:28:05 > 0:28:10not just him writing to me in this way. Schools, at the same time as

0:28:10 > 0:28:17having to deal with the curriculum, are also dealing with constraints on

0:28:17 > 0:28:22their budget. There are extra costs they've got to absorb and the

0:28:22 > 0:28:28schools with which I'm involved face the need to increase productivity

0:28:28 > 0:28:38and cut what is being delivered. Two teachers a year for the next three

0:28:38 > 0:28:44years. We may well agree without any hesitation on the definition but the

0:28:44 > 0:28:50practicalities on the ground work against our being able to make that

0:28:50 > 0:28:56real for our children. In the briefing paper, there is a

0:28:56 > 0:29:01frequently occurring word, the word character. The method is just to do

0:29:01 > 0:29:09a bit of Bible study. The word character, a Greek word, appears

0:29:09 > 0:29:15once in the new Testament. And they all know where it appears. I can see

0:29:15 > 0:29:25it on their faces. It is in the Epistle to the Hebrews. It takes a

0:29:25 > 0:29:29layperson to say of course, of course. But character in the new

0:29:29 > 0:29:34Testament sense is an attempt to describe the divinity of Christ.

0:29:34 > 0:29:39This is not a lesson in Christology but an attempt to show that Christ

0:29:39 > 0:29:46was imbued with everything that God was. He is stamped with the

0:29:46 > 0:29:54character of God. His personality exudes everything that can be said

0:29:54 > 0:29:59about God. I realise there are others for whom that particular part

0:29:59 > 0:30:02of my presentation will resonate but I draw from it the need in our

0:30:02 > 0:30:08educational system to stamp all those under education with

0:30:08 > 0:30:16everything that is good, the values alluded to which so they can be not

0:30:16 > 0:30:23just empty vessels receiving knowledge, cognitive, facts and

0:30:23 > 0:30:27skills in those objective censors but be brought alive to become the

0:30:27 > 0:30:31people they were made to be. To have brought from them what is intrinsic

0:30:31 > 0:30:40to them, and character in that sense seems to be eminently worthwhile.

0:30:40 > 0:30:56Here ends the lesson but the real world in which we practice, for the

0:30:56 > 0:31:04boys, knife crime, drugs, violence on the streets, 11 over children

0:31:04 > 0:31:08witnessing claims on the streets, one boy accused, found guilty of

0:31:08 > 0:31:20murder. A school that passed to incorporate those dimensions. 85% of

0:31:20 > 0:31:31our girls are Muslims. It needs to be applied with imagination and

0:31:31 > 0:31:35flair, not simply in an espionage kind of way. I want the government

0:31:35 > 0:31:42to reassure us that a lot of what could be accommodated could be made

0:31:42 > 0:31:57mandatory, that we look again at the prevent programme and we look to

0:31:57 > 0:32:07flourish alongside the core subjects as mentioned in the original

0:32:07 > 0:32:19definition which I quoted.I join in thanking this. Education is not only

0:32:19 > 0:32:26essential in building a skilful society but also in maintaining it.

0:32:26 > 0:32:29Increasingly there is an economic and social imperative for lifelong

0:32:29 > 0:32:41learning. Education has a role that should engender a love of learning.

0:32:41 > 0:32:46Education starts in the home. We've all seen the joy on the face of a

0:32:46 > 0:32:53young child who takes its first step and recite its first nursery rhyme.

0:32:53 > 0:32:55That's the sort of satisfaction education should continue to

0:32:55 > 0:33:02generate, building confidence and aspiration. Sadly it is not always

0:33:02 > 0:33:06the productive experience but it could and should be. The Church of

0:33:06 > 0:33:09England plays a key part in education at all levels but

0:33:09 > 0:33:16particularly at primary level. Those schools are sought after by those of

0:33:16 > 0:33:24all faith and none. They have an ethos that makes for a good start

0:33:24 > 0:33:28for young people and plays its part in fighting embedded squalor. The

0:33:28 > 0:33:33government should ensure that this love of learning continues but too

0:33:33 > 0:33:39often, Curiosity and enthusiasm are trumped by testing and assessment,

0:33:39 > 0:33:44with children measured not by where their interests lie but academic

0:33:44 > 0:33:51measures. I've asked ministers before and not got a satisfactory

0:33:51 > 0:33:56answer what important is the government gives to love and

0:33:56 > 0:34:01learning of fun, and stimulating ideas and aspiration in the young,

0:34:01 > 0:34:05particularly those who prefer doing and making to thinking and studying.

0:34:05 > 0:34:11Constant assessment plays havoc with building skills and knowledge and

0:34:11 > 0:34:15generates fear of failure in the very young. If education becomes

0:34:15 > 0:34:18associated with hopelessness it becomes increasingly challenging to

0:34:18 > 0:34:27build-up self-respect and aspiration. I built up skills in

0:34:27 > 0:34:36Germany and I know only too well the difficulty of capturing the slowest.

0:34:36 > 0:34:42It can be captivating but it is hard work. Enthusiasm for learning can be

0:34:42 > 0:34:46generated in the most unlikely people if they can see a purpose and

0:34:46 > 0:34:54practical pathway so they can be achievers. They are I ask the

0:34:54 > 0:35:04Minister to impress on colleagues this. If young people are intrigued

0:35:04 > 0:35:11by cars, cooking, by care, they will see a purpose in learning and

0:35:11 > 0:35:13engagement in a practical subject can be bent to grasping their

0:35:13 > 0:35:20academic counterparts. It can clarify the purpose of maths when

0:35:20 > 0:35:26maths lessons have been impenetrable previously. Schools encourage

0:35:26 > 0:35:34learning of all sorts but are often held back by oft changing government

0:35:34 > 0:35:38ministers, the remorseless churn of government. It is pernicious but

0:35:38 > 0:35:46secretaries of state implement their own bright ideas, regardless of the

0:35:46 > 0:35:50impact on teachers. Can the minister persuade his colleagues to hold fire

0:35:50 > 0:35:57and consult and undertake constant benefit analysis for changes which

0:35:57 > 0:36:05are politically driven and have little to do with helping young

0:36:05 > 0:36:10people. What steps is the government taking to incentivise schools over

0:36:10 > 0:36:15promoting apprenticeships and other skills by celebrating pupils who

0:36:15 > 0:36:27achieve in those areas? League tables lead to challenging

0:36:27 > 0:36:32situations even when skills are practical and work -based. We need

0:36:32 > 0:36:40people with practical skills. I recall years ago writing a

0:36:40 > 0:36:46pretentious A level essay on Adam Smith's court. This was before

0:36:46 > 0:36:50political correctness, when man was deemed to embrace woman. I think

0:36:50 > 0:36:56that is how the Romans put it. But education should be lifelong. There

0:36:56 > 0:37:04is such an important part to play for adult education. The overall

0:37:04 > 0:37:08number of students from lower participation areas has fallen by

0:37:08 > 0:37:1315% and whilst figures for full-time students have risen, there has been

0:37:13 > 0:37:19a simultaneous 40% fall in students from those same areas. There are no

0:37:19 > 0:37:26fewer people from disadvantaged backgrounds going to university.

0:37:26 > 0:37:30Skills budget has been reduced. Gone are so many of those life enhancing

0:37:30 > 0:37:35evening classes which could broaden minds and promote aspiration in a

0:37:35 > 0:37:38wider variety of ways, leading to the flourishing of the skills

0:37:38 > 0:37:48society. It is well proven that it brings greater benefits to family

0:37:48 > 0:37:54and community life. Further education colleges are essential to

0:37:54 > 0:37:59this progress with valuable contributions from great

0:37:59 > 0:38:01institutions such as the open University and Birkbeck College.

0:38:01 > 0:38:06These services provide enable adults to fulfil potential and contribute

0:38:06 > 0:38:10to the economy but all of them are concerned about funding, Wanna fight

0:38:10 > 0:38:16teachers, uncertainty for the future to plan their work to full benefit.

0:38:16 > 0:38:19Part-time learners have been heavily hit in changes to funding and

0:38:19 > 0:38:24colleges have struggled to keep up staffing numbers. I hope the

0:38:24 > 0:38:33government will listen to all those and provide more reliable funding

0:38:33 > 0:38:39for the prosperity of the country. I look forward to the other speakers

0:38:39 > 0:38:46and I thank the Archbishop for the opportunity to do this debate.

0:38:46 > 0:38:50My Lords, I 2am grateful to the most reverend primate for initiating this

0:38:50 > 0:38:55debate on a subject vital to the future flourishing of our children

0:38:55 > 0:39:05and grandchildren. My Lords, allow me to speak personally as a,

0:39:05 > 0:39:10something about this debate moves me greatly and go to the heart of this

0:39:10 > 0:39:13debate, Moses assemble the Israelites on the brink of the

0:39:13 > 0:39:16Exodus, he did not talk about the Long walk to Freedom, he did not

0:39:16 > 0:39:21speak about the land flowing with milk and honey. Instead, repeatedly,

0:39:21 > 0:39:25he turned to the far horizon of the future and spoke about the duty of

0:39:25 > 0:39:30parents to educate their children. He did it again at the end of his

0:39:30 > 0:39:34life, in the famous words, "You shall teach these things repeatedly

0:39:34 > 0:39:39to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you

0:39:39 > 0:39:46walk on the way, when you lie down and when you rise up". By this

0:39:46 > 0:39:50session with education that has stayed with us from this day to

0:39:50 > 0:39:55this? -- why that obsession. Because to defend the country, you need an

0:39:55 > 0:40:00army, but to defend a civilisation, you need schools. You need education

0:40:00 > 0:40:06as the conversation between the generations. Whatever the society,

0:40:06 > 0:40:10the culture or the faith, we need to teach our children and they bear is

0:40:10 > 0:40:15what we aspire to, and the ideals we were bequeathed by those who came

0:40:15 > 0:40:20before us. We need to teach them the story of which we and they are apart

0:40:20 > 0:40:25and we need to trust them to go further than we did when they come

0:40:25 > 0:40:32to write their own chapter. We make a grave mistake if we think of

0:40:32 > 0:40:35education only in terms of knowledge and skills, what the American writer

0:40:35 > 0:40:41David Brooks calls the resume virtues, as opposed to the eulogy

0:40:41 > 0:40:47virtues. And this is not woolly idealism. It is hard-headed

0:40:47 > 0:40:51pragmatism. Never has the world change so fast and it is getting

0:40:51 > 0:40:55faster every year. We have no idea what patterns of employment will

0:40:55 > 0:41:01look like in two, let alone 20 years from now, what skills will be valued

0:41:01 > 0:41:07and which done instead by artificially intelligent,

0:41:07 > 0:41:15preternaturally polite robots. We need to give our children and

0:41:15 > 0:41:17internalised moral satellite navigation system so that they can

0:41:17 > 0:41:22find their way across the undiscovered country called the

0:41:22 > 0:41:26future. We need to give them the strongest possible sense of

0:41:26 > 0:41:30collective responsibility for the common good because we don't know

0:41:30 > 0:41:34who will be the winners and losers in the lottery of the global economy

0:41:34 > 0:41:43and we need to make sure its blessings are shared. There's too

0:41:43 > 0:41:47much I and too little we in our culture and we need to teach our job

0:41:47 > 0:41:52and to care for others, especially for those not like us. We work for

0:41:52 > 0:41:55all these things in our Jewish schools. We give our children

0:41:55 > 0:41:59confidence in who they are so they can handle change without fear and

0:41:59 > 0:42:07keep learning through a lifetime. We teach them to be not just proud Jews

0:42:07 > 0:42:12but proud to be English, British, defenders of democratic freedom and

0:42:12 > 0:42:16active citizens, helping those in need. Schools are about more than

0:42:16 > 0:42:21what we know and what we can do. They are about who we are and what

0:42:21 > 0:42:27we must do to help others become what they might be. The world our

0:42:27 > 0:42:36children will inherit tomorrow is born in the schools we built today.

0:42:37 > 0:42:42My Lords, I do thank the most reverend primate for this important

0:42:42 > 0:42:46debate on education. I remind your Lordships of my registered interest

0:42:46 > 0:42:50as chairman of the chartered institution for further education. I

0:42:50 > 0:42:56was particularly pleased to see the Archbishop's choice of words, a

0:42:56 > 0:42:58flourishing and skilled society and it is about the provision of those

0:42:58 > 0:43:03skills that I want to make just a couple of points this morning. For

0:43:03 > 0:43:07many, many years, colleges of further education in this country

0:43:07 > 0:43:10have had a strong tradition of developing technical skills and

0:43:10 > 0:43:17working alongside employers. The outstanding Dudley College, for

0:43:17 > 0:43:24instance, has its roots in the 1862 Dudley Public Mechanics Institute

0:43:24 > 0:43:28and there are many, many more with equally venerable origins, just as

0:43:28 > 0:43:33the Archbishop has reminded us, the church schools have. However,

0:43:33 > 0:43:37successive governments have seen their most important task for young

0:43:37 > 0:43:43people as pushing them towards university entrance. Consequently,

0:43:43 > 0:43:47fewer young adults and their parents have come to view further education

0:43:47 > 0:43:53colleges as providing a viable and creditable vocational and

0:43:53 > 0:43:57educational paths. The prestige of the FE sector is therefore declined,

0:43:57 > 0:44:02being often considered as a second-tier alternative to those who

0:44:02 > 0:44:09did not do too well at school and this is at complete odds with the

0:44:09 > 0:44:14valuable work that, as Lady Gardner reminded us, it does, and the

0:44:14 > 0:44:16opportunities it creates for its students, for business and the

0:44:16 > 0:44:23economy of the country. Concomitantly, the FE sector has

0:44:23 > 0:44:25progressively had its remit altered through changes in government

0:44:25 > 0:44:30policy. I have mentioned to your Lordships before the fact that the

0:44:30 > 0:44:32sector's main mission, which should be the provision of high-quality

0:44:32 > 0:44:40technical skills, has been too often distorted by its having to teach

0:44:40 > 0:44:44what our kindergarten competencies to teenagers who have been most

0:44:44 > 0:44:49seriously failed by primary schools, which have neglected to teach them

0:44:49 > 0:44:54literacy and numeracy properly. Of the 2014 students transferring from

0:44:54 > 0:45:01schools to FE at 16, some 28% were functionally numerate. That is,

0:45:01 > 0:45:06their arithmetical abilities were those normally associated with an

0:45:06 > 0:45:08eight-year-old, and some 15% were functionally illiterate by the same

0:45:08 > 0:45:13criteria. For several years, it has been the accession of government

0:45:13 > 0:45:17that too few of these students at 16 have passed GCSE English and maths

0:45:17 > 0:45:24at grade C level. Ministers are right to be concerned that secondary

0:45:24 > 0:45:27schools, like their primary counterparts, are failing these

0:45:27 > 0:45:31young people, but they are wrong to insist that further education

0:45:31 > 0:45:37colleges should be the places where the pieces are picked up. This is

0:45:37 > 0:45:41not a task which should skew the vocational mission of further

0:45:41 > 0:45:46education. Often, the largest departments, my Lords, in colleges,

0:45:46 > 0:45:49are now those devoted to fulfilling the government's corrective of

0:45:49 > 0:45:58getting students from D to C grades in GCSE. The largest departments

0:45:58 > 0:46:01should, my Lords, be devoted to engineering and the technologies and

0:46:01 > 0:46:07not to school resits. For these students, passing GCSE at grade C in

0:46:07 > 0:46:10English and maths when they have had a history of bad teaching and

0:46:10 > 0:46:14failure in these subjects at school, is often inappropriate and difficult

0:46:14 > 0:46:19and the success rates are very poor, especially for those with free

0:46:19 > 0:46:24school meals entitlement. In some areas, such as wielded in East

0:46:24 > 0:46:30Sussex, where a forest, Maldon and Ashworth, fewer than 4% of students

0:46:30 > 0:46:35with a C in English and maths at the age of 16 went on to achieve this by

0:46:35 > 0:46:42the end of 19. The average success rate seems to be around 25%. Instead

0:46:42 > 0:46:46of these resits, these students should be allowed to prepare for

0:46:46 > 0:46:49vocationally oriented tests of literacy and numeracy, which will

0:46:49 > 0:46:55seemed to them more relevant to their lives and future work. The

0:46:55 > 0:46:58government has talked about an alleviation in the current

0:46:58 > 0:47:01requirements and perhaps the Minister, when he closes, will let

0:47:01 > 0:47:06us know when this is to happen. My second point is this, an article a

0:47:06 > 0:47:10few weeks ago in the Times educational supplement showed that

0:47:10 > 0:47:18the average funds available per student aged 11-16 in secondary

0:47:18 > 0:47:24schools is £5,700 per annum. At universities, it is £8,500, whereas

0:47:24 > 0:47:32for providers of further education, from ages 16-19, it is only 4500.

0:47:32 > 0:47:36This disparity is very worrying and suggests that the FE sector is

0:47:36 > 0:47:41insufficiently funded to deal with the challenges that it faces at a

0:47:41 > 0:47:46time when skills development is at the heart of the economic agenda.

0:47:46 > 0:47:51Perhaps the Minister would comment on the worrying £1200 yearly gap

0:47:51 > 0:47:57between school and further education funding. Productivity levels in the

0:47:57 > 0:48:04UK remains stubbornly low and have not improved in real terms since the

0:48:04 > 0:48:132008 economic downturn. We are currently ranked 16 out of 35 OECD

0:48:13 > 0:48:18countries in the international productivity league tables, way

0:48:18 > 0:48:21behind our major trading partners such as the United States, France

0:48:21 > 0:48:30and Germany. Productivity is of course a factor of investment but it

0:48:30 > 0:48:33is also, most importantly, a factor of the training of young people in

0:48:33 > 0:48:39technical skills. And yet, the economic affairs select committee of

0:48:39 > 0:48:46this house identifies this country's Lower emphasis on technical and

0:48:46 > 0:48:50vocational education "As a major contributing factor towards low

0:48:50 > 0:48:51productivity"

0:48:51 > 0:48:53contributing factor towards low productivity". As the Archbishop

0:48:53 > 0:48:58reminded us, Brexit will bring great opportunities and our workforce must

0:48:58 > 0:49:02be well prepared to use them. To conclude, the further education

0:49:02 > 0:49:07sector in this country must be better resourced and better used by

0:49:07 > 0:49:12government policy if it is to help this country faced the economic

0:49:12 > 0:49:18challenges that the next decade will surely bring.My Lords, anyone with

0:49:18 > 0:49:23their wits about them realise is that we are in the grip of a social

0:49:23 > 0:49:26crisis. Half or more of the country have been left behind while the rest

0:49:26 > 0:49:30of Britain went to university, modernised and globalised and this

0:49:30 > 0:49:34isn't just about individuals and families but communities, even whole

0:49:34 > 0:49:38towns and cities. The ultra-respectable financial Times

0:49:38 > 0:49:43last month carried a heart-rending article by Sarah oh Conor, who had

0:49:43 > 0:49:51immersed herself in Blackpool and reported on what GPs there called

0:49:51 > 0:49:54SLS, deep poverty, pervasive drugs, obesity and antidepressant and

0:49:54 > 0:50:02mental illness in a large, isolated town, exhibiting alarming signs of

0:50:02 > 0:50:05disintegration, including the largest encampment in Britain of

0:50:05 > 0:50:11children expelled from school. It is euphemistically called a pupil

0:50:11 > 0:50:13referral unit. Even more euphemistically, it is run by an

0:50:13 > 0:50:18organisation called educational diversity but it is basically a

0:50:18 > 0:50:24dumping ground for 330 children that schools want nothing to do with.

0:50:24 > 0:50:29That is 330, my Lords, expelled from schools in one northern town and

0:50:29 > 0:50:32sent to what is in many respects a joint training camp for the criminal

0:50:32 > 0:50:39justice system. -- a giant training camp. In addition to hundreds

0:50:39 > 0:50:42excluded from school day by day for lower-level misbehaviour or simply

0:50:42 > 0:50:46roam the streets. Now those of your Lordships to have the misfortune to

0:50:46 > 0:50:51attend party conferences know why we stopped going to Blackpool. But for

0:50:51 > 0:50:55Blackpool today, we'd also Hull, Grimsby, large parts of the North

0:50:55 > 0:51:00and the Midlands, and large towns in the South including Hastings, Dover

0:51:00 > 0:51:05and Folkestone. My Lords, poor education is at the heart of the

0:51:05 > 0:51:10social crisis. Schools and secondary schools in particular are too often

0:51:10 > 0:51:13bleak and low performing in virtually all of the communities I

0:51:13 > 0:51:18just mentioned. There are not nearly enough good teachers. Apprenticeship

0:51:18 > 0:51:22numbers, incredibly, are declining, despite the apprenticeship levy. The

0:51:22 > 0:51:26Private schools have separated themselves ever more from mainstream

0:51:26 > 0:51:31society. Only yesterday, Westminster School, a wholly owned charitable

0:51:31 > 0:51:35subsidiary of the Church of England, which occupies fabulous charitable

0:51:35 > 0:51:38premises adjoining Westminster Abbey, announced it was setting up

0:51:38 > 0:51:43six elite schools in China. Its social average idols, should be to

0:51:43 > 0:51:47the poor of Bradford, not the super-rich of Beijing. -- social

0:51:47 > 0:51:53outreach goals. We are racked by controversy over sky-high student

0:51:53 > 0:51:55fees and debts run by vice chancellors who have become

0:51:55 > 0:52:00latter-day Prince Bishops, paid up to £500,000 per year and likening

0:52:00 > 0:52:03themselves to Maradona and Richard Branson. My Lords, I don't have time

0:52:03 > 0:52:06to offer more analysis but let me get straight to the six things which

0:52:06 > 0:52:11I believe now need to happen as a matter of urgency. First, the Prime

0:52:11 > 0:52:15Minister should appoint a minister for good schools, based in Blackpool

0:52:15 > 0:52:20or Grimsby, with direct responsibility and funding for

0:52:20 > 0:52:24school improvements in areas of very low educational standards. The

0:52:24 > 0:52:31government's policy at the moment... It has published a list of so-called

0:52:31 > 0:52:34opportunity areas, which include Blackpool but there are only 12

0:52:34 > 0:52:39across the entire country. Nothing much is happening on the ground and

0:52:39 > 0:52:42even in those 12, the department's website can't do much better than

0:52:42 > 0:52:47saying that they received" prioritise access to a support

0:52:47 > 0:52:48package"

0:52:48 > 0:52:50prioritise access to a support package". When I was minister for

0:52:50 > 0:52:53schools a decade ago, I was specifically Minister for London

0:52:53 > 0:52:56schools as well and with the inspirational Tim Brickhouse, led a

0:52:56 > 0:53:01team to radically improve schools in the capital, including extensive

0:53:01 > 0:53:05funding and planning powers. I reproach myself not persuading Tony

0:53:05 > 0:53:09Blair and Gordon Brown to the same intensive place -based approach to

0:53:09 > 0:53:13other parts of the country, where school standards were and still are,

0:53:13 > 0:53:20my Lords, deplorably low and this now needs to be done. I sent in our

0:53:20 > 0:53:24new minister a man of action and I am sure he will be a highly

0:53:24 > 0:53:28effective minister at mobilising the considerable resources of Her

0:53:28 > 0:53:32Majesty's government from Blackpool or Grimsby. Secondly, my Lords, we

0:53:32 > 0:53:35have got to tackle the council school expulsions which is such an

0:53:35 > 0:53:39important cause of young lives going completely off the rails. This is a

0:53:39 > 0:53:43difficult issue but after much consideration, I've come to the

0:53:43 > 0:53:47conclusion that the right course is to forbid schools from expelling

0:53:47 > 0:53:52pupils will even temporarily excluding them unless they have

0:53:52 > 0:53:56broken the law. Instead, schools should be required to make

0:53:56 > 0:54:02appropriate on-site provision for disruptive pupils even if they can't

0:54:02 > 0:54:04always be mainstream classrooms and they should be given extra funding

0:54:04 > 0:54:06to do so.

0:54:14 > 0:54:19Within a short period the government should require every civil

0:54:19 > 0:54:23organisation including the NHS and local authorities to recruit, among

0:54:23 > 0:54:27new trainees, at least as many apprentices as graduates. Across the

0:54:27 > 0:54:31public and private sectors the new apprenticeship levy should be tied

0:54:31 > 0:54:39by the state. I would suggest to the prey Minister that the government

0:54:39 > 0:54:46immediately grant this power to the highly capable mayor of the west

0:54:46 > 0:54:51Midlands. They should ask him to report within a year on the national

0:54:51 > 0:54:55system for deploying the projected £3 billion income from the

0:54:55 > 0:55:01apprenticeship levy to transform apprenticeship levy is an quality

0:55:01 > 0:55:04nationwide. After decades with government after government has

0:55:04 > 0:55:07urged private schools to behave like the charities they legally are, but

0:55:07 > 0:55:12see nothing happened yawned tinkering at the edges, I believe we

0:55:12 > 0:55:21need bold action. The easiest way is to tax private school fees. An

0:55:21 > 0:55:28education opportunity tax would raise two and a half billion pounds.

0:55:28 > 0:55:39This could be used to boost teacher pay in hard to reach areas, the

0:55:39 > 0:55:45absolutely indispensable passport to skilled work and learning and fund

0:55:45 > 0:55:54free music and sport training across state schools, which private schools

0:55:54 > 0:55:58pupils and parents take granted. The right thing to do is cancel the

0:55:58 > 0:56:03trebling of tuition fees which took place in 2010 and reduce them to

0:56:03 > 0:56:08around £3000. Reduce the extortionate interest rate the

0:56:08 > 0:56:12government is charging on debt and cancel the absurd controls on

0:56:12 > 0:56:14overseas student numbers which hold universities back from competing

0:56:14 > 0:56:23internationally. On the scandal of senior university pay,

0:56:23 > 0:56:28self-regulation is clearly not working and the one regulators of

0:56:28 > 0:56:35the state are toothless, dominated by the vice chancellors they should

0:56:35 > 0:56:40be regulating. The best course is an independent enquiry to recommend

0:56:40 > 0:56:46limits to top pay in universities and ensure better controls. I cannot

0:56:46 > 0:56:51think of anyone better suited to conduct it than the most Reverend

0:56:51 > 0:56:58primate. He runs an organisation much like a university. He lives in

0:56:58 > 0:57:09a palace. Since the Almighty seems to be the only higher power

0:57:09 > 0:57:17recognised he is as well-suited to sort that. My hero was David

0:57:17 > 0:57:26Shepherd of Liverpool. Back in the 1980s, social disintegration was

0:57:26 > 0:57:32advancing upon us. It is again today and we cannot walk by on the other

0:57:32 > 0:57:42side.I am very grateful to the most Reverend primate for introducing

0:57:42 > 0:57:51this debate which signalled the coming of Christmas and can I also

0:57:51 > 0:57:58say what a pleasure it is to see Lord charters in his debate and

0:57:58 > 0:58:04speaking in this place. I declare an interest and you will see why in a

0:58:04 > 0:58:16moment. As former chief executive of the Kings fund. I'm also currently

0:58:16 > 0:58:21vice-chair of the Mental Health Act committee. I want to address what

0:58:21 > 0:58:26the most Reverend primate has described as human flourishing and I

0:58:26 > 0:58:30would describe as the emotional well-being of children. I would like

0:58:30 > 0:58:34to congratulate the government on the report that mental health

0:58:34 > 0:58:38training will be available in schools but would like to ask why

0:58:38 > 0:58:43that date cannot be brought forward given that we know how serious the

0:58:43 > 0:58:47issues are around the mental health and well-being of young people. That

0:58:47 > 0:59:01has been alluded to. We know that over half of mental ill-health

0:59:01 > 0:59:08starts before the age of and 75% of it has developed by the age of 18.

0:59:08 > 0:59:13Studies suggest that when problems are not addressed early there is

0:59:13 > 0:59:20often a lifelong trajectory of mental ill health. Rates of

0:59:20 > 0:59:23depression have increased by 70% over the last 25 years and that

0:59:23 > 0:59:28places huge costs on the economy, let alone on individuals. We know

0:59:28 > 0:59:33that supporting mental health in schools is not just about responding

0:59:33 > 0:59:42to side of emerging mental health problems. We now know helping

0:59:42 > 0:59:47children become emotionally literate as a vital part of any focus and

0:59:47 > 0:59:52needs to be part of how we think about education. You shall teach

0:59:52 > 0:59:59your children and they shall teach there is. In a recent report on

0:59:59 > 1:00:08school readiness, school leaders noted a decline with concerns about

1:00:08 > 1:00:15personal, social and emotional development high on the list. If

1:00:15 > 1:00:18children are already starting at a disadvantage and are unable to catch

1:00:18 > 1:00:22up this increases their vulnerability in terms of their

1:00:22 > 1:00:26emotional well-being and their potential to achieve and succeed. A

1:00:26 > 1:00:32lack of social awareness to regulate emotions underpins many of the

1:00:32 > 1:00:37behavioural problems we see in schools and studies have indicated a

1:00:37 > 1:00:50link between better outcomes. We now we need to do more and emotional

1:00:50 > 1:00:57literacy needs to be embedded in approaches. Over the years there

1:00:57 > 1:01:08have been a range of interventions. There is not a statutory requirement

1:01:08 > 1:01:14in state schools. I hope to persuade the Reverend primer that we should

1:01:14 > 1:01:22have multi-faith schools, but many state schools do not do it yet we

1:01:22 > 1:01:31know that it works well. It also makes a huge difference as part of

1:01:31 > 1:01:45the approach. I am indebted to the place to be, a voluntary

1:01:45 > 1:01:49organisation that provides support, for the education they have given

1:01:49 > 1:01:59me. This approach involves not only teaching children about the nature

1:01:59 > 1:02:05of emotional states in themselves and others but also promoting social

1:02:05 > 1:02:08competence and well-being. There's been a good deal of research

1:02:08 > 1:02:13evaluation on how to do this. In the United States, Scandinavia,

1:02:13 > 1:02:20Australia and New Zealand. But less in the UK. A review several years

1:02:20 > 1:02:24ago concluded the most positive evidence was obtained for programmes

1:02:24 > 1:02:31that adopted a whole school approach, aimed at the promotion of

1:02:31 > 1:02:35mental health as opposed to the prevention of mental illness. Can

1:02:35 > 1:02:43the Minister tell this house whether this is the approach that the mental

1:02:43 > 1:02:50health support announced is going to take and can you tell us he supports

1:02:50 > 1:02:55investing in a curriculum that values emotional understanding,

1:02:55 > 1:02:58communication and problem-solving with regular and well delivered

1:02:58 > 1:03:02lessons addressing emotional awareness and understanding. Of

1:03:02 > 1:03:08course, we need teachers, school league leaders and governors to

1:03:08 > 1:03:16promote a healthy school and I pay tribute. I am the mother of a

1:03:16 > 1:03:20teacher. We need them to foster warm relationships, peach autonomy and

1:03:20 > 1:03:28maintain clarity. We need them to prevent bullying and identify those

1:03:28 > 1:03:35with problems early. Government and educational leaders need to give a

1:03:35 > 1:03:39steer in this direction. I hope the Lord and Minister will be able to

1:03:39 > 1:03:41tell this post that this is the approach both governments approach

1:03:41 > 1:03:48and will foster. And that emotional literacy and education is part of

1:03:48 > 1:04:01what is needed to be provided. I begin by declaring my interest as a

1:04:01 > 1:04:04patron of marriage foundation and former governor of 21 years of

1:04:04 > 1:04:11experience.I'm privileged to follow my colleague, whose sentiments I

1:04:11 > 1:04:17share. The marriage foundation found that family breakdown is the biggest

1:04:17 > 1:04:23factor behind the UK's mental health crisis and more than a third of

1:04:23 > 1:04:30children reported bad mental health with only a fifth with parents who

1:04:30 > 1:04:37are still together. Only half of today's teenagers will marry but

1:04:37 > 1:04:50lots more will aspire to it. The report found children with married

1:04:50 > 1:04:56parents had reduced rates of mental health problems. The marriage

1:04:56 > 1:05:01foundation's research has found a child born today in the UK is only a

1:05:01 > 1:05:1050-50 chance of being with both their parents by the age of 15. They

1:05:10 > 1:05:15are more likely to have a smartphone than a father at home. This think

1:05:15 > 1:05:22tank commented that mental health problems during childhood cast a

1:05:22 > 1:05:28long shadow over future life chances affecting work, relationships and

1:05:28 > 1:05:34well-being into adult food. Children need two parents committed to each

1:05:34 > 1:05:40other in a stable relationship. The marriage foundation believes early

1:05:40 > 1:05:42intervention means encouraging couples to make a clear commitment

1:05:42 > 1:05:47to their future together before having children. This, they believe,

1:05:47 > 1:05:52is the very best way to give their future children the best possible

1:05:52 > 1:05:57chance of a happy and healthy upbringing which, of course, has an

1:05:57 > 1:06:03enormous benefit to society. I would go even further. I believe to be

1:06:03 > 1:06:10genuinely effective, early intervention means equipping

1:06:10 > 1:06:16children, with sufficient knowledge and understanding of two crucial

1:06:16 > 1:06:20points. The first is the importance of making a commitment to a partner

1:06:20 > 1:06:31before this phrasing is decided, and working on the relationship. I've

1:06:31 > 1:06:37seen, first-hand, whilst practising as a divorce lawyer over four

1:06:37 > 1:06:47decades, the family breakdown of children. I've worked in the Law

1:06:47 > 1:06:53Centre and private practice. Marital breakdown is classless and

1:06:53 > 1:07:02faithless. The effect on many children is just devastating. It is

1:07:02 > 1:07:06all too common crime romp the many diverse people I've represented that

1:07:06 > 1:07:20the marriage breakdown was the result of simply marrying the wrong

1:07:20 > 1:07:23person, someone with whom they were fundamentally incompatible from the

1:07:23 > 1:07:31outset. Putting on my school governors that I looked into what

1:07:31 > 1:07:35schools do to educate children about the most important decision they are

1:07:35 > 1:07:45ever going to make. Choosing a life partner and raising a family. It

1:07:45 > 1:07:50plays a vital role in the national curriculum. School teaching tend to

1:07:50 > 1:07:54specialise in the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. Sex education and

1:07:54 > 1:08:03career advancement. They are obviously very important. There

1:08:03 > 1:08:10seems to be an enormous vacuum, even in the private sector, and a real

1:08:10 > 1:08:16lost opportunity for education tomorrow's parents about

1:08:16 > 1:08:24relationships. This is important for children. They have nothing to

1:08:24 > 1:08:33emulate and no domestic print to encourage them. The endemic pattern

1:08:33 > 1:08:38of family breakdown must be broken. A child born in the UK only has a

1:08:38 > 1:08:4750-50 chance of being with both their parents by the age of 15.

1:08:47 > 1:08:52I believe early intervention is the best. Educating our school-aged

1:08:52 > 1:08:55children in an attempt to cure this and emotional illiteracy is the best

1:08:55 > 1:09:01way to equip them to help them make a wise or at least informed life

1:09:01 > 1:09:06partner choice on how to work on staying together afterwards. The

1:09:06 > 1:09:14RSPCA has been sending out its seasonal message. For more than 35

1:09:14 > 1:09:20years, a dog is for life, and not just for Christmas. And yet there is

1:09:20 > 1:09:26no such compelling message relating to the commitment of marriage. In

1:09:26 > 1:09:30this context, I have sponsored a three-year research project at the

1:09:30 > 1:09:34University of Exeter where both my husband and I attended, to try and

1:09:34 > 1:09:39discover what lessons can be learned by children in a school context

1:09:39 > 1:09:44about relationships. For example, what makes a good marriage, and what

1:09:44 > 1:09:48is likely to make a bad one. This has been done with a view to

1:09:48 > 1:09:55providing material by video or a nap to be introduced into the national

1:09:55 > 1:09:57school curriculum. I urge the Government to seriously consider the

1:09:57 > 1:10:01benefits of introducing such advice in its structure, as a mandatory

1:10:01 > 1:10:06part of a child's education, to be rolled out nationwide. If this can

1:10:06 > 1:10:11encourage some of our country's future parents to avoid disastrous

1:10:11 > 1:10:16and unhappy unions with fallout for their children, it will be money

1:10:16 > 1:10:20well spent. It is my humble view that prevention is always better

1:10:20 > 1:10:26than here, and to bring what is what happens when is fallout is inferior

1:10:26 > 1:10:29to making a truly well-informed and educated decision in the first

1:10:29 > 1:10:33place. It is my dream that through this particular piece of education,

1:10:33 > 1:10:41a contribution will be made to a flourishing and skilled society. I

1:10:41 > 1:10:43would like to conclude by thanking the most Reverend Archbishop of

1:10:43 > 1:10:47Canterbury, for bringing about this debate, to enable a light to be

1:10:47 > 1:10:55shone in this neglected and unfashionable area of social policy.

1:10:55 > 1:10:58My Lords, I have spent much of my life in public speaking in the

1:10:58 > 1:11:04context of universities, and if you are lucky or you did a good job, the

1:11:04 > 1:11:10students would look up to you like that. Just recently, it has all

1:11:10 > 1:11:15changed. You look at a lecture audience now, half the audience are

1:11:15 > 1:11:22looking down at their devices, and I did notice the right reverend prime

1:11:22 > 1:11:27it, if I can put it this way, fiddling with his iPhone quite a bit

1:11:27 > 1:11:35in the last little while. This sounds like a trivial observation,

1:11:35 > 1:11:41but this is truly fundamental. We are right on the edge of some of the

1:11:41 > 1:11:44biggest changes that have ever transformed human society, happening

1:11:44 > 1:11:48much more quickly than ever before, and happening more globally than

1:11:48 > 1:12:00ever before. With some help from the outside world, it must be said,

1:12:00 > 1:12:08driven by the digital revolution. And I was very pleased that the

1:12:08 > 1:12:14right reverend Primate placed so much emphasis on this. If we cannot

1:12:14 > 1:12:19compete in this area at all, our levels of education will be dead in

1:12:19 > 1:12:33the water internationally. SHOUTING. With some continuing disturbance

1:12:33 > 1:12:37from outside. It is important to understand, without being too

1:12:37 > 1:12:44didactic about it, what the digital revolution is, it is not the

1:12:44 > 1:12:48Internet, it is not robotics, it is not supercomputing power, it is all

1:12:48 > 1:12:52of those things bound up together in this huge rush of change going

1:12:52 > 1:13:00through our lives. It is already transforming universities, my Lords.

1:13:00 > 1:13:12One of the most notable examples of that is the emergence of so-called

1:13:12 > 1:13:19MOOCs, Mass open online courses. They are amazing. They reach

1:13:19 > 1:13:26millions of people across the world. People can take part in seminars.

1:13:26 > 1:13:30You can take part in an online seminar with students from Africa

1:13:30 > 1:13:35while you are sitting in London, for example, and those courses for free.

1:13:35 > 1:13:42So there is a huge tension here between the emergence of free mass

1:13:42 > 1:13:47courses like that, and the huge fees that are being charged in full-time

1:13:47 > 1:13:55higher education. That tension will be very difficult to resolve, and I

1:13:55 > 1:13:59think the noble Lord Adonis was quite right to draw attention to it.

1:13:59 > 1:14:04The issue for me is not vice Chancellor's salaries, which is

1:14:04 > 1:14:09marginal, it is the wholescale marketisation of higher education,

1:14:09 > 1:14:13with a time bomb of student debt, with no thought to the future and no

1:14:13 > 1:14:17thought to the transformation of labour markets which, if I get time

1:14:17 > 1:14:24in my six minutes, I want to briefly mentioned. What is happening, my

1:14:24 > 1:14:28Lords, in universities, is also happening in schools. Schools are

1:14:28 > 1:14:33going to change just as dramatically, as for example

1:14:33 > 1:14:36businesses have changed, over the past 15 to 20 years. Let me just

1:14:36 > 1:14:44very quickly mention some of those changes already happening. First of

1:14:44 > 1:14:48all, traditional style teaching, the teacher standing in front of the

1:14:48 > 1:14:52class, disciplined children sitting at desks, that still exists, that

1:14:52 > 1:14:58will go on. But alongside that, even more importantly these days,

1:14:58 > 1:15:01children huddled round computers. They are in groups. It is no longer

1:15:01 > 1:15:06a single didactic model with the teacher. The teacher is no longer

1:15:06 > 1:15:10the repository of all knowledge because all of human knowledge is

1:15:10 > 1:15:14there, in the device that you have in your pocket, or you have sort of

1:15:14 > 1:15:21hidden away under the desk. So already, the structure of schools is

1:15:21 > 1:15:25already changing. Second, you have radically different models emerging

1:15:25 > 1:15:29around the world, and even though they are in their early days, they

1:15:29 > 1:15:33are in some sense the future, which are like collaborative models of

1:15:33 > 1:15:37education. For example, in the US, you have the home-schooling

1:15:37 > 1:15:44movement. There are 2 million children in the US who are schooled

1:15:44 > 1:15:50at home, not legal here, but legal there. This is growing apace. This

1:15:50 > 1:15:54is mostly done digitally. It is often done in collaboration with

1:15:54 > 1:15:58schools, so the idea that schools are a fixed place will tend to break

1:15:58 > 1:16:03down, just as happened in the workplace. It is already happening

1:16:03 > 1:16:07actually in education across the world, even if we are just in early

1:16:07 > 1:16:12phases of it. Third, as other noble Lords have mentioned, the digital

1:16:12 > 1:16:26revolution has a very dark side, and it has to be an fundamental part of

1:16:26 > 1:16:28primary education, secondary education, to allow children to deal

1:16:28 > 1:16:31with this dark side. I don't know if you know this, but it came up in our

1:16:31 > 1:16:33AI select committee, or someone mentioned it and someone went to

1:16:33 > 1:16:37look tough on the Internet, you can buy an infant's potty with a bracket

1:16:37 > 1:16:46on it where you can put an iPad for a newly born infant. Well, it is

1:16:46 > 1:16:52supposed to get a laugh, but it is really frightening, because a

1:16:52 > 1:16:56neuroscientist described the effect of iPhones and iPad is on children

1:16:56 > 1:17:01as crack cocaine for children. It is so addictive and it is so

1:17:01 > 1:17:06compulsive. And all of human knowledge bad and good is there. It

1:17:06 > 1:17:12is a huge challenge for education, I think. It must start early on, it

1:17:12 > 1:17:16must start with parents but it must be embedded in primary school

1:17:16 > 1:17:23education as well. Finally, we have to look again at the usual things

1:17:23 > 1:17:29said about lifelong learning. It is a bit crass and simple. Digital

1:17:29 > 1:17:33schools are not really relevant, they are relevant to people working

1:17:33 > 1:17:39in the digital industries, but mostly this will be a process of

1:17:39 > 1:17:48deskilling as happened in other areas. Un-learning is just as

1:17:48 > 1:17:52important as learning and we need a completely different model about

1:17:52 > 1:17:57what the unfolding of a child and adult's life will be in this

1:17:57 > 1:18:04imminent, well, already here future. My Lords, I'm very grateful for

1:18:04 > 1:18:13opportunity of speaking about education, which we know is the

1:18:13 > 1:18:19lodestone of all of the prosperity of our society. I would like to

1:18:19 > 1:18:24describe an ecosystem, a very interesting ecosystem, it is called

1:18:24 > 1:18:33poverty. And what it takes to prosper is it takes the failure of

1:18:33 > 1:18:37education to be written so large that of the 9 million children that

1:18:37 > 1:18:45are in school at the moment, we are going to be writing off 3 million of

1:18:45 > 1:18:49them, because 37% of our schoolchildren goes through school

1:18:49 > 1:18:53and come out the other end, and you would never know that they had been

1:18:53 > 1:19:01to school. It is a very interesting thing, because then if you go to the

1:19:01 > 1:19:05A&E department across the road, and talk to the doctors and talk to the

1:19:05 > 1:19:10patients, you will find that many, many of those people, in fact, the

1:19:10 > 1:19:16vast majority of them, will be people who have failed at school. If

1:19:16 > 1:19:26you go to the cheap jobs, if you go to the £6, £7, £8, even £10 jobs, it

1:19:26 > 1:19:33will be people who have not done very well at school. If we spend £40

1:19:33 > 1:19:39billion a year on our kids, that is about 13 billion, is it not, 13

1:19:39 > 1:19:44billion that we just throw away every year. This is a recipe for

1:19:44 > 1:19:52disaster. If we want to go into our prisons, we can go into our prisons

1:19:52 > 1:19:57and find that 80% of them will be people who have failed at school. I

1:19:57 > 1:20:02know this from my own experience. I have to declaring interests, I am a

1:20:02 > 1:20:07failed child who had an enormous amount of money spent on him when he

1:20:07 > 1:20:12got nicked and put into boys prisons and places like that, whereas I said

1:20:12 > 1:20:16in the House before, where they spent twice the amount of money on

1:20:16 > 1:20:20me that they would spend on sending you to Eton. You have this really

1:20:20 > 1:20:30weird thing. After the Second World War, a kind of inept socialism came

1:20:30 > 1:20:36in, to join the inept capitalism that we run, because our capitalism

1:20:36 > 1:20:41is a poor underinvested capitalism, and our socialism is equally inept,

1:20:41 > 1:20:47so we have got these two functions going on at the same time. We have a

1:20:47 > 1:20:53society which is an ecosystem for social failure. We don't have a

1:20:53 > 1:21:01bullish capitalism. We don't invest our money in new businesses, we

1:21:01 > 1:21:06spend 87% of all money that is led by banks goes in the buying and

1:21:06 > 1:21:13selling of property. We have this really perverse world where we don't

1:21:13 > 1:21:20educate our bosses, our ruling class, if you like to call them, our

1:21:20 > 1:21:23property classes, into taking more risks with their money will stop

1:21:23 > 1:21:28they would rather put it into property. They would rather put it

1:21:28 > 1:21:33into getting thousands of people flipping hamburgers. We are in this

1:21:33 > 1:21:39really strange self-defeating world. It's interesting that when we joined

1:21:39 > 1:21:48the European Common Market in 1973, our productivity was about 30%

1:21:48 > 1:21:55behind Germany. It is now 35%. At that time, our productivity, we were

1:21:55 > 1:22:00ahead of the French, but now we are behind the French. We were well

1:22:00 > 1:22:06behind the Italians and now we are almost about 10% behind them. All of

1:22:06 > 1:22:11these kind of strange things all come together to produce this really

1:22:11 > 1:22:18weird world where we produce underachieving children who fill up

1:22:18 > 1:22:24our social security holes, who fill up our prisons, who fill up our A&E

1:22:24 > 1:22:30departments, and we are sitting on this ecosystem, and we are talking

1:22:30 > 1:22:35about it, but is there a government brave enough to stand up and say,

1:22:35 > 1:22:44that whatever amount of experiments, whatever amount of projects, however

1:22:44 > 1:22:51we rearrange the budget, there needs to be an enormous, an enormous

1:22:51 > 1:22:55investment to be made in getting us out of this situation. I don't want

1:22:55 > 1:23:00to be too dramatic, but I'm sorry I can't help it!

1:23:00 > 1:23:07LAUGHTER But you look at what happened in

1:23:07 > 1:23:141939. Between 1939 and 1945, we borrowed the future. And we only

1:23:14 > 1:23:21stopped paying off for that future in 2006, when the man signed the

1:23:21 > 1:23:24last cheque to the American government over the lend lease. We

1:23:24 > 1:23:32borrowed the future to actually have a future. Unfortunately, unless we

1:23:32 > 1:23:39declare war on our lack of education, on the strange way that

1:23:39 > 1:23:43we think we can leave things to market forces, you look at the most

1:23:43 > 1:23:49successful economy in the last 100 years, the German economy. The

1:23:49 > 1:23:54German economy was established in the 19th century by mass investment

1:23:54 > 1:23:59by governments, and actually, if you look at the United States and all of

1:23:59 > 1:24:04the new technology, it has all grown out of stuff that was developed by

1:24:04 > 1:24:08government money given to universities. There all these sorts,

1:24:08 > 1:24:15we really need to wake up to this bell-ringing, this toxic belt. And

1:24:15 > 1:24:21that is, if we don't actually grab the opportunity, we will be having

1:24:21 > 1:24:25this discussion in ten, 20 years' time, and we will be sent, isn't it

1:24:25 > 1:24:29a pity that we have so minute poor people, that we have so many people

1:24:29 > 1:24:34failing at schools. Unless we do the one thing that I would suggest that

1:24:34 > 1:24:39we do, which is to plan, have an enormous plan on how we going to get

1:24:39 > 1:24:44out of the Greece, where are the problems that have come this far,

1:24:44 > 1:24:48what are we going to do about it, we need some really big strategising

1:24:48 > 1:24:55and that is what I suggest we do. Thank you.

1:24:55 > 1:24:59My Lords, many of us will have noted the report of the commission on

1:24:59 > 1:25:05social mobility list last week with the sobering analysis of Britain's

1:25:05 > 1:25:14alienate it and marginal communities. It documents the

1:25:14 > 1:25:18widening gap in attainment with the worst cold spots for social mobility

1:25:18 > 1:25:24now being in former industrial towns and coastal communities. It is

1:25:24 > 1:25:27striking that the map of low attainment and high levels of young

1:25:27 > 1:25:33people not in employment matches so closely with those areas which voted

1:25:33 > 1:25:39heavily to leave the European Union. These areas, the report concludes,

1:25:39 > 1:25:45feel left behind because they are. They feel the benefits of

1:25:45 > 1:25:54globalisation passed them by. We've become a more socially divided

1:25:54 > 1:26:00country, not so much along ethnic lines but cities and suburbs and the

1:26:00 > 1:26:10white working class. Sections of our media have written these citizens

1:26:10 > 1:26:18off as a feckless underclass. Furthermore, part of the dependence

1:26:18 > 1:26:26on immigration has come from employers prevalent for recruiting

1:26:26 > 1:26:32motivated workers from abroad as the harder task of training and

1:26:32 > 1:26:36educating local people. Better quality education will not be enough

1:26:36 > 1:26:42on its own to bring these depressed and divided communities back into

1:26:42 > 1:26:47harmony with the rest of Britain. We need a social mobility commission

1:26:47 > 1:26:58with a more redistributive approach to spreading housing products across

1:26:58 > 1:27:06our country. We need reinvestment in transport links outside the

1:27:06 > 1:27:09south-east and we need locally available finance to support the

1:27:09 > 1:27:15growth of local enterprises. It goes without saying of course that Brexit

1:27:15 > 1:27:19will do nothing to better their chances and is likely to make their

1:27:19 > 1:27:24situation worse. But education and training is essential to social and

1:27:24 > 1:27:29economic recovery. Early years education is the most important

1:27:29 > 1:27:38priority for children from poor and vulnerable families, without the

1:27:38 > 1:27:44support of a family group. I'm proud the Liberal Democrats introduced the

1:27:44 > 1:27:49pupil premium, which teachers tell me has made a real difference. I

1:27:49 > 1:28:06regret that the Conservatives cut back on the sure start programme. I

1:28:06 > 1:28:10say to the Labour Party that increasing public spending on the

1:28:10 > 1:28:1750% who do not go to university all the way through from nurses to

1:28:17 > 1:28:22apprenticeships, should be a higher priority than cutting fees on

1:28:22 > 1:28:32university students. I dissent from my party's tuition fee line and hold

1:28:32 > 1:28:39the same view today. Any progressive politicians should put improving the

1:28:39 > 1:28:44chances of the less privileged first. There are many other measures

1:28:44 > 1:28:49which should be pressing to encourage children from these

1:28:49 > 1:28:54communities to learn and gain life skills and employment skills. There

1:28:54 > 1:29:00should be the feeling that they are included in our national community.

1:29:00 > 1:29:07Teacher turnover is high. We need not only to grant them more respect

1:29:07 > 1:29:18but also grant them more. We should extend that by writing off student

1:29:18 > 1:29:26loans at a progressive rate. School partnerships are clearly important

1:29:26 > 1:29:30in encouraging teachers to stay and in lifting performance.

1:29:30 > 1:29:34Multi-academy trusts are one way to provide such partnerships but local

1:29:34 > 1:29:39authorities should also have a wider role in encouraging schools to work

1:29:39 > 1:29:42together. The Independent school sectors should also do more to

1:29:42 > 1:29:47encourage partnerships, to justify the public benefits to which they

1:29:47 > 1:29:52are obligated. I've seen some excellent partnerships in action and

1:29:52 > 1:29:58I'm conscious best practice does not extend across much of the

1:29:58 > 1:30:03independent sector. Schools do not operate all year round.

1:30:03 > 1:30:08Disadvantaged pupils fall back every summer. Liberal Democrat councillors

1:30:08 > 1:30:11have been running a summer school for children between primary and

1:30:11 > 1:30:24secondary over the past two years. We need both non-governmental groups

1:30:24 > 1:30:27and local authorities to provide more opportunities for disadvantaged

1:30:27 > 1:30:33children out of school hours and school tones to widen their

1:30:33 > 1:30:36perspectives and raise their aspirations. Middle-class children

1:30:36 > 1:30:42benefit from a range of out of school activities from an early age.

1:30:42 > 1:30:46Working-class children miss out on that. I was saddened to discover

1:30:46 > 1:30:52that the visit to the Lake District was for some children, the first

1:30:52 > 1:31:01time in their life they had been outside Bradford. Low aspiration and

1:31:01 > 1:31:07low expectation. The transition is a vital aspect of successful secondary

1:31:07 > 1:31:13expectation. Some employers work closely with local schools to

1:31:13 > 1:31:16provide work experience and the prospect of training. Best practice

1:31:16 > 1:31:22does not extend far enough across the country. Further education

1:31:22 > 1:31:31colleges have been, as Lord Lingfield and Baroness Garden have

1:31:31 > 1:31:34said, financially squeezed and sidelines. We need to strengthen the

1:31:34 > 1:31:39idea of continuing education which means strengthening the role of

1:31:39 > 1:31:45further education colleges. I wish I could believe that the

1:31:45 > 1:31:48apprenticeship scheme will help in this respect but much of what I've

1:31:48 > 1:31:52read says it will fail to provide the most crucial element which is

1:31:52 > 1:31:56the path into skilled work for young people. The Church of England

1:31:56 > 1:32:04already please a constructive part in limiting this but I recall the

1:32:04 > 1:32:10faith in the city initiative which I saw as an appeal to middle-class

1:32:10 > 1:32:17committees. Jack and schools have a good record in providing more than

1:32:17 > 1:32:20just the national syllabus and in providing is children in schools

1:32:20 > 1:32:26with a wider sense of community. I thank the diocese of London for the

1:32:26 > 1:32:29support he gives to the musical education charity which I cheered

1:32:29 > 1:32:35for 12 years which takes singing into schools that have lost their

1:32:35 > 1:32:46music teachers. The Church of England and many other institutions

1:32:46 > 1:32:53have much to contribute to repairing the weaknesses of our countries

1:32:53 > 1:32:57education and rebuilding an inclusive society. The prime

1:32:57 > 1:33:01responsibility lies with public institutions, the state and the

1:33:01 > 1:33:08Treasury to invest and rebuild a flourishing and inclusive national

1:33:08 > 1:33:14community. I am grateful to my most honourable friend for this

1:33:14 > 1:33:21opportunity. I will address a crucial place of education in

1:33:21 > 1:33:24providing value and enabling every member of our society to contribute

1:33:24 > 1:33:32and flourish. We must continue to develop curriculum to suit our

1:33:32 > 1:33:37developing industrial and commercial needs. This means we must work to

1:33:37 > 1:33:40nurture and support children and young people so they may be

1:33:40 > 1:33:44employable author on the grounds of their skills and there are rich and

1:33:44 > 1:33:51steadfast character. Giving them the support and foundations for good

1:33:51 > 1:33:57mental health that will be necessary throughout their lives. We are

1:33:57 > 1:34:01currently experiencing a period of great uncertainty, politically,

1:34:01 > 1:34:09financially, morally. Whilst we may not know what things might look like

1:34:09 > 1:34:14in March 2019, we do know that we must continue to prepare for the

1:34:14 > 1:34:19longer term to meet the demands of our changing landscape and we are

1:34:19 > 1:34:24ready to face the competitive markets which we will engage with.

1:34:24 > 1:34:31People must be skilled, adaptable and resilient. This will only be

1:34:31 > 1:34:37possible if we tackle inequality of access to the acquisition of life

1:34:37 > 1:34:40and technical skills. In equality of access is the scourge of our

1:34:40 > 1:34:50generation. I implore the commitment to social mobility of the Secretary

1:34:50 > 1:34:57of State for Education but we're not doing anywhere near enough. The

1:34:57 > 1:35:12report that came out inspired me. The church continues with other

1:35:12 > 1:35:23institutions to be passionate about seeking to reach out to the most

1:35:23 > 1:35:32excluded in the home, school and the workplace. I agree about the

1:35:32 > 1:35:38challenges faced by schools in some of our northern towns. I was

1:35:38 > 1:35:40visiting schools in Blackpool earlier this year and I saw the

1:35:40 > 1:35:48challenges they face. Severe deprivation does not happen in urban

1:35:48 > 1:36:02areas but also coastal towns and remote rural areas where I live.

1:36:02 > 1:36:08Disadvantages accumulate. Children living in poverty or family debt are

1:36:08 > 1:36:13more likely to experience mental and physical health deficits as well as

1:36:13 > 1:36:22an impoverished life of imagination. All these factors have an impact. We

1:36:22 > 1:36:33must seek out those in needs so that we can ensure no member of society

1:36:33 > 1:36:45is hampered by their background. The Church of England is a recognised

1:36:45 > 1:36:55partner in this policy. Her Majesty's government is working hard

1:36:55 > 1:36:58to develop curriculum and qualifications which meet our future

1:36:58 > 1:37:09needs, most notably the introduction of levels and apprenticeships. I am

1:37:09 > 1:37:19thrilled that this is the first school to be an improved training

1:37:19 > 1:37:22provider. The Church of England is committed to opening more secondary

1:37:22 > 1:37:30schools like in Huntington, to take the model to the next stage of a

1:37:30 > 1:37:38single campus which will provide academic and simple pathways which

1:37:38 > 1:37:45we have created to run. We aim to foster a student focused,

1:37:45 > 1:37:48economically ambitious approach to education but it must also be

1:37:48 > 1:37:53prosthetic enough to equip young people foreign agile and robust 50

1:37:53 > 1:38:00or 60 years of productivity in a global setting not yet visible to

1:38:00 > 1:38:10us. However, education is not simply about imparting skills or knowledge.

1:38:10 > 1:38:14This is fundamentally about character and creating an

1:38:14 > 1:38:18educational environment which goes beyond the metrics of a core

1:38:18 > 1:38:23curriculum. We need a holistic attention to each individual child

1:38:23 > 1:38:29and young person, a large part of it needs to include being attentive to

1:38:29 > 1:38:38their mental health needs. The arrival of the green paper is

1:38:38 > 1:38:44timely. The government is committed to ensuring every school and college

1:38:44 > 1:38:51will be is able to play a vital role in identifying mental health needs

1:38:51 > 1:38:55at an early stage and promoting mental health practices from the

1:38:55 > 1:39:00very beginning of a child's education. I regularly visit schools

1:39:00 > 1:39:06at the Phoenix Centre, where they can continue their education but

1:39:06 > 1:39:10they are in hospital receiving treatment for self harming and

1:39:10 > 1:39:16eating disorders. It's a constant pain to me to see these children,

1:39:16 > 1:39:24whose needs might have been met sooner, the work of a disadvantaged

1:39:24 > 1:39:28coastal community is a perfect example of a school engaging with

1:39:28 > 1:39:33mental health needs at an early stage. As part of the Church of

1:39:33 > 1:39:39England's education officers national project, Saint Katharine is

1:39:39 > 1:39:43running a project to help children overcome mental health disadvantage

1:39:43 > 1:39:47through targeted support for children with mental health needs.

1:39:47 > 1:39:51It is very easy to dwell on the negative spot the Church of

1:39:51 > 1:39:57England's vision for education is rooted in hope, hope offered by

1:39:57 > 1:40:00Christ to us all, and the opportunity that all of us may have

1:40:00 > 1:40:08for a fresh start and the full dignity of humanity in him.

1:40:08 > 1:40:12We do not despair in the face of deprivation and we hope to tackle it

1:40:12 > 1:40:17head on and make a difference to the lives and confidence of young people

1:40:17 > 1:40:20and their families. We're all very grateful for the

1:40:20 > 1:40:23primate to the initiation of this debate. Could I have my personal

1:40:23 > 1:40:26vote of thanks on behalf of the Anglican Church for what they have

1:40:26 > 1:40:32done for me? We were evacuated during the water Southport, and they

1:40:32 > 1:40:38went to a Church of England primary school, Holy Trinity, next to Holy

1:40:38 > 1:40:44Trinity Church, at the end of the street, and it was a wonderful

1:40:44 > 1:40:48education. Red brick yard with concrete all around, and last stuck

1:40:48 > 1:40:53in the top to stop people coming over. That was our security. The

1:40:53 > 1:40:56more challenging students would climb up and shipped their bits of

1:40:56 > 1:41:01glass away! It was a good, basic education, learning tables by heart,

1:41:01 > 1:41:04learning poetry by heart, tests every turn. They say they are

1:41:04 > 1:41:09oppressive, but I had them every term at a Church of England primary

1:41:09 > 1:41:13School, and it was the basis of my education, so I thank you for that.

1:41:13 > 1:41:19I am personally not in favour of any more single faith schools. The

1:41:19 > 1:41:21Labour government and coalition government provided those, and I

1:41:21 > 1:41:25think it was a big mistake. I think children of all creeds, races and

1:41:25 > 1:41:30nations should work, play and eat beside each other, and go home on a

1:41:30 > 1:41:35couch beside each other. I don't want to talk any more that religious

1:41:35 > 1:41:40schools. I think the education system of our country is on the

1:41:40 > 1:41:42cost, and will be fundamentally changed by the digital revolution to

1:41:42 > 1:41:47which the primate referred. It will first reduce and skilled jobs on a

1:41:47 > 1:41:53massive and unprecedented scale. The only thing maintaining the education

1:41:53 > 1:41:56system since 1870 has been a large reservoir unskilled jobs at the

1:41:56 > 1:42:03bottom, in which the students who do not do well at school are filling.

1:42:03 > 1:42:08Warehouse jobs, driving jobs, you know that when you order something

1:42:08 > 1:42:11today, the only time a hand has touched it is when someone knocked

1:42:11 > 1:42:16on your door. Mercedes is producing a driverless lorry which will

1:42:16 > 1:42:22decimate the millions of trap-jaw ant is in America and those who run

1:42:22 > 1:42:25stopovers on sandwich bars. And not only unskilled. Middle management

1:42:25 > 1:42:31will be absolutely decimated by it. When RBS say they're going to close

1:42:31 > 1:42:37200 banks, it is middle managers, people here taken humanities

1:42:37 > 1:42:41degrees, got a job in a big operation and expected to have a

1:42:41 > 1:42:44comfortable job for the rest of their lives. Artificial intelligence

1:42:44 > 1:42:48and big data is going to destroy most of those jobs. I come to "In

1:42:48 > 1:42:52that we need a fundamental change to increase the technical education of

1:42:52 > 1:43:01our country. But we're not doing that on a beginner scale. All

1:43:01 > 1:43:04technical education is being squeezed out of schools below 16. I

1:43:04 > 1:43:08think we are the only large country that is actually following this

1:43:08 > 1:43:13policy. Design and technology is the only GCSE I introduced in the 1980s,

1:43:13 > 1:43:16and it has fallen for the last seven years, meaning fewer and fewer

1:43:16 > 1:43:21people at 16 have any experience of technical education. An 18-year-old

1:43:21 > 1:43:26German student at the age of 18, 70% of those would have had some

1:43:26 > 1:43:30technical education. In Britain, that is only 30%. Something has to

1:43:30 > 1:43:36be done about this, and that is wife or the last seven years, I have

1:43:36 > 1:43:40promoted university technical colleges, which are 14-18 colleges.

1:43:40 > 1:43:44We operate from nine or 9:30am till five o'clock every day. I tell

1:43:44 > 1:43:48youngsters when they join that this is the beginning of their working

1:43:48 > 1:43:51life, and for two days of the week, they will be making in designing

1:43:51 > 1:43:55things with their hands. The great virtue of his colleges, we have 49

1:43:55 > 1:43:58of them, we should have many more, is that we have the best employment

1:43:58 > 1:44:03rate of any schools in the country. Last July, we have got 13,000

1:44:03 > 1:44:09students at the moment who have probably -- and I will probably be

1:44:09 > 1:44:1520,000 by the end of this year. We had 2000 levers, of whom only 26

1:44:15 > 1:44:18were NEETs, and you needed job-seeker's allowance. That is an

1:44:18 > 1:44:23unemployment rate of 1%. The actual unemployment rate, which the

1:44:23 > 1:44:31government do not talk much about, is actually 12.2%, and we are 1%. It

1:44:31 > 1:44:34is a very clear demonstration of how successful these colleges are, and I

1:44:34 > 1:44:44am very glad that the gentleman in pre-Shia

1:44:47 > 1:44:51appreciates how important these are, and I think the country needs more

1:44:51 > 1:44:58UTCs. We had many technical skills, or killed by snobbery. It was a

1:44:58 > 1:45:01massive mistake. We need to invent a large amount of technical schools in

1:45:01 > 1:45:09our country. And can I say something about computing? Again, as with

1:45:09 > 1:45:13several things already said today, commuters tablet computers will

1:45:13 > 1:45:19fundamentally change education. There is no doubt about that. The

1:45:19 > 1:45:23government said that primary schools should teach coding last year, and I

1:45:23 > 1:45:27welcome that. The most successful digital country and Europe is

1:45:27 > 1:45:31Estonia, and their biggest exporter 's computer scientist. The former

1:45:31 > 1:45:33president of Estonia has been employed by the European Commission

1:45:33 > 1:45:38to determine the digital policy for Europe, we may have had coding in

1:45:38 > 1:45:43their schools -- and they have had coding in their schools the two

1:45:43 > 1:45:48decades. Starting in primary schools, yes. Some people say, is it

1:45:48 > 1:45:53too early to start in primary schools? I have come across a school

1:45:53 > 1:45:58in Telford, and they are meeting the headmaster after Christmas, and he

1:45:58 > 1:46:06has got, of his students at 11, and Audrey primary school with 66%

1:46:06 > 1:46:13disadvantaged pupils, he has got his pupils are GCSE Kim heating level.

1:46:13 > 1:46:17If he can do that, any primary school should do it. I'm going to

1:46:17 > 1:46:20find out how he do that and make sure it can spread throughout the

1:46:20 > 1:46:23primary areas. The other thing primary schools should have our 3D

1:46:23 > 1:46:31printer 's. Those who have seen them realise how important they are, how

1:46:31 > 1:46:33they help inventiveness and creativity. When it comes to

1:46:33 > 1:46:37secondary education, the government is not really doing enough to expand

1:46:37 > 1:46:45computer studies and schools. Last July, 60,000 students took GCSE

1:46:45 > 1:46:49computing at 16, which sounds a lot, but over 300,000 took a

1:46:49 > 1:46:55foreign-language. Are they going to say a foreign-language must be

1:46:55 > 1:46:59compulsory and 16? I don't believe that is necessary, but it should be

1:46:59 > 1:47:03voluntary, and a computer language should be. It is more important

1:47:03 > 1:47:05today to understand a computer language than to pick up the

1:47:05 > 1:47:08smatterings of foreign language, and I think that is a change that should

1:47:08 > 1:47:12be made. I think the government is moving, but that too slow a place. I

1:47:12 > 1:47:15think this is something that really must be taken in hand, because

1:47:15 > 1:47:21without that, I am quite sure that youth unemployment at 18, which is

1:47:21 > 1:47:25now 12.2%, having gone up by half a percent this year, will increase,

1:47:25 > 1:47:29and Brexit will make it even more difficult for us to do this, and we

1:47:29 > 1:47:33have a skills gap which is enormous. 750,000 digital technicians short,

1:47:33 > 1:47:4345,000 STEM graduates a year short. This requires a change in the vigour

1:47:43 > 1:47:48of increasing technical education. May I begin by joining everyone else

1:47:48 > 1:47:52in thanking the most reverent primate for securing this debate and

1:47:52 > 1:47:58introducing it in a way which was both stimulating and challenging,

1:47:58 > 1:48:03and set a very high bar for the rest of us, if I may say so. Like the

1:48:03 > 1:48:07noble Lord Baker, my own early education was in a Church of England

1:48:07 > 1:48:13school, a village primary school. Although I am of no settled face

1:48:13 > 1:48:19now, I acknowledge the huge debt that I owe to the early introduction

1:48:19 > 1:48:25to the Bible, the King James version, my Lords, old and new

1:48:25 > 1:48:30Testaments, and to the liturgy of the English Church, expressed in the

1:48:30 > 1:48:35book of Common prayer. I am still strongly attached to both, albeit

1:48:35 > 1:48:41by, I suppose what would call more aesthetic than theological ties.

1:48:41 > 1:48:46Because from them, I got most of what I needed to gain access to the

1:48:46 > 1:48:53huge Treasury of art and music and drama and literature produced as

1:48:53 > 1:48:59part of, or in response to, 2000 years of Christian belief and

1:48:59 > 1:49:05practice, and outs of that, I got a wonderful career. So I have much to

1:49:05 > 1:49:10be grateful for, my Lords, unbeliever though I be. I just want

1:49:10 > 1:49:15to raise one matter, which has been touched on by many other noble

1:49:15 > 1:49:18Lords, and it is about the relationship between education and

1:49:18 > 1:49:24democracy. We live in dangerous times. Democracy is threatened

1:49:24 > 1:49:27everywhere. Sometimes physically. But more seriously, intellectually

1:49:27 > 1:49:33and emotionally. If we believe with Churchill, as I do, that democracy

1:49:33 > 1:49:38is not perfect all wise, but that it is nonetheless preferable to all

1:49:38 > 1:49:44other forms of government that have been tried, then we must defend it,

1:49:44 > 1:49:50and our first line of defence is the education of our children. As I said

1:49:50 > 1:49:58before in this house, I believe this definition of education, expressed

1:49:58 > 1:50:03as to how we expect our schools to behave, has become far too narrow

1:50:03 > 1:50:07and reliant on examinations, and therefore formulate the gene to the

1:50:07 > 1:50:12test. I mean no disrespect to teachers when I say that, and I had

1:50:12 > 1:50:16better not, because my family is full of them. I am more concerned

1:50:16 > 1:50:18with asserting the need for a direct connection between educational

1:50:18 > 1:50:23inputs and jobs. Education, my Lords, as the most reverent primate

1:50:23 > 1:50:28and others have said, is not just about knowing stuff. It is also

1:50:28 > 1:50:37about thinking stuff and feeling stuff, as the noble lady Neuberger

1:50:37 > 1:50:42so eloquently put it to us about emotional literacy, which is about

1:50:42 > 1:50:47understanding how others think and feel. It is about learning to deal

1:50:47 > 1:50:52with complexity, with ambiguity, with contradiction, with the

1:50:52 > 1:50:59frequent absence of right answers, and now, with a daily avalanche of

1:50:59 > 1:51:03unmediated information, what the most reverent primate referred to as

1:51:03 > 1:51:07unguided and competing narratives, unguided and competing values and

1:51:07 > 1:51:15narratives, which come act all our young April via the internet. In

1:51:15 > 1:51:18other words, education is about the exercise of judgment, of critical

1:51:18 > 1:51:24thinking, and empathy, all vital to exercising our democratic rights as

1:51:24 > 1:51:32citizens responsibly, as well as and not instead of, my Lords, knowing

1:51:32 > 1:51:36our times tables, and how to create an algorithm, and indeed, how to

1:51:36 > 1:51:44spell algorithm. The responsibility for ensuring this Brad cannot lie

1:51:44 > 1:51:49entirely in schools. They need support, and I'm afraid, my Lords,

1:51:49 > 1:51:51here comes the stuck record bit in terms of other interventions I have

1:51:51 > 1:51:57made in this house. The study of the arts provides matchless

1:51:57 > 1:52:01opportunities to develop these capabilities. The JAMA dies age and

1:52:01 > 1:52:06of human dilemmas and aspirations helps us to understand them. -- the

1:52:06 > 1:52:10dramatisation. Shakespeare is a great way of learning about human

1:52:10 > 1:52:14beings. Metaphor, allegory, characterisation infection help us

1:52:14 > 1:52:17to grasp the wide differences between people, and to tolerate

1:52:17 > 1:52:24those differences, and participating in music, particularly singing

1:52:24 > 1:52:28enquiries, which I personally do, teaches us, as they say, that there

1:52:28 > 1:52:35is no I in team. The UK has many wonderful cultural organisations,

1:52:35 > 1:52:42small and large, regional and national, and indeed, most hourly

1:52:42 > 1:52:45contributing widely to the education of the next generation of citizens,

1:52:45 > 1:52:51both through their core work, and through a variety of imaginative

1:52:51 > 1:52:53collaborations with schools and communities, especially in

1:52:53 > 1:52:58disadvantaged areas. I refer in passing to my work with the Royal

1:52:58 > 1:53:01Shakespeare Company, which has recently done great work in

1:53:01 > 1:53:04Blackpool, which was mentioned as one of those deprived areas. I would

1:53:04 > 1:53:09also like to mention the excellent work of Chicken Shed Theatre in

1:53:09 > 1:53:14North London, where my nine-year-old granddaughter is currently appearing

1:53:14 > 1:53:17in their extremely professional, in the very best sense, Christmas show,

1:53:17 > 1:53:23in which she is appearing on stage with children in wheelchairs, with

1:53:23 > 1:53:26children with learning difficulties and down syndrome, and every other

1:53:26 > 1:53:32kind of human being you can think of, old and young. What is she

1:53:32 > 1:53:38learning from that? A great deal, my Lords. Schools are able to

1:53:38 > 1:53:39participate in the partnerships these organisations offer them, and

1:53:39 > 1:53:46they value them enormously. Evidence shows they have a beneficial effect

1:53:46 > 1:53:50on all aspects of learning, but school leaders are often confused by

1:53:50 > 1:53:54mixed messages from government about the value of cultural education and

1:53:54 > 1:53:58struggle more and more with budgetary constraints as do the arts

1:53:58 > 1:54:07organisations themselves. We are missing a trick.

1:54:07 > 1:54:15We are missing a trick and please take this debate seriously.I would

1:54:15 > 1:54:20like to start by the clearing my interest as chairman of the former

1:54:20 > 1:54:27local government Association. As a former teacher, I am particularly

1:54:27 > 1:54:32pleased to have the opportunity to speak in this important debate and I

1:54:32 > 1:54:42thank the most Reverend primate for initiating today's debate. We need

1:54:42 > 1:54:47to provide young people with the skills they need to flourish and it

1:54:47 > 1:54:58is something we can all agree on. I am pleased to note the achievements

1:54:58 > 1:55:02which are giving millions of children a better start in life than

1:55:02 > 1:55:07they could have expected a decade ago. Thanks to the school reforms

1:55:07 > 1:55:10that have been introduced including the establishment of free schools

1:55:10 > 1:55:21and academies, as well as changes to ensure a more rigorous curriculum,

1:55:21 > 1:55:30there are more schools rated good and outstanding than ever before.

1:55:30 > 1:55:33The proportion of pupils taking core academic subjects has almost

1:55:33 > 1:55:43doubled. Too many children are not receiving the start in life that

1:55:43 > 1:55:48they deserve. In order to make sure ours is a country where everyone has

1:55:48 > 1:55:56a fair chance to go as far as their talent and hard work will allow, we

1:55:56 > 1:56:01must redouble our efforts to ensure that everyone has a world-class

1:56:01 > 1:56:11education. There is a wealth of evidence to show that the

1:56:11 > 1:56:21opportunities offered early on is what defines a life chance. There

1:56:21 > 1:56:23are two Mac areas of education policy I am particularly passionate

1:56:23 > 1:56:30about because of the transformative impact they can have on young lives.

1:56:30 > 1:56:37As a former leader of Bradford Council and Vice President of an

1:56:37 > 1:56:40association, I'm delighted local government is leading the way in

1:56:40 > 1:56:46these areas, to highlight just one example I'm familiar with, North

1:56:46 > 1:56:50Yorkshire County Council became the first local authority in the country

1:56:50 > 1:56:55to take the family model and introduce it as a mainstream

1:56:55 > 1:57:00approach for its own children and young people's services, with one

1:57:00 > 1:57:04plan and a dedicated social worker for each family in need. Prevention

1:57:04 > 1:57:08teams provide highly targeted support at times when families are

1:57:08 > 1:57:14most in need in order to stop problems from escalating. In doing

1:57:14 > 1:57:27so they are backed up by support from a variety of external agencies.

1:57:27 > 1:57:33This builds on a programme which helped 850 families, resulting in

1:57:33 > 1:57:36significant reductions in truancy, youth crime, anti-social behaviour

1:57:36 > 1:57:43and youth unemployment among the most challenging of households. The

1:57:43 > 1:57:47current programme is also making a real difference to the lives of

1:57:47 > 1:57:52people living in troubled families as evidenced by a 20% reduction in

1:57:52 > 1:57:57the social care population. I believe if we are to give young

1:57:57 > 1:58:02people the very best possible start in life it is programmes such as

1:58:02 > 1:58:08these, delivered at local level and tailored to individual families and

1:58:08 > 1:58:14their own circumstances that truly have a transformative impact. Moving

1:58:14 > 1:58:19on to formal education, if we are to have a system that works for

1:58:19 > 1:58:26everyone, it's important that the way that funding is distributed is

1:58:26 > 1:58:31fair. This is not the case currently because across the country, children

1:58:31 > 1:58:35with the same needs and expectations receive markedly different rates of

1:58:35 > 1:58:38funding for their school places. The government is currently addressing

1:58:38 > 1:58:44this through the introduction of a national funding formula, something

1:58:44 > 1:58:52I personally welcome. Reforms such as this are complex and will be seen

1:58:52 > 1:58:58to produce both winners and losers. For this reason I join in welcoming

1:58:58 > 1:59:02the announcement of 1.3 billion in funding to ensure no school will

1:59:02 > 1:59:14lose out under the national funding formula in 2018 - 2020. I am also

1:59:14 > 1:59:18pleased the government is committed to protecting the pupil premium

1:59:18 > 1:59:22referred to by Lord Wallace and ensuring those young people who need

1:59:22 > 1:59:31that support receive it. I'm sure ministers are aware of lobbying on

1:59:31 > 1:59:36the funding of children's services and the pressures council budgets

1:59:36 > 1:59:40are facing. No doubt they will be carefully considering this in the

1:59:40 > 1:59:42run-up to the local government financial settlement which is

1:59:42 > 1:59:49expected shortly. I've spoken about early years education and formal

1:59:49 > 1:59:55education and I'd like to conclude by highlighting the importance of

1:59:55 > 2:00:03offering real opportunities to the 200,000 young people choosing to

2:00:03 > 2:00:10enter full-time vocational study after the GCSE years.

2:00:10 > 2:00:13Apprenticeships provide a great opportunity for those young people

2:00:13 > 2:00:19who are keen to enter the world of work and I'm delighted councils are

2:00:19 > 2:00:24playing an active role in promoting these, for example, Kent County

2:00:24 > 2:00:30Council offers a range of apprenticeships to help them start

2:00:30 > 2:00:37their careers. As part of the apprentice offer, apprentices

2:00:37 > 2:00:40receive £140 a week during their apprenticeship as well as support

2:00:40 > 2:00:47for all the qualifications they are required to study for, access to a

2:00:47 > 2:00:55mentor and support to look for a job when the apprenticeship is finished.

2:00:55 > 2:01:00The council offers support and advice as well as access to relevant

2:01:00 > 2:01:08funding and businesses so that they are interested in taking on

2:01:08 > 2:01:15apprentice ships. Apprenticeships represent a potential transformation

2:01:15 > 2:01:19in life chances of young people who participate, boosting their

2:01:19 > 2:01:21self-esteem and giving them the skills that they need to enter the

2:01:21 > 2:01:31world of work. In conclusion, a good education and a decent start in life

2:01:31 > 2:01:36are not luxuries. They are right that should be enjoyed by everyone.

2:01:36 > 2:01:41I've been delighted to take part in this debate and I look forward to

2:01:41 > 2:01:49hearing from the remaining speakers. I would like to thank the most

2:01:49 > 2:01:52Reverend primate for the opportunity to address a subject that is vital

2:01:52 > 2:02:00for the future. I will restrict myself to one area where I can claim

2:02:00 > 2:02:03some personal experience. The last time this was debated was almost two

2:02:03 > 2:02:11years ago. During that debate are greatly missed colleague, Baroness

2:02:11 > 2:02:16Williams, in her valedictory speech, said this. The United Kingdom has a

2:02:16 > 2:02:20special genius for demonstrating public-sector imagination, for a

2:02:20 > 2:02:24commitment to the idea and I deal of public life. In her speech, she

2:02:24 > 2:02:28referred to the BBC and the open University as two examples of that

2:02:28 > 2:02:37public sector imagination and it sample -- in action. I wonder

2:02:37 > 2:02:43whether that still truly exists. I would argue that were it not for the

2:02:43 > 2:02:48care and attention shown by this house, it would be possible for the

2:02:48 > 2:02:55BBC to be allowed to be atrophy. Right now I would like to reflect on

2:02:55 > 2:03:00the open University, an institution to which everyone would pay lip

2:03:00 > 2:03:13service. I am the beneficiary of a part-time education although in my

2:03:13 > 2:03:17day it was simply called night school. I would hazard that most of

2:03:17 > 2:03:22the speakers entered the world of work in which they could put

2:03:22 > 2:03:25education paying them having developed a skill set that would

2:03:25 > 2:03:28last a lifetime. That no longer remains remotely the case. I spent

2:03:28 > 2:03:41yesterday morning at Tech UK. They offered us the self same message.

2:03:41 > 2:03:49The prospects for this country's future were being seriously hampered

2:03:49 > 2:03:57by a shortage of skilled and confident people. They want people

2:03:57 > 2:04:01in the workforce to be up skilled and retrained to contribute to a

2:04:01 > 2:04:05rapidly changing working environment. That public imagination

2:04:05 > 2:04:14I referred to greeted the world's first distance learning

2:04:14 > 2:04:18organisation, perfectly suited to addressing the reskilling challenge.

2:04:18 > 2:04:24Through a process of what I can only describe as the nine neglect, the

2:04:24 > 2:04:33mission to address exactly this type of crisis has become seriously

2:04:33 > 2:04:40endangered. Funding changes under different UK governments have led

2:04:40 > 2:04:44directly in the past five years to 50% fall in the number of part-time

2:04:44 > 2:04:50learners in England. This is worse than nations and regions which have

2:04:50 > 2:05:03avoided the funding changes. The open University has lower figures in

2:05:03 > 2:05:11England than in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. In fact, England

2:05:11 > 2:05:19accounts for 90% of the total decline. When it comes to it I

2:05:19 > 2:05:22wonder if the Minister would explain these discrepancies and the fact

2:05:22 > 2:05:29there are over double the part-time students in Scotland than in

2:05:29 > 2:05:41England. What do they know that we have failed to grasp? Let's look at

2:05:41 > 2:05:45the problem. If the government agrees with the most ambitious of

2:05:45 > 2:05:52our companies that we've a growing skills gap then the potentially

2:05:52 > 2:05:58transformative step would be to develop accounts to offer help to

2:05:58 > 2:06:05employees seeking training, closely offered by industry. This could

2:06:05 > 2:06:12drive a culture change and help deliver the industrial policy. This

2:06:12 > 2:06:17concept was laid out in compelling detail by the Vice Chancellor, Peter

2:06:17 > 2:06:23Horrocks, in a recent article which I would recommend. In a world in

2:06:23 > 2:06:29which the World Economic Forum can report that just last year, China

2:06:29 > 2:06:36had 4.7 million new graduates as against 568,000 in the US, with the

2:06:36 > 2:06:41UK not making it onto the list, we cannot afford to leave a sizeable

2:06:41 > 2:06:46proportion of our workforce cut adrift by the inexorable march of

2:06:46 > 2:06:51technology. Most particularly, when we have a world-class institution

2:06:51 > 2:07:02wishing to be repurposed to address what is clearly a developing crisis.

2:07:02 > 2:07:06All of this goes beyond world economic considerations. It was an

2:07:06 > 2:07:12unimaginable privilege to present to people who had worked for years on

2:07:12 > 2:07:16the kitchen tables at the start of the journey towards improved lives

2:07:16 > 2:07:20for themselves and their families. Why would any government not wish to

2:07:20 > 2:07:33play a part in making that possible? What fascinating and moving to beat

2:07:33 > 2:07:41this has turned out to be. So many interesting and great speeches. I

2:07:41 > 2:07:48want to focus upon the Academy movement. At the turn-of-the-century

2:07:48 > 2:07:56I became chairman of the United schools trust which is a group of

2:07:56 > 2:08:02independent schools which numbered 12. When Tony Blair announced his

2:08:02 > 2:08:05intention to create the Academy programme, under the leadership of

2:08:05 > 2:08:13Lord Adonis, the United schools trust was among the first to engage

2:08:13 > 2:08:19with the programme. The then CEO asks the question of our trustees,

2:08:19 > 2:08:27what would our forebears do if they were alive today? Formed in 1883, it

2:08:27 > 2:08:37was created to provide excellent education for girls and the trustees

2:08:37 > 2:08:52in 1999 decided it demanded we to should engage. Our group is one of

2:08:52 > 2:09:02the most successful multi-Academy trusts. Now led by John calls,

2:09:02 > 2:09:09United learning has taken on failing schools in the most deprived areas

2:09:09 > 2:09:19of the country. They will be transformed into thriving, popular

2:09:19 > 2:09:26schools where pupils make excellent progress. Successful forms are

2:09:26 > 2:09:29providing students with life changing opportunities to go to

2:09:29 > 2:09:35university. Many of these students are the first in a family to do so.

2:09:35 > 2:09:42A good number have seen students securing places in Russell Group

2:09:42 > 2:09:49universities including Oxford and Cambridge.

2:09:49 > 2:09:55And striking features of United Learning is that our response to the

2:09:55 > 2:10:00academy programme arose from independent education. We now have

2:10:00 > 2:10:05school such as Guildford High School For Girls, Surbiton High School For

2:10:05 > 2:10:15Girls caterer -- Kate Hamer school, to raise standards. One of the most

2:10:15 > 2:10:17interesting links is Marlborough College working closely with Swindon

2:10:17 > 2:10:24Academy. I am aware that other links exist, but I wonder if the

2:10:24 > 2:10:26Department for Education is doing much as it showed during carriage

2:10:26 > 2:10:30that partnership as part of the social duty of independent

2:10:30 > 2:10:39education. In this, I add echo the view of Lord Wallace of Saltaire.

2:10:39 > 2:10:41Although many good things are happening in education, the pressure

2:10:41 > 2:10:49on state schools, I suppose on all schools, are raising sharp questions

2:10:49 > 2:10:55about education policy and resources. The first thing I want to

2:10:55 > 2:11:00raise as if the academy programme created by the Labour government and

2:11:00 > 2:11:04taken up with great enthusiasm by the Conservative Party with equal

2:11:04 > 2:11:10enthusiasm is still the ultimate goal of the government. The White

2:11:10 > 2:11:17Paper of March 2016 suggests that this is the goal, but would the

2:11:17 > 2:11:20Prime Minister desire to increase the number of grammar schools,

2:11:20 > 2:11:23although that has possibly been kicked into the long grass, there

2:11:23 > 2:11:27remains a question about the government's long-term plans and

2:11:27 > 2:11:31commitment. Is the government in favour of full academise Asian or

2:11:31 > 2:11:48not? -- academisation. The second question is one of teacher shortage.

2:11:48 > 2:11:51The latest figures for recruitment into teacher training shows targets

2:11:51 > 2:11:58being missed in almost every subject, in many cases by a long

2:11:58 > 2:12:06way. It is worth in some subjects, especially maths and physical

2:12:06 > 2:12:10science. Wherever there is a shortage, my Lords, it is schools in

2:12:10 > 2:12:15the poorest areas that are most affected. So it tends to widen

2:12:15 > 2:12:23disparities between schools, and our fact social cohesion. Of course, it

2:12:23 > 2:12:26is not impossible for heads to recruit new teachers, but some find

2:12:26 > 2:12:31it difficult to get specialists in all subjects. The important point of

2:12:31 > 2:12:36our teacher supply is that education is a people's business, and schools

2:12:36 > 2:12:41need the right skilled people preaching every class. Given that

2:12:41 > 2:12:45initial teacher training targets have been missed again, may I ask

2:12:45 > 2:12:51what is the government's strategy to address the problem? Finally, my

2:12:51 > 2:12:55Lords, a flourishing in skilled society needs far more than young

2:12:55 > 2:13:02people passing academic tests, and this has been emphasised again and

2:13:02 > 2:13:04again. Education must be grounded in strong values and character

2:13:04 > 2:13:10building, as Lord Griffiths reminded us, in which the partnership between

2:13:10 > 2:13:17families, schools and local communities is a covenant. Yes, that

2:13:17 > 2:13:24is a strong word, a covenant. Based upon the fundamental importance of

2:13:24 > 2:13:26the chart.

2:13:27 > 2:13:31My Lords, it is a very great pleasure to be able to take part in

2:13:31 > 2:13:37this debate, which was so splendidly introduced by the most Reverend

2:13:37 > 2:13:43Primate, in his own inimitable way, and of course, it is a great

2:13:43 > 2:13:46pleasure to be able to follow a former bishop, and I know something

2:13:46 > 2:13:54of his work in United Learning, because Lincoln Minster School is

2:13:54 > 2:13:59one of the schools for which he had overall responsibility. It is

2:13:59 > 2:14:06something approaching 50 years since I last was a schoolmaster. I spent

2:14:06 > 2:14:09ten years in various schools, and I am very sorry Lord donors is not

2:14:09 > 2:14:12here now, because much of my teaching, and most of learning, was

2:14:12 > 2:14:20in Grimsby. But, my Lords, it was a different age. In every possible

2:14:20 > 2:14:29way. My noble friend, the Baroness Shackleton, who again, is not here

2:14:29 > 2:14:36at the moment, spoke movingly about the family, the effect of family

2:14:36 > 2:14:41breakdown on children's lives. My Lords, in those days, I taught

2:14:41 > 2:14:50throughout the 1960s, and in those days, there were called Molly --

2:14:50 > 2:14:54there were commonly accepted norms and standards, and most children

2:14:54 > 2:15:00attending schools were the children of two parents of different sex,

2:15:00 > 2:15:12married. I make no value judgments, I merely state a fact. We now, my

2:15:12 > 2:15:18lord, live in an age where the moral compass by which life was lived in

2:15:18 > 2:15:22those days, and for some considerable time after that, no

2:15:22 > 2:15:28longer functions. And it is a moral compass, my Lords, that has been

2:15:28 > 2:15:37destroyed, and I am glad to see the noble Lord in his place nodding at

2:15:37 > 2:15:40this point, because he made a powerful point here, destroyed by

2:15:40 > 2:15:46social media, and whatever advantages social media and the

2:15:46 > 2:15:53internet has brought to our lives, there are also, and I speak as the

2:15:53 > 2:16:01grandfather of four grandchildren, there are also very real dangers.

2:16:01 > 2:16:06There is a downside, my Lords, which we have to combat, and it is in that

2:16:06 > 2:16:10context that I just want to make a few remarks about what should be the

2:16:10 > 2:16:19ultimate purpose of education today. My Lords, it should be seen educate

2:16:19 > 2:16:23-- to educate, both from the point of view of learning, and

2:16:23 > 2:16:32emotionally, the citizens of the future. What we need to come out of

2:16:32 > 2:16:38our schools are responsible young people, who take a pride in their

2:16:38 > 2:16:50country, and I refer to something Lord Sacks said earlier on in

2:16:50 > 2:16:54debate, who imbibed through their learning what this country is all

2:16:54 > 2:17:02about. And how increasingly necessary, my Lords, it is going to

2:17:02 > 2:17:11do after 2019, when we begin the tortuous process of extract in

2:17:11 > 2:17:17ourselves from the European Union. -- extracting.

2:17:18 > 2:17:25My Lords, what is a responsible citizen? Above all, someone who has

2:17:25 > 2:17:36a sense of community cohesion, and obligation to serve that community.

2:17:36 > 2:17:41And so we need to inculcate, and this is why I am delighted to be a

2:17:41 > 2:17:44supporter of Church of England schools and what they have brought

2:17:44 > 2:17:48to our nation over the years, the noble Baroness Lady McIntosh refers

2:17:48 > 2:17:58to this, what we have got to recognise is that there is a

2:17:58 > 2:18:04continuing responsibility upon these schools, and others, of course, to

2:18:04 > 2:18:11teach what, in the words of the King James Bible, which she referred to

2:18:11 > 2:18:23so lovingly, and also, of course, one of the Epistles for the day,

2:18:23 > 2:18:30Trinity 20, is it? Corinthians 13, faith, hope and charity, and the

2:18:30 > 2:18:37greatest of these is charity. We need young people who have a

2:18:37 > 2:18:41sense of belonging to a community, and a sense of obligation to commit

2:18:41 > 2:18:51to that community. And so, citizenship education should be

2:18:51 > 2:18:56given a far higher priority than it is at the moment. And my Lords, I

2:18:56 > 2:19:00want to end on another point, because it has been referred to by

2:19:00 > 2:19:03several of your Lordships during this debate, and it is one to which

2:19:03 > 2:19:13I attach enormous importance. My Lords, it is not a favour if our --

2:19:13 > 2:19:18it is not a failure, if our young people do not go to university.

2:19:18 > 2:19:26Vocational qualification is it self -- itself a noble aspiration. I have

2:19:26 > 2:19:31the honour to be the founder chairman of the William Morris Craft

2:19:31 > 2:19:37Fellowships, and just a week ago, we had our annual Fellowship Award, the

2:19:37 > 2:19:4230th. It has been going 30 years now. Young craftsmen and crass women

2:19:42 > 2:19:46are rewarded, not only for what they have achieved, but for their

2:19:46 > 2:19:48potential. -- crafts women.

2:19:50 > 2:19:58One of the obligations on a William Morris Craft Fellow, a fellow for

2:19:58 > 2:20:01life once appointed, is to go out amongst the young and encourage them

2:20:01 > 2:20:10to aspire to master one of the crafts. The word "Apprenticeship"

2:20:10 > 2:20:15has been bandied around quite a bit during this debate, but true

2:20:15 > 2:20:18apprenticeships are those which give a rigorous training over a long

2:20:18 > 2:20:27period, so that the young person concerned can indeed be a master of

2:20:27 > 2:20:33the craft. And if we can, indeed, in spite of all the diversions and

2:20:33 > 2:20:38problems and threats of social media, if we could, indeed, moved to

2:20:38 > 2:20:432020 and beyond, have young people come out of schools, not only

2:20:43 > 2:20:50equipped to be equipped to be good citizens and members of their

2:20:50 > 2:20:55community, but masters of whatever they have studied, and whatever

2:20:55 > 2:21:02vocation they followed, then indeed, we would be achieving a great deal

2:21:02 > 2:21:09for the educational system in this country.

2:21:10 > 2:21:13The most reverend prelate has been a great champion for economic and

2:21:13 > 2:21:17social justice. To his credit, he was one of the

2:21:17 > 2:21:24first people to speak up against loan sharks. This debate reflects

2:21:24 > 2:21:30his determination and vision in achieving that social justice in

2:21:30 > 2:21:41educating the whole person. Noble Lord Sacks and others has said that

2:21:41 > 2:21:44education is part of our social infrastructure. It is not something

2:21:44 > 2:21:50to be nurtured separately, it is part of what we are. And if we don't

2:21:50 > 2:21:56get it right and move with the times, everything else suffers. So

2:21:56 > 2:22:04are we getting it right? Last week, we learned there has been enormous

2:22:04 > 2:22:13growth in the number of graduates in the population. We also learned that

2:22:13 > 2:22:17almost half of those who graduated in the last five years are in

2:22:17 > 2:22:23non-graduate level jobs. Noble Lords will have heard this morning that

2:22:23 > 2:22:27the chair of the National Audit Office compares this with the

2:22:27 > 2:22:34mis-selling by the banks. We also learned there has been a large fall

2:22:34 > 2:22:41in those taking up apprenticeships. This may be due to the new system of

2:22:41 > 2:22:47the apprenticeship levy, or the IFA refusing support for low-level

2:22:47 > 2:22:54schemes. But equally, it could mean that employers are rejecting the

2:22:54 > 2:22:59scheme, as my noble friend Lord Jonas said, which would be a real

2:22:59 > 2:23:05cause for worry. -- Lord Jonas. There could be cuts in the FP

2:23:05 > 2:23:12institutions. Perhaps the minister can tell us, because we really do

2:23:12 > 2:23:21have a great productivity mountain to climb. We also learned that in

2:23:21 > 2:23:27some parts of the country, 16% of the population have no skills nor

2:23:27 > 2:23:31qualifications at all. The national average of 9% is far too high, and I

2:23:31 > 2:23:35would agree with most noble Lords, who say that it is deprivation

2:23:35 > 2:23:41caused by these imbalances that is holding our society back and I put

2:23:41 > 2:23:45this down to many institutions having to achieve their target

2:23:45 > 2:23:56taking precedence over the needs of society as a whole. Given more staff

2:23:56 > 2:24:03and more time, of course they would make more of complete education, as

2:24:03 > 2:24:09required under the 2017 act. But the system also encourages academic

2:24:09 > 2:24:16development of the more able. Teaching to the test means that

2:24:16 > 2:24:19handed down knowledge takes precedence over the forms of

2:24:19 > 2:24:23teaching that explicitly seeks to engage children in the learning

2:24:23 > 2:24:31process.

2:24:31 > 2:24:40The noble Lord spoke of social media. Good exam marks don't tell us

2:24:40 > 2:24:44how, in this post-truth age, we can recognise alternative fact that we

2:24:44 > 2:24:54find on social media. The fake news, invented conspiracies, as the recent

2:24:54 > 2:25:00University of Salford reported on this. They are all designed to

2:25:00 > 2:25:06undermine the very notion of knowledge. The Welsh Assembly

2:25:06 > 2:25:13decided to act, by abolishing performance tables. And yes, they

2:25:13 > 2:25:19found Welsh schools lagging behind. Does this prove that what gets

2:25:19 > 2:25:24measured gets done? Or that students who have been steered towards easy

2:25:24 > 2:25:29to obtain qualifications get good results? I don't know. But we have

2:25:29 > 2:25:35yet to learn that dropping the performance tables has better

2:25:35 > 2:25:41prepared students for real-life situations. This character

2:25:41 > 2:25:49development, or character education, helps to promote well-being. And

2:25:49 > 2:25:53improved well-being improves the capacity to learn, not only

2:25:53 > 2:26:02academically, but to learn the social soft skills. Baroness

2:26:02 > 2:26:07Neuberger, and other noble Lords and the charity Young Minds make the

2:26:07 > 2:26:11point that too much emphasis on academic achievement and too little

2:26:11 > 2:26:17character education is part of the reason for our poor record on the

2:26:17 > 2:26:24mental health of young people. I agree with the bishop and my noble

2:26:24 > 2:26:28friend Lord Puttnam. The purpose is to prepare people for the less

2:26:28 > 2:26:37tangible economy that we are busily creating. He described it. Requiring

2:26:37 > 2:26:42less tangible skills and the ability to reinvent ourselves, as things

2:26:42 > 2:26:50change. This is very vital in today's world of work. Hopefully,

2:26:50 > 2:26:56the RSA's ideal school exhibition project will help. This attempts to

2:26:56 > 2:27:02loosen the league tables' grip on the tests, targets and tactics

2:27:02 > 2:27:08system and are pleased with the more mission orientated culture. Its

2:27:08 > 2:27:11focus on the curriculum and testing what has been taught, instead of

2:27:11 > 2:27:19teaching what will be tested. To reward genuine quality rather than

2:27:19 > 2:27:28coach responses. My noble friend Lord Griffiths made this point. This

2:27:28 > 2:27:32project will still identify and tackle failure, but will give

2:27:32 > 2:27:38schools the freedom to pursue their own mission. I agree with the

2:27:38 > 2:27:45Archbishop's call to teach our values and our ideals as well as how

2:27:45 > 2:27:50to write a good exam. And this will build the flourishing society with

2:27:50 > 2:28:00all the right skills that the Archbishop calls for in this debate.

2:28:00 > 2:28:08I thank him for this time the debate. It was Aristotle who said

2:28:08 > 2:28:13that educating the mind without educating the heart is no education

2:28:13 > 2:28:19at all. Education should be about understanding, not just memory. The

2:28:19 > 2:28:23whole person education is clear from the Bible. Christ is spoken of as a

2:28:23 > 2:28:26teacher many times in the Gospels, and one of his most important

2:28:26 > 2:28:33lanterns is in Corinthians. The human body has many parts, but the

2:28:33 > 2:28:39many parts make up one whole body. This whole person education approach

2:28:39 > 2:28:44should be the foundation to political, economic and social

2:28:44 > 2:28:49decision-making. Education should also be a lifelong pursuit. It is a

2:28:49 > 2:28:53journey, not a destination. Some years ago, I was walking down

2:28:53 > 2:28:58Kennedy Road. A middle-aged man was coming in the opposite direction,

2:28:58 > 2:29:04smiling at me. He started laughing and pointed to meet, saying, George

2:29:04 > 2:29:08Clooney, George Clooney. I've been called many things in my life, but

2:29:08 > 2:29:16never George Clooney. Seeing her bemused I was, he said, John Taylor?

2:29:16 > 2:29:21Many years ago, you were my lecturer. It was a dry subject, so

2:29:21 > 2:29:26instead of calling them a and B, you give them all Hollywood names. So

2:29:26 > 2:29:31George Clooney would Seltzer Bette Midler, who would then sublet to Kim

2:29:31 > 2:29:36Basinger. I did recall his face, because it was much older than the

2:29:36 > 2:29:40other students. He explained how after seven years in a factory he

2:29:40 > 2:29:48had made the leap to study landlord and become a legal executive. If any

2:29:48 > 2:29:52of your Lordships nor George Clooney, please tell he had a real

2:29:52 > 2:29:58impact on my course. It was the church of England which introduced a

2:29:58 > 2:30:02school in every parish over 200 years ago. This was more than 50

2:30:02 > 2:30:07years before the provision of state education. Indeed, in the 19th

2:30:07 > 2:30:10century, the Church also provided some great leaders who had a real

2:30:10 > 2:30:15impact on British life. To do so, they had to educate and transform

2:30:15 > 2:30:19people in the way they thought about their fellow man. These Christian

2:30:19 > 2:30:25leaders thought about the whole person dynamic and included William

2:30:25 > 2:30:28Wilberforce, with anti slavery, Elizabeth Fry on prisons and voting

2:30:28 > 2:30:34booths, the founder of the Salvation Army. These leaders championed

2:30:34 > 2:30:39universal values such as fairness, tolerance, justice, forgiveness,

2:30:39 > 2:30:43freedom of speech, family values. And although the church was running

2:30:43 > 2:30:48much of the early education, its partnership with business provided

2:30:48 > 2:30:52not only resources, but that early link between education and the

2:30:52 > 2:30:57workplace. In Birmingham, the Quaker Christians started the Cadbury 's

2:30:57 > 2:31:01company, which provided education, employment and housing. They were

2:31:01 > 2:31:06concerned about the whole person employee. The Quakers started many

2:31:06 > 2:31:10other companies, including the early banks, Friends Provident, Huntley

2:31:10 > 2:31:21and plumbers. -- Huntley and palmers. Boots was a small shop in

2:31:21 > 2:31:28Nottingham selling herbal remedies, then became the global empire of

2:31:28 > 2:31:31today. The greatest example of Christian whole person education in

2:31:31 > 2:31:38British history was a Sunday School Wesleyan Chapel in Birmingham. In

2:31:38 > 2:31:411874, it started a little sports club to keep young men out of the

2:31:41 > 2:31:45pubs on a Saturday. The idea was to give them healthy in the spirit of

2:31:45 > 2:31:52the chapel and healthy in mind and body on the football field. The

2:31:52 > 2:31:57greatest gift to mankind, my club Aston Villa was born. Will the noble

2:31:57 > 2:32:00ministers explain how the government will encourage business to have a

2:32:00 > 2:32:06warped whole person approach to the activities? I think especially with

2:32:06 > 2:32:09social media companies like Google and Facebook, who make vast profits

2:32:09 > 2:32:15and have such an influence on life. This week, Prince William made a

2:32:15 > 2:32:20speech at the children's summit in Manchester. He highlighted the

2:32:20 > 2:32:24problem of cyber bullying and called on social media companies to be part

2:32:24 > 2:32:31of the solution in combating online harassment. As one of the patrons of

2:32:31 > 2:32:34the foundation charity, I welcome this. As the state has taken over

2:32:34 > 2:32:40more and more about education, that original whole person approach to

2:32:40 > 2:32:44learning has been sacrificed somewhat on the altar of results and

2:32:44 > 2:32:49the obsession with university degrees. The importance of spiritual

2:32:49 > 2:32:53and emotional well-being has been overshadowed. The recent race