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Mr. Harry Cohen (Leyton) : I know from long experience that I must not try to match the entertainment value of speeches made by my hon. Friend and neighbour, the Member for Newham, North-West (Mr. Banks), so I shall not attempt to do so. However, like my hon. Friend,
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I begin by congratulating the hon. Member for Blaby (Mr. Robathan) on his maiden speech and on introducing such an important subject for debate. I have no doubt that, like his predecessor he will have a distinguished career. I hope that he will carry forward the environmental sensitivity that he showed today when it comes to other issues that cause him concern.I pay tribute, too, to Friends of the Earth, which is active on all environmental issues, including recycling, and has kept up the pressure on the Government on many issues--be they drinking water, transport or nuclear power. I see from its recently published review that the pressure that it put on the Government over recycling led to movement by the Government, particularly over recycling credits, which were not included in the first two drafts of the Environmental Protection Bill. Only after Friends of the Earth had put pressure on the Government were recycling credits included in the Bill. [Interruption.] It may be bureaucratic, and that may cause problems, but at least Friends of the Earth is there, and at local level it has put great pressure on councils to introduce recycling schemes and other recycling initiatives. The role played by Friends of the Earth must therefore be taken seriously, and I congratulate the organisation.
I thought that the Minister's contribution was poor, in the sense that he did not seem to take seriously the need for recycling. Judging by the Minister's speech, the Government have just about caught up with Steptoe and Son on the matter of recycling--not a particularly good endorsement. My hon. Friend the Member for Newham, North-West spoke of being older than the Minister, but the Minister's performance reminded me more of Steptoe senior's attitude to recycling.
Even Friends of the Earth states that the United Kingdom Government are lagging behind other Governments on the packaging issue. I heard the Minister say that we had to take account of the economic and environmental effects of recycling, and spluttered when I heard him use the word "we". Only this week, I received an answer to my parliamentary question about plants and incinerators seeming to proliferate on the banks of the Thames at the risk of the health of the local community. The Minister said that the matter was nothing to do with his Department but was a planning issue on which he did not propose to intervene or even to set guidelines. He does not seem to take his responsibility seriously.
Before the general election, on 2 March, I introduced an important Bill dealing with newspaper recycling, which I intend to reintroduce at some stage. My Bill would require newspapers to contain a high level of recycled material : I proposed a minimum of 60 per cent. recycled content in four years. If hon. Members think that that is a high target, I disagree and suggest that they read an article by John Clewley, a senior consultant in an engineering company, published in the magazine Paper Europe :
The article states :
"The necessary recycling technology has, however, been advanced to such a point that it is now possible to produce high-quality newsprint efficiently from 100 per cent. recycled fibre." My proposed 60 per cent. minimum level does not seem too high in the light of that article, which continues :
"Not only has the necessary equipment been developed by machinery suppliers but system designers now understand what is needed to produce a good clean de-inked/recycled
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fibre that will not only run trouble-free on the paper machine but will also produce a quality sheet of newsprint fully suited to its end use."The end product also has advantages as it is as strong as virgin paper, has a smooth finish, does not need heavy calendering and produces a sheet with low bulk and good deadfold characteristics. It has the spin-off benefit of producing more metres per roll, which results in lower yield losses. So there are also technical advantages to using recycled-content newspapers.
The Government have a voluntary agreement with the Newspaper Publishers Association which sets a figure of 40 per cent. recycled content by the year 2000. That 40 per cent. minimum is far too low, the year 2000 is far too late and there is no law to enforce the agreement. According to the last Government figures, for 1990, the average content was a mere 26.8 per cent.--a low figure, which does not compare well with the record of other countries in Europe and the United States. Many states in America have a higher legal minimum than we do in this country.
An article that appeared in the September 1991 edition of Resource Recycling, an American publication, states that efforts are being made in America to reduce landfill problems resulting from newspaper waste. Instead, the recycled matter is being collected. I shall not read it all, but it shows that 22 states have programmes on the stocks, that nine states have mandatory levels of newsprint recycling and that Arizona, California and Connecticut have a target of 50 per cent. by the year 2000. Many states also have stiff penalties of thousands of dollars for those who do not meet the minimum standards. Even the United States, a country not noted for regulation, sees the need for it in this case. The United States is also a very big country which one would have thought had lots of land, but it recognises the problems of landfill, whereas we have only a voluntary agreement which does not go far enough.
Another point in the article in Resource Recycling which is worth mentioning involves telephone directories :
"The Yellow Pages Publishers Association, which represents more than 90 per cent. of all directory publishers, recently recommended technical guidelines specifying content goals for all telephone directories. The initial goal is 10 per cent. by 1993, and ultimately 40 per cent. by 1998".
A great deal of virgin wood is wasted in telephone directories although some recycled content could also be used. I asked the Government about recycled content in telephone directories, but they had not even considered the issue. America and some parts of Europe have a better recycling system than this country.
There are three reasons why recycling is important. The first is ecological : it is far better to recycle than to use virgin wood. We know that intensive forest farming damages the environment and destroys natural habitats all over the world, yet the wood from such farming is often used in the paper industry. It is better to recycle the old paper pulp and wood, and I am sure that that notion finds sympathy with many both inside and outside the House.
Secondly, newspapers and magazines comprise about 10 per cent. of Britain's bulk rubbish. A very high proportion could be reused, but only 15 per cent. is recycled, while the rest is put in landfill sites which are not only environmentally ugly but environmentally damaging, because the material rots and forms methane gas which contributes to the greenhouse effect. That is another reason why we should push for more newspapers and magazines to be recycled.
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Thirdly, the public want recycling. As my hon. Friend the Member for Newham, North-West said, pensioners would be only too keen to put out packets of newspapers and magazines to be collected if they knew that they would be reused in the interests of the environment, but in most areas people do not have the opportunity to recycle. There are some schemes in London, but not nearly enough. The main reason for the lack of facilities is that there is no market for recycling. By requiring a statutory recycled fibre content, my Bill would have provided a stable market and encouraged new local collection schemes. In addition, it would have created new jobs in the recycling industry.Those are three reasons why the Government should consider the Bill that I presented in March, which Ishall reintroduce and which set out a mandatory scheme for 60 per cent. recycled content in newspapers. Other measures are needed. There must be Government help in the transitional period for the mills that still deal with virgin pulp. Help is needed to build new mills that can deal with recycled paper, and should be given in the form of capital tax allowances or direct grants, especially for immediate investment in de-inking and repulping plant. I shall reintroduce my Bill.
I conclude with the comments of Friends of the Earth, to which I paid tribute earlier. Peni Walker, one of the organisation's campaigners, said :
"The Government's deal with the newspaper publishers sells the environment short. Their voluntary target is pathetically low, and proves that the Government cannot rely on sweet-talking industry into making real environmental commitments. The voluntary approach clearly does not work. If the Government is serious about recycling 25 per cent. of household waste, it must force industry to meet tough recycling targets, of the kind set out in this Bill."
I hope that the Government will take that on board.
Mr. Robathan : I know that my hon. Friends want to make important comments on the subject of education. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion.
Motion, by leave, withdrawn.
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Education (Accountability and Choice)
2 pm
Mr. David Congdon (Croydon, North-East) : I beg to move, That this House believes that parents know what is in the best interests of their children ; believes that parental choice and accountability to parents must therefore be imperative to the country's education system ; and welcomes the far-reaching measures that this Government has taken, and is taking, to help realise these essential goals.
I confess that I was not sure at one stage whether I would have the opportunity to move the motion. I am grateful to hon. Members for enabling me to do so. Like the hon. Member for Blaby (Mr. Robathan), I am making my maiden speech this afternoon as I drew No. 2 in the private Members' ballot a few weeks ago. Naturally, given some of my experiences in education on Croydon local authority in recent years, education was the obvious subject to choose.
I take this opportunity to say a few words about the previous Member for Croydon, North-East. I am unique among the newcomers to the House in succeeding the previous Speaker. I am well aware of the respect shown to him in the House. Despite interventions by the hon. Member for Bolsover (Mr. Skinner), he was privileged to be recommended to the Queen for a suitable honour to be conferred on him. I am delighted to see that my predecessor is now to be a peer. Lord Weatherill served the constituency excellently from 1964 until this year and he was well respected by all in the local community. He was not only respected in the House but liked by everyone in the constituency, regardless of political persuasion, and he was an ideal constituency Member. When he became Speaker in 1983, the London borough of Croydon unanimously made him a freeman of the borough. When he retired from the House recently, a civic dinner was held in his honour which was much appreciated by him and by all who attended.
Lord Weatherill had a real love of India and I suspect that that was a result of the fact that during the war, between 1941 and 1945, he served in the Indian army. That experience was especially valuable in Croydon, North- East where there are many Asian people who have enhanced the culture of the area. Lord Weatherill is well respected by them. I recognise that he will be a hard act to follow in the constituency, but I am determined to try to do so.
Croydon, North-East is a typical outer London constituency in many ways, but it has some unique features. It is part of the borough of Croydon, which is the largest London borough. I feel especially privileged to have the opportunity to represent Croydon, North-East, having served on Croydon local authority for 16 years, and as deputy leader of the council for the past six years.
Croydon is a very large town with a large shopping centre and large office complex. Many people are delighted to live there and have the opportunity to live in a pleasant area and, perhaps more importantly, to work in the area, so avoiding the need to commute to London. Croydon is also an example of a well-run unitary authority. Like other London boroughs, it is responsible for services ranging from education, to social services and housing. It also has one of the outstanding leaders in local government in the form of Councillor Sir Peter Bowness. I am particularly
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pleased to pay a tribute to his work in building up Croydon. I had the privilege of serving as his deputy for six years.A council must have a vision and Croydon has a vision in respect of its attempt to ensure that it has a thriving office and business centre, its proposals to introduce a Bill for a light railway system, and the development of a large, new central library, which has been achieved with a low community charge.
I chose education as my subject for this debate because education is a vital service. The challenge is to ensure that all children can reach their full potential. Moving on from education in schools, the challenge is to ensure that when they enter further education or whatever other avenue they follow, they receive the training that they need. This country depends on a well-trained work force if we are to compete properly with the Japanese and Germans.
I also wanted an opportunity to say a few words about my experiences on what I believe is a well-run local education authority. That was one reason why I chose the topic of accountability and choice for the debate. Accountability in education is not new. Primary school reading screening was introduced in Croydon way back in 1975. That was the forerunner of the current standard assessment tasks and much useful experience was gained in Croydon from them.
In the early 1980s, a framework for the curriculum was introduced which, in many ways, was less prescriptive than the national curriculum. In some ways, it is a pity that Croydon's policy was not pursued into legislation. Croydon led on accountability by introducing tests at seven, nine, 11 and 14. Again, those tests were forerunners of standard assessment tests and were in English and mathematics.
I pay tribute to the leadership of the director of education for Croydon at that time, Mr. Donald Naismith. Not so long ago, he was exported to the local authority previously represented by my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon, Central (Sir P. Beresford). The work in Croydon has provided the foundation for some of the principles that have now been implemented at a national level.
I do not have time today to go into all aspects of education. Of course criticisms will be made and are made about local education authorities. However, I found Croydon to be a well-run local education authority. Prior to the Government's education reforms in the 1980s, the whole issue of accountability generally in education was a forbidden garden. It was regarded as taboo for parents to question what happened in schools. They did not dare raise the subject. It was not right for people to question teaching methods. Sometimes it was not even right for parents to ask how their children were doing. If they did ask, they were sometimes fobbed off with meaningless statements that they were doing as well as anyone else, without any hard evidence for that.
Gradually, during the 1980s, education was opened up. I welcome that. We published examination results in Croydon early in the 1980s. However, there was much resistance. I regret to say that I still believe that there is an underlying resistance to accountability by many in the education establishment. Certainly, the National Union of Teachers goes hot and cold on that issue.
When one talks about the publication of examination results, it is argued that it is wrong to publish crude examination tables. That is particularly frustrating. I
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remember back in 1976 challenging teachers in the education establishment to come up with the means of assessing the ability of children at 11 or older so that performance and progression could be properly managed. They have still failed to come up with those proper measures, because the truth is that too many in the education establishment pay lip service to accountability and the monitoring of standards.I welcome the reforms that were introduced by the Government during the 1980s. There is inevitably a need continually to refine them in the light of experience. We are now starting to obtain experience of SATs, and they are important tests at seven, 11 and 14. They provide information for governors, parents, teachers and, perhaps as important, the education authority and inspectors. Over the past few years, attempts to undermine SATs have concerned me : first, they were over-elaborate and, secondly, they lacked rigour. I was delighted that the former Secretary of State for Education and Science did much to try to put SATs on the right course. There is no doubt that they are the proper way forward ; we just have to ensure that they are rigorous enough and do not take up too much time in the classroom.
One matter that is equally interesting in education is that, no matter what results are published, one always finds some people saying, "You can't believe what you see because some schools have a worse intake than others." In other words, they make apologies for the results of schools rather than trying to see why the results are not good enough and then taking steps to improve them.
For a long time, it was argued that the only factors that affected education and performance were socio-economic factors. Sometimes, free school meals and other factors were taken into account. I think that it was in the 1970s when M. Rutter published his famous report, entitled "Fifteen Thousand Hours". It exposed the myth once and for all. However, there was a deliberate attempt by the education establishment to rubbish that report. I am pleased to say that, subsequently, there has been more research by people such as Smith and Tomlinson, who have shown that the effect of the individual school matters. In other words, children from similar backgrounds can achieve vastly different results depending on the school that they are in. There is a school effect. The quality of teaching matters. Even Her Majesty's inspectorate conceded that point this year in a report on primary education.
The truth is that good standards depend on having a good head teacher and good teachers who are committed to striving for excellence in education and are not prepared to accept shabby second best or always look for excuses. It is about creating the right ethos in a school and striving for excellence and never accepting less than the best for youngsters in a school.
If we fail to enable youngsters to achieve their full potential, they will not get a second chance. Some people argue that the only thing that we need to do to improve the quality of education is to increase resources. That is a cop-out. Other countries--Japan is quite a good example--have 55 pupils to the class and achieve better standards than we do. I am not advocating that we should have 55 pupils in a class.
Under this Government, from 1979 to 1992, research carried out by the London School of Economics, not an institution that is biased toward the Government in any
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shape or form, has shown that spending in real terms on education has gone up by 20 per cent. That is a significant record. Some people ask, "Why have accountability?" The reason for accountability is to bring pressure to bear on the education service to improve standards. If we do not know what is going on, we cannot challenge those standards and then bring improvements to bear. For anyone who does not believe that, I quote what occurred in respect of reading.The local authority in Croydon came in for a fair degree of criticism about reading standards. Why did it receive that criticism? It was because it was one of the few authorities in Britain that carried out testing and had the courage to publish the results. Too many local authorities that carried out testing before standard assessment tasks were introduced were not prepared to publish the results for their education committees, let alone the public. While accountability is a necessary condition for improvements in standards, it is not sufficient. We have to seek a system that is responsive to parental demands and pressure. That means ensuring that schools that are popular have the opportunity to expand and that those that are unsuccessful are closed. We do the children in unsuccessful schools a grave disservice if we allow the school to continue when it provides a poor -quality education. I am aware that the Department of Education has carried out a consultation exercise on allowing popular schools to expand. I hope that the White Paper will include proposals to enable them so to expand.
I was pleased to read the speech of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to the Adam Smith Institute earlier this week, in which he made it absolutely clear that we intend to introduce proposals to deal with schools that do not achieve and do a bad job. That is particularly important. I am sure that hon. Members, especially Conservative Members, look forward to those proposals.
It will be interesting to see how local management of schools works out in the next few years. It is a step in the right direction which enables money to flow with the pupil. That also brings pressure to bear on schools that do not allow youngsters to achieve their full potential.
I turn briefly, because time is short, to the other issue to which my motion refers--choice. We cannot possibly provide real choice for parents if all schools are the same. If all schools are comprehensive, what choice is that? Children must either go to the local neighbourhood comprehensive or they cannot go to school at all. It is a little like Henry Ford with cars--one can have any car as long as it is black. The reforms introduced in the 1980s to provide a variety of schools are much to be welcomed. One such reform was the creation of city technology colleges. We now have two CTCs in Croydon. We managed to set them up in spite of massive opposition from the Labour party in the town hall. The CTCs do a good job for the youngsters who go to them.
We also need to retain a variety of single-sex and mixed schools. In the north of the borough of Croydon in my constituency, the single-sex schools are much appreciated, especially by families from an Asian background, but also by others. We should make sure that such schools are retained. We should also be prepared to encourage authorities that wish to retain their grammar schools or
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perhaps reintroduce grammar schools. But perhaps a better way of doing that is via the grant-maintained route. I also note with interest the measures taken in Wandsworth which enable schools to become magnet schools so that a variety of schools is available from which parents can choose.Assisted places are yet another means of providing variety and choice, but perhaps the most important measure that we have taken is the introduction of grant-maintained schools. Grant-maintained status is a logical extension of local management of schools. Once the funding of schools is put on a formula basis, why not free them from the dead hand of the local authority and enable them to thrive and go in whatever direction they wish? I look forward to proposals in the White Paper to encourage a dramatic growth in the number of grant-maintained schools and enable schools to achieve whatever they want in order to meet the needs of youngsters in their area. It is all about removing power from the centre and moving it down to the locality. That is a way of providing real choice.
In conclusion, I am convinced that the reforms of the 1980s have laid the foundation for a better education system and I am pleased to know that there will be a White Paper. I hope that it will build on those reforms and will create an education system which is responsive to parents' needs and will ensure that we have a well-trained work force to meet the needs of the coming decades.
2.19 pm
Mr. David Faber (Westbury) : Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for calling me to speak for the first time in the House.
In the short time available, I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon, North-East (Mr. Congdon) on his excellent maiden speech in which he mentioned many issues with which Conservative Members are in agreement, and on successfully introducing the motion today, in spite of what seemed to be the best efforts of the Opposition. I add my congratulations to my hon. Friend the Member for Blaby (Mr. Robathan) on his excellent maiden speech.
I hope that hon. Members will understand if I find myself losing interest in the rest of the debate. I came to the House to make my maiden speech this morning with considerable misgivings and trouble of mind. Like many other new Members, I had planned my speech for some time. As is often the custom, I was looking forward to making it in the presence of my family. Sadly, my father suffered a fairly severe stroke last night and most of my family are at his bedside, a few hundreds yards away at the Westminster hospital. I confess that, had I known that I would have to wait five hours to make my maiden speech, my time might have been better spent at his bedside than listening to some of the matters raised by Opposition Members. However, it is a salutary lesson for me, at such an early time, to understand the proceedings and the way in which the House works. I come here as successor to Sir Dennis Walters, who represented Westbury for about 28 years. Hon. Members who knew him well will not be surprised to hear that he made his maiden speech in 1964 during a debate on foreign affairs, which was a subject that he pursued successfully throughout his time in this place. He spoke about the middle east, as he did throughout his career, with a
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knowledge and understanding that I believe were universally admired. Hon. Members may not always have agreed with his arguments--the House was frequently divided in its support for the party line that he sometimes took--but he was an acknowledged expert. I know, too, that Sir Dennis was particularly proud of the Children and Young Persons Bill, which he saw through the House as a private Member in 1985. It has since been superseded by the Children Act 1989, which contains many of the measures that he introduced. He was always a popular constituency Member, he was hard-working, and he kept in touch with his constituents. We wish him and Bridget well in what I hope will be a long and happy retirement.I am fortunate to have been sent here by the electors of the Westbury constituency, which takes its name from the town that lies geographically at the heart of the constituency, which also comprises west Wiltshire and a small part of the Salisbury district. Hon. Members from the west country will doubtless be familiar with seeing the town's railway station as they speed further west. Westbury originally made its name as a railway town. Now it is home to thriving businesses and light industries, as well as to the Blue Circle cement company, an internationally famous company which finds that the concept of the European single market has a somewhat hollow ring as the Government continue to subsidise the dumping of Greek cement on the European market.
To the north lies the principal centre of population, the town of Trowbridge, which is the county town of Wiltshire. You will be pleased to know, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that it is the home not just of Wiltshire county cricket club but of the combined minor counties team when they play together.
Trowbridge has a long and proud history, especially as a successful and wealthy woollen town. Now it is a bustling and successful industrial centre and home to some famous names which have not only survived the recession but are thriving and expanding. Hon. Members who are planning barbecues for the summer will be interested to know that the largest employer in the constituency is Bowyers, who have been manufacturing the British sausage in Trowbridge for more than 180 years. Just down the road can be found the Ushers brewery--one of the country's most famous and successful independent brewers. If I feel just a tinge of regret, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that your colleague Madam Deputy Speaker is not in the Chair today, I hope that you will forgive me, but with her Devon roots I have no doubt that she would be familiar with one of Ushers' more potent brews known locally as Widecombe Wallop and widely sold in the pubs of the famous Dartmoor village of that name.
To the north of Trowbridge are the towns of Melksham and Bradford on Avon. Melksham, long before it was a town, was no more than a small village in a large Wiltshire forest. Now it is known as the home of the Avon Tyre and Rubber company, the largest company in the constituency and a constant success story abroad, which follows a tradition of manufacturing tyres and rubber-related products that goes back over 100 years.
To the south of the constituency lies the fifth town, Warminster, an important military centre throughout the ages. Although the town dates from Saxon times, the surrounding downs were occupied by iron and stone-age settlers who left behind them at Battlesbury Camp one of the major iron-age forts in the United Kingdom. Now it is
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home to the School of Infantry, the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers workshops and visiting battalions at Battlesbury barracks. It is a crucial point for the Army, situated as it is on the edge of Salisbury plain.I am especially glad that my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon, North-East chose the subject of education for debate today, however little time we may have to debate it. It is noticeable that this is the first opportunity that we have had to debate the subject since the Labour party's astonishing about-turn on education policy, especially with regard to its attitude to grant-maintained schools. In Wiltshire, we are fortunate to have a Conservative county council and a forward-looking local education authority. Until recently the council was balanced on a knife edge, but it has now moved to a Conservative majority thanks to the much-welcomed and much-publicised defection of the Labour group leader to the Conservative benches. The remarks in his resignation statement are apposite to today's debate. He said :
"The Labour Party is today, at national and local level, in a state of total confusion, quite unable to put forward ideas to meet the problems of the modern world. Many of the rank and file still cling to ideas that are twenty to thirty years out of date and show little imagination in their simple, doctrinaire slogans of political frustration."
One is left to wonder whether a major reason why Labour Members still find themselves on the Opposition Benches after the general election could be partly because of their misguided education policies and their refusal to accept, at least until last week, that parents want more choice and diversity in schools.
In west Wiltshire we have many excellent schools, both secondary and primary. The LEA has been at the forefront of implementing the Government's reforms. Local management of schools has been widely welcomed and successfully introduced. Wiltshire is near the top of the national league table for national curriculum assessment. Exam achievements at GCSE and A- level are constantly improving. Like my hon. Friend the Member for Croydon, North-East, I believe that if true diversity is to be achieved in our schools, it will be done only through grant-maintained status. Recently I was concerned to see in a written reply from my hon. Friend the Minister that Wiltshire languished near the foot of the table for LEAs in terms of the amount in the budget held back from schools for administrative costs.
St. Augustine's school in Trowbridge was the first school in Wiltshire, and one of the first in the country, to go grant maintained. It has proved a role model for others to follow. I was pleased that the Secretary of State recently also approved the application of Aloeric primary school in Melksham. Ask the headmaster of St. Augustine's what GMS has meant for his school and he will tell us unequivocally : more money, yes, and the freedom to spend it on new books and equipment as he chooses. The school is well maintained, the children well turned out, and the school roll over- subscribed. Above all, it has given the headmaster the ability to respond better to the true needs and wishes of his local parents. The real benefit lies in the increased independence that his school now enjoys. I have no doubt that we are seeing the beginning of a process that will lead to a flood of applications for grant-maintained status. I look forward to the White
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Paper that the Government plan to introduce later in the summer, which will be a logical further step in continuing the Government's successful education reforms.2.29 pm
Mr. Derek Fatchett (Leeds, Central) : In the brief time that is available, I congratulate the hon. Members for Croydon, North-East (Mr. Congdon) and for Westbury (Mr. Faber) on their maiden speeches. It is a custom of the House for those making maiden speeches to say a few kind words about their predecessors. Both hon. Gentlemen did that, and I am sure that that will be well received. It is also customary for maiden speeches to be non-contentious. Had we had a little more time, perhaps, the hon. Gentlemen would appreciate that they did not achieve that objective.
I hope that the father of the hon. Member for Westbury recovers-- It being half-past Two o'clock, the debate stood adjourned.
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Orders of the Day
EUROPEAN UNION (PUBLIC INFORMATION) BILL
Order for Second Reading read.
Second Reading deferred till Friday 26 June.
CONSOLIDATION BILLS
Ordered,
That, in respect of the Protection of Badgers Bill [Lords] , the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Bill [Lords] and the Tribunals and Inquiries Bill [Lords] , notices of Amendments, new Clauses and new Schedules to be moved in Committee may be accepted by the Clerks at the Table before the Bills have been read a second time.-- [Mr. Robert G. Hughes.]
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
Ordered,
That, at the sitting on Tuesday 23rd June, notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order No. 14 (Exempted business), the Speaker shall put the Questions necessary to dispose of proceedings on the Motions in the name of Mr. Secretary Clarke relating to Criminal Law not later than one and a half hours after the first such Motion has been entered upon ; and the aforesaid Motions may be proceeded with after the expiry of the time for opposed business.
Ordered,
That, at the sitting on Tuesday 23rd June, notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order No. 9 (Sittings of the House), the Motion for the Adjournment of the House in the name of the Prime Minister shall lapse at the end of a period of one and a half hours after it has been entered upon ; and the aforesaid Motion may be proceeded with after the expiry of the time for opposed business. Ordered,
That, at the sitting on Wednesday 24th June, notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order No. 14 (Exempted business), and unless they have been disposed of previously, the Speaker shall-- (1) put the Questions necessary to dispose of proceedings on the Motion in the name of Mr. Secretary Howard relating to the Special Grant Report (No. 4) and on the Motion in the name of Mr. Secretary Hunt relating to the Special Grant Report for Wales for 1992-93 at Seven o'clock or three hours after the first Motion has been entered upon, whichever is the later ;
(2) put the Question necessary to dispose of proceedings on the Motion in the name of Mr. Secretary Howard relating to the draft Charge Limitation (England) (Maximum Amounts) Order 1992 not later than three hours after the Motion has been entered upon ; and (3) the aforesaid Motions may be proceeded with after the expiry of the time for opposed business.-- [Mr. Robert G. Hughes.]
PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMISSION
Resolved,
That Dr. Lewis Moonie be appointed to the Public Accounts Commission in place of Mr. Peter Shore, under the National Audit Act 1983.-- [Mr. Robert G. Hughes.]
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School Allocation (Bromley)
Motion made, and Question proposed , That this House do now adjourn.-- [Mr. Robert G. Hughes]
2.31 pm
Mr. Roger Sims (Chislehurst) : It may be unusual, but I hope it is not out of order, if I start by adding my congratulations to my hon. Friend the Member for Westbury (Mr. Faber) on his maiden speech, which we much enjoyed. He comes from a distinguished family, but, clearly, he will establish himself as a parliamentarian in his own right. I also hope, in common, I am sure, with all hon. Members, that his father makes a recovery.
My debate continues the theme of education. Every year, thousands of families, up and down the country, experience the transfer process when their children move from primary to secondary educatoin. I have experienced that process three times. Parents visit the schools, usually in the autumn, complete forms to show their preference and, by April, receive offers. Perhaps, they are offered their first or second choice or another option. Sometimes, the parents will be delighted, but, on occasions, they will be disappointed. However, at least they know the school to which their child will go in the following September and, remain at, one hopes, for a number of years.
At the beginning of April this year, a letter was sent to the parents of 255 children in the London borough of Bromley. It began : "I am writing to explain why, at this time, it is not yet possible to offer your son or daughter a place in a Bromley all ability school."
A substantial proportion of those parents are my constituents, but some are the constituents of my hon. Friend the Member for Beckenham (Mr. Merchant), who hopes to catch your eye, Mr. Deputy Speaker, later. Some of the parents are constituents of my hon. Friends the Members for Ravensbourne (Sir J. Hunt) and for Orpington (Mr. Horam), who, because of constituency engagements, cannot be present today, but who have asked me to emphasise that they fully support my representations.
It is not difficult to imagine the distress caused to families by that letter, and especially to the children who found, perhaps, that they were the odd ones out in the class because they did not know their future. Gradually, the situation has been resolved and, by now, I hope that virtually all the children affected have been offered a place at a school somewhere in the borough. But that is after many weeks of uncertainty and worry which should not have occurred and which must not be allowed to recur.
There are two elements to the problem--the rapid development of the grant- maintained sector and the impact of the Greenwich judgment. The idea of grant-maintained schools has caught on in Bromley. Of the 17 secondary schools, eight are now grant maintained. Parents who want places for their children in those schools apply direct to the schools and not to the education authority. So inevitably there is double, if not treble, booking.
The difficulties were compounded by the fact that the grant-maintained schools were able to offer places in December whereas the education authority's date is April. Some parents who perhaps wanted a specific LEA school held on to their
grant-maintained offer just in case they did not get the LEA school of their choice.
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