09/05/2016 Monday in Parliament

Hello and welcome to Monday in Parliament.

Schools won't be forced to become academies

but the Education Secretary insists they're the way forward.

When he said last week I am not going to leave the job half done, I

am not going to leave the job half done.

Labour says knives, drugs and mobile phones are being hurled over

the walls to prisoners at a London jail.

Prisons are dangerous places. We have heard that the government wants

to transform prisons for over a year. Words are no longer enough.

Do you have any idea what it looks like to a group of MPs? I can only

apologise again for not being able to turn up, but I would.

But first, the Education Secretary Nicky Morgan announced last Friday

that the Government was abandoning plans to force all schools in

The proposal had many critics - including some Conservative MPs.

The announcement of a change of heart was somewhat lost

But the Education Secretary has been explaining her position to MPs.

There will be no blanket requirement to become an academy -

although it will be forced on some school.s

although it will be forced on some schools.

We still want every school to become an Academy by 2022.

But we always intended this to be a six year process, in which good

schools should be able to make their own decisions

However, we understand the concerns that have been raised about a hard

deadline and legislating for blanket powers to issue Academy orders.

That is why, Mr Speaker, I announced on Friday that we have

decided it is not necessary to take blanket powers

to convert good schools in strong local authorities to

So, instead of taking a blanket power to convert all schools,

we will seek powers in two specific circumstances, where it is clear

that the conversion to Academy status is pressing.

In our worst-performing local authorities, we need to take

more decisive action, so that a new system

led by outstanding schools can take their place.

Similarly, because of the pace of academisation in some areas,

it will become increasingly difficult for local authorities

to have the ability to offer schools the necessary support.

There will be a need to ensure these schools are not dependent

We will therefore seek provisions to convert schools in the lowest

performing and unviable local authorities to Academy status.

This may involve, in some circumstances, conversion of good

and outstanding schools, when they have not chosen

But the need for action in these limited circumstances is clear.

It is good to see that, despite her best efforts,

this u-turn is getting the airing it deserves today.

What she announced on Friday was a significant and

However she wants to dress it up, dropping her desire to force

all schools to become academies by her arbitrary deadline of 2022

School leaders should take it as a very clear signal that the foot

is off their throats and they should not feel they should jump

I would have thought, given this scale

of the opposition to her plans, and the huge sense of panic

and of upheaval that they have caused to school leaders,

she might have shown a little more humility in her statement today.

If I were her, I would at least apologise.

I have to say, it is a matter of regret that on such an important

issue, the Shadow Secretary of State did rather let herself

Mr Speaker, those of us concerned with this issue have expressed

concerns, for instance, about compulsion, of course,

but also about planning for school places, transport across changing

catchment areas and what happens when there is a failing

school with no suitable Academy to take it over.

So, can I just say that I think the House is grateful

to the Secretary of State for having listened, and we would now

urge her to look at these which might be described

as the final pieces in the academisation jigsaw.

We very much appreciate the tone and the constructive nature

I am pleased the Secretary of State is not sticking to her guns,

and I welcome her change of heart and the U-turn

Will she also reconsider another ill-advised proposal in the white

paper, the abolition of the requirements for schools

Well, the honourable gentleman and I discussed this, I think,

when I gave evidence to the education select committee.

We have been absolutely very clear that there is a role

We expect trust boards to have parent governors.

But we also think that's not the only way for parents

I feel rather embarrassed for the Minister.

As they try to sneak through this U-turn during one of the most racist

campaigns that we have ever seen in the capital.

Toby Young admitted he had been arrogant and he regretted resizing

teachers, state schools and local education authorities.

Will the Minister acknowledged that the teachers, the Labour Party,

the students and the parents were right and she was wrong?

I think the honourable lady has let herself down by that

patronizing question, if I might say.

I have been very clear all the way along, since the first

day of my appointment, that the most important

people in the education system are the teachers.

The quality of teachers is the single most important thing

that attracts and that helps young people to make standards.

Mr Speaker, if any government Minister puts

a proposal forward, we are likely to have comments,

but that does not mean that we should not put

That is not the kind of person that I am.

When I said last week I wasn't going to leave the job half done,

I am not going to leave the job half done.

Now, knives, drugs and mobile phones are being thrown over the walls

at a London jail where two prison officers have been assaulted.

That was the charge from Labour who demanded an urgent

The party's justice spokesman said there aren't enough staff to patrol

Drugs, phones and even knives have been thrown over the wall

because there were insufficient patrolling of the grounds

and cell searches because of insufficient staffing numbers.

Will additional officers be provided to overtake these basic tasks

until order is restored and a review of staffing at this and similar

This is not an isolated incident, it is typical of the dangers

of the problems across the prison and youth estate.

Mr Speaker, 14 prisons staff are assaulted every day.

There were 4963 assaults by staff on prisoners in 2015

compared with 3640 in 2014, a 36% increase in attacks.

Prisons are now violent and dangerous places.

Serious harm and suicides are at record levels.

We have heard for a year that the government wishes

Now is the time for action before more prisons become ungovernable,

and we see more serious injury or, God forbid, the death

This government is not in denial about the situation.

We have not been idle in seeking to address it and we do not lack

vision or political will in terms of the issues that the honourable

I can also assure him that the Secretary of State

takes this issue extremely seriously, and it is our

He said the Justice Secretary's ?1.3 billion plan to reform prisons

and give autonomy to governors was key to improving

The nature of offenders currently in custody has changed.

Today, there are around 30% more people sentenced to prison

for violent offenders, and prisoners are acting today often

more spontaneously and more violently than they did

in the past in order to achieve their objectives.

In terms of recruitment, I repeat what I said

We have been recruiting at full strength for the last two years.

We have recruited an extra 2830 officers since January 2015,

and we are continuing to recruit at that level to make

sure that our prisons are adequately staffed.

Inspectors have warned of Dickensian squalor inside Wormwood Scrubs

following a scathing report, a review of the jail as a rat

infested, overcrowded with inmates spending up to 22 hours a day locked

Of course, overcrowding and poor conditions exacerbate

the risk of violence, not only to staff but

On the issue of staffing, it is very clear from a recent

statement from the Prison Governors Association that understaffing

The issue is about increasing staffing.

Although the government has increased the numbers of prison

Since 2012, the number of assaults in prisons have doubled,

the number of assaults upon staff have doubled, and although he talks

about recruiting more staff recently, the number of staff

altogether have fallen, and those staff are frightened,

we are talking about brave prison officers who are

We have a whole violence reduction project, it is a two-year project.

It would not be helpful to give a shopping list of individual

measures now before the House, but I can tell her that there

is detailed, serious work going on, across the estate,

the violence diagnostics tool, and many other measures in order

to back up hard-working prison officers.

The prevalent use of lethal highs, in particular, spice,

in HMP Northumberland, in my constituency, is one

of the very clear causes of these increases in violence and very

unpredictable behaviour by our prison population.

My constituents will be very surprised to hear quite how much

stuff is being thrown over prison walls -

mobile phones, drugs, legal highs and nights.

mobile phones, drugs, legal highs and knives.

In 2016, we've got the ability to stop this happening.

These newest psychoactive substances are legally dangerous,

they do terrible harm to the loved ones of the families

who inadvertently bring them in in prisons, and we need our local

communities to work with us and the police in trying to stop

this terrible flow of these evil drugs over prison walls.

Now, researchers at Oxford University have said findings

backing the Government's push for a seven-day NHS in England

The study disputed that there was a "weekend effect" -

with death rates higher for those admitted over the weekend period.

That was one of the issues the Health Secretary faced

when he appeared before the Health Committee.

If we expand, if we say, OK, we are going to have

everything every day, is there not the danger

that, in actual fact, we will admit more people,

so the ratio will look better, when in actual fact,

the exact same numbers of people will have died, we won't have

prevented any deaths, we will just have made our

We can get into discussions about the different studies,

but I think the most comprehensive study was the Fremantle study

that was published last September, which was a huge national...

It's not more comprehensive, it's the same data set,

only they included all of the A attendances

and they actually drilled further into the paper.

And they include in that paper that there is a weekend effect,

they conclude that the standard of care that we give

at weekends is different, because you have to be more ill

That is a big reason why we believe we should have a seven-day NHS,

because we don't believe there should be a difference

in the criteria for admission at the weekends as in the week.

MPs asked what was being done about so-called bed blocking.

What assessments have you made of the effects of the social care

funding restraints which you have mentioned, particularly within those

authorities on the operations and finances of the NHS during

Has one got an impact the other?

Obviously there is a very direct operational impact if people

are left in hospital longer than they should be

when they are fit for discharge because of the processes necessary

to admit them either in the social care system

So, there is a link to A performance, which is itself under

That is another reason why we need to break down these budgetary

barriers between the NHS in the social care system.

I think that is one of the things that we need to recognise.

I think we also need to recognise as well that the social

care system and the NHS, if we're to achieve these

challenging efficiency savings that we have been talking

about earlier, are both targeting the same set of individuals.

The most vulnerable clients in the social care system are going

to be in full-time residential care and they will remain

People who are most at risk, if councils get these decisions

wrong, are the people who are living independently but perhaps need a lot

of support and perhaps are quite vulnerable, the sort of people

Those people, we need to be sure the social care

system is there for them, because otherwise, they are going

Departments and possibly have a protracted length

of stay in hospital, so there is absolutely impact

on the NHS, which is why I think we are having a much more serious

discussion between CCGs and local authorities then

Jeremy Hunt said he realised the savings he wanted to make

It is possible to reduce cost and improve the quality of care,

improve the working environment for doctors and nurses

all at the same time, and there are lots and lots of examples.

I think the question that would be legitimately thrown at me

for saying that comment is, yes, but that takes time,

and I think the challenge that people feel is,

have we got enough time to make these changes?

I recognise that, and that is why the role of NHS improvement in

giving trusts the support they need in what is a very challenging time.

You're watching Monday in Parliament with me,

for the new Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb.

He was promoted to the role following the resignation

One Labour MP said he would be judged according to how far

he's prepared to stand up to the Chancellor George Osborne.

Can I start by welcoming the Secretary of State

He has started today by trying very hard to strike a different tone

He said in an interview last week that he wanted his Department

and his Ministers to understand the human impact

What does he think the human impact will be of his plans to cut

?1.2 billion away from disabled people

What does he think the impact is for the 500,000 people

who are set to lose ?1,500 a year in ESA?

I thank the honourable gentleman for the kind words

He obviously was not listening to the earlier

questions on this subject, because at the end of this

Parliament we will be spending more than at the beginning of this

Parliament on supporting disabled people.

We will be spending around ?50 billion

supporting disabled people, far more than was ever,

ever spent under the previous Labour Government.

Is the Secretary of State aware that he will be assessed on how far

he is willing to stand up to the Chancellor over cuts that hit

His predecessor was not willing to do that until the last moment.

Has the Secretary of State got more courage and guts

The honourable gentleman is wrong to try to focus

on divisions between the Treasury and the DWP.

When a Department such as the DWP spends between a quarter and a third

of all taxpayers' money, we need to make sure

that it is working closely aligned with the Treasury to achieve

the things we want to achieve as a Government.

Stephen Crabb's first question-time

Now, two elections that got rather lost

on polling day last Thursday were by-elections for Westminster.

Will members wishing to take their seats

Gill Furniss is now the Labour MP for Sheffield Brightside

And Chris Elmore is the new Labour MP for Ogmore.

I swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful

and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth,

her heirs and successors according to law, so help me God.

Two new MPs, happy to be in Parliament.

Much less enthusiastic about being in Parliament,

it seems, is the chief executive of Vote Leave,

The Treasury Committee had to issue a parliamentary order to get

Matthew Elliot to give evidence to its inquiry into the EU.

He turned down three invitations, incurring the displeasure

of the committee chairman, Andrew Tyrie.

The committee was forced to summon you under a parliamentary order

This is the first time certainly that I have felt the need

to issue such a thing in order to secure a witness.

It's the first time that I have ever seen it done on any committee

I've served and I've been on committees for

most of the 18 or 19 years that I've been in Parliament.

And I think, frankly, the difficulty of

getting you here is scarcely consistent with the application

that you put to be the campaigner for leaving the EU.

Do you accept now that it was a mistake to muck

Well, I regret that I was unable to attend when Dominic Cummings

I'm very grateful to you for accepting my apology

And then when it came to the other opportunity to attend, I'm sorry...

There are two of those, aren't there?

I am sorry that my diary couldn't be rescheduled to be here.

There are two of those now you raise it.

The first was you decided to go to Switzerland,

you told my office, to meet some Swiss politicians

I had a trip to Switzerland to see a number of groups including

politicians, business groups, a whole host of activities, yes.

And do you think that's consistent with your duty to Parliament?

That was arranged, or I was invited, at about 48 hours' notice.

So I didn't feel it was appropriate to change my diary...

I didn't receive it until the Monday.

But Andrew Tyrie hadn't finished yet.

Do you have any appreciation of what it looks like to a group

of MPs that you're telling them that you'd rather

I can only apologise again for not being able to turn up at that point.

And then what about the following week?

We said you could come the following week

and we had a message to say you're too busy.

The key objective for Vote Leave has always been to make sure

that you get the best possible evidence for your inquiry

into the economic and financial benefits of Britain's membership

of the EU and I think for that occasion,

we suggested that our former chairman,

Lord Lawson, might attend in my place.

As I said, he is a former chairman of Vote Leave...

I suggested to him over the weekend, yes.

Andrew Tyrie remembered someone else who had

turned down invitations to a Commons committee.

The only other witness that certainly of a committee

that I have chaired who decided that he didn't want to attend

in the six years I've been chairing select committees

was the Prime Minister before the liaison committee

and he thought better of it reasonably quickly.

There were some rather more light-hearted exchanges

It was sparked by an intriguing question

He wanted to know if the Government was going to publish a list

of organisations and individuals in public life,

including politicians, who had campaigned for the UK

You won't be surprised, perhaps, to hear the Minister's answer.

I beg leave to ask the question by my name on the order paper.

The Government has no plans to publish such a list.

The Prime Minister has been clear that Britain

My Lords, when the CBI warns that a million jobs

may be lost should we leave the EU,

it is spookily reminiscent of what they said during the euro

debate and used exactly the same arguments.

So can I ask my honourable friend, if he will not

publish a list, will he encourage those who told us that

terrible things would happen if we did not join the euro

to 'fess up before they tell the British public

that if we should leave the EU, there will be a disaster?

My Lords, I think it depends on who my noble friend

has been listening to. LAUGHTER

was clear at the time that it was not in Britain's interest to join

like the governor of the Bank of England, the IMF, the OECD,

also raised concerns about Britain joining the euro and now

they are unanimous that Britain should remain in the EU.

Can he tell his noble friend that this question

has got nothing whatsoever to do with minister responsibility?

Indeed, it would be quite sinister if the minister said he could

publish such a list rather than saying the Government will not

I can't understand why this question is

My Lords, I didn't think of it was one reason and secondly,

I'm not responsible for the questions that

There was a philosophical contribution from Lord Wright.

probably too young to have been in the House when the noble Lord,

But he once said, I think in this House,

but certainly in writing that anybody who has

not changed his mind in the

last ten years has probably not been thinking.

I am too young to have been in the House, but I know

Professor Dahrendorf of the LSC, and the LSC are

quite clear that we should remain in the EU.

My Lords, if the intention behind the question was to infer

current wisdom or otherwise through past behaviour,

could the minister remind the House which Chancellor of

the Exchequer shadowed the Deutschmark and pressed the late

Baroness Thatcher to enter into the exchange rate mechanism

Noble friend, could my noble friend explain, given the Government's

warnings that leaving the European Union today,

we are told, might result in war in Europe,

might result in mortgages going through the roof,

might result in the loss of 3 million jobs, how on earth did

the Prime Minister decide to call a referendum on this matter in the

first place and also, how could my right honourable friend the

Prime Minister possibly contemplate as he told us,

walking away from the negotiations

To take the last part of the question first,

I don't think it's right for my noble friend

The choice is dramatic uncertainty if we leave and

we know what we are in now with the reformed Europe if we stay.

The final reminiscence came from Lord Lawson.

Can my noble friend confirm that he was not too young to recall

that in January 1989, when I was still Chancellor

of the Exchequer, I made a speech spelling out why

monetary union would be a disaster, and why we should not join it and

why the European Union would be foolish to go ahead.

So perhaps he can set the record right against

those who are clearly too young to recall the past.

My Lords, I don't remember every speech that noble

Lord made but in many cases, he was very wise.

Another diplomatic answer there from the Minister,

which brings us to the end of Monday In Parliament.

Alicia McCarthy will be here for the rest of the week.

But from me, Kristiina Cooper, goodbye!