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Mr. Blunkett: I only have to repeat the Prime Minister's words:
- "Nor is today's instalment anything like the final word."
Where is the final word? What is the final word? On which of the options are the Government still consulting? Which of the options that the Prime Minister laid out on12 September will be brought before the House, in the Bill?
Mrs. Gillian Shephard:
The hon. Gentleman mentioned choice and diversity in approving tones, as coming from his party. Will he say what choice and diversity the hon. Member for Peckham (Ms Harman) wants, and whether the hon. Gentleman proposes to provide them for her?
Mr. Blunkett:
I am happy to answer. Every parent in every community, whether or not they are a Member of Parliament, should have the right to exercise a preference for their child to go to the school of their choice. That preference should not be blocked by any mechanism that prevents a child from entering that school on the basis of his prior attainment at the age of 11 or on the interview of his parents by a head which then excludes that child because the parents do not meet a particular set of criteria. That is why we are against and will remain against selection, why any debate about selection is a past and dead agenda, and why we will turn to the future to offer every parent, whichever school they approach, the excellence that some have sought for themselves in the past and which others have been denied--excellence for everyone, rather than privilege for a few is the way in which we shall proceed.
I challenged the Secretary of State to indicate this afternoon whether she was going to extend grammar schools to the whole of England and Wales and the blocking of preference through selection to all parents. She clearly indicated that she was not. The only steps the Secretary of State has taken on the selection issue was to extend the 10 per cent. selection by grant-maintained schools to 15 per cent. I want to make the position clear. Do you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, know how many schools from the grant-maintained sector have exercised that preference already available to them?
Mr. Michael Brown (Brigg and Cleethorpes)
rose--
Mr. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Cirencester and Tewkesbury)
rose--
Mr. Blunkett:
I am intent on giving real information to Conservative Members.
Mr. Deputy Speaker:
Order. It is clear that thehon. Gentleman is not giving way at this juncture.
Mr. Deputy Speaker:
Order. That ruling applies particularly to the two hon. Members who rose when I
Mr. Blunkett:
Out of all the schools--
Mr. Tony Marlow (Northampton, North):
On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Will you be kind enough to advise the hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside(Mr. Blunkett) that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave way at least 25 times?
Mr. Deputy Speaker:
Order. I am sure that thehon. Member for Brightside will bear that information in mind.
Mr. Blunkett:
I am still answering the last question. When I have done so, I will give way again.
Of the 1,100 grant-maintained schools, 43 exercised the option of even partial selection and 160 exercised historic full selection at the age of 11. Seven million children in 25,000 schools deserve equal opportunity from an education system that provides excellence for everyone. No school is threatened by this party with abolition based on its status. All parents will be able to exercise a preference. All children will be promised the kind of education that all of us expect for ourselves.
Mr. Blunkett:
I will give way in one moment. Historically, the Conservative party has pretended to promise to the many that which it has been prepared to deliver only to the few. That is the difference between us.
Dr. Hampson:
On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. The noise in the Chamber has been so intense that many hon. Members on both sides of the House failed to hear the hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside(Mr. Blunkett). Did he or did he not say that no grammar school would be closed on the basis of selection?
Mr. Blunkett:
I said that no school would be abolished on the basis of its status, nor will it. Children will be able to enter schools on the preference of their parents, based on an open and fair admissions policy that discriminates against no one.
Mr. Nigel Waterson (Eastbourne):
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that lengthy explanation, but as I did not quite follow his remarks, does he agree with that which he wrote in the Sheffield newspaper The Star some time ago? I believe that I am quoting the hon. Gentleman accurately when I say that he wrote, "I am having no truck with middle-class left-wing parents who preach one thing and send their children to other schools outside the area."
Mr. Blunkett:
I am delighted to say that we are in total unity on this side of the House. We are all preaching one
Mr. Deputy Speaker:
Order. There is little pointhon. Members asking questions if they will not stay quiet to hear the answers.
Mr. Blunkett:
I refer to the one part of the Bill that does deal with the extension of grant-maintained status.
Mr. Michael Brown:
Will the hon. Gentleman give way now?
Mr. Brown:
I can tell the hon. Gentleman all about selection, because I failed my 11 plus and went to a secondary modern school. The hon. Gentleman should answer the question put by my hon. Friend the Member for Eastbourne (Mr. Waterson). What does he tell thehon. Member for Peckham (Ms Harman), having said that left-wing people from the middle classes should not do one thing and preach another? Does the hon. Gentleman accept or condemn the hon. Lady's actions?
Mr. Blunkett:
I would be delighted to provide thehon. Gentleman with a packet of atenolol. If he gets any more worked up, he will probably need one. I dealt with the questions put by the Secretary of State and by thehon. Member for Eastbourne (Mr. Waterson). I must move on, and I will take questions on the Bill.
Mr. Dunn:
On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. Is there any way that the House can be adjourned, so that we may check the record of the hon. Gentleman's answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Eastbourne(Mr. Waterson)?
Mr. Deputy Speaker:
Order. It does not require the adjournment of the House for anything to be checked.I hope that hon. Members will now listen to the hon. Member for Brightside.
Mr. Blunkett:
I have heard of unretentive memories but that beats the band.
The truth is that the Prime Minister, on 12 September, promised a massive change, and the massive change turns out to be--
Mr. Iain Duncan Smith (Chingford):
Will thehon. Gentleman give way?
Mr. Blunkett:
No. I wish to make some progress.
Mr. James Pawsey (Rugby and Kenilworth):
On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. You have given a ruling that the House should listen to what the hon. Gentleman says, yet he refuses to respond to the questions put to him by my hon. Friend the Member for Eastbourne (Mr. Waterson).
Mr. Deputy Speaker:
Order. The hon. Gentleman has been here long enough to know that it is for thehon. Member who is speaking to decide how to answer any question that is raised.
Mr. Blunkett:
The Bill proposes that grant-maintained schools should be able to borrow against some of their
If a school is under pressure and its admissions are oversubscribed, the Government have promised that they will allow it to borrow to expand. Under the Bill, a school that is under pressure, with all its premises in use, no space available and no surplus to be sold off, will not be able to borrow against its assets because its assets are in core use. The only schools that will be able to borrow against their assets will be the ones that are not under pressure, and which have empty accommodation, surplus places and low demand for admission to the school. So the Government have contradicted themselves on their declared aim and principle for the GM sector.
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