| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Mr. Murphy: As the hon. Gentleman said, he was not present when I began my speech. I made it clear that we do not disagree with the principle of the boarding school allowance and that it will continue under a Labour Government. We are saying that the recommendations of the Bett report, which has yet to be debated in the House but which, in this connection, seems to be highly sensible, are such that the Labour party could approve them.
The Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Mr. Nicholas Soames): I congratulate the hon. Member for Plymouth, Devonport (Mr. Jamieson) on securing this Adjournment debate on what is clearly an extremely important issue. He made a measured and balanced speech until perhaps the final sentence when he said that deregulation led to mediocrity and, as I understood it, to what my late lamented friend Geoffrey Dickens used to call "phaedopiles". My experience is to look at deregulation the other way around. Clearly, there will be casualties in deregulation as in any aspect of life, whether in the public or private sector, but deregulation has, by and large, led to a great expansion of enterprise, competition and excellence. The hon. Gentleman unbalanced what had been an admirable speech by a rather foolish conclusion.
The House should be aware that the hon. Gentleman's interest in defence--he represents an area with such a distinguished history of loyal and dedicated service--is matched by the fact that, as a former teacher, he has a long-expressed interest in education standards in the independent sector and, correctly in my view--I applaud him for it--in the need to ensure that the Ministry of Defence gets the value for money that it should for the £107 million that it spends annually on the boarding school allowance. The hon. Gentleman has raised the matter on the Floor of the House a number of times and in written questions to me. He is therefore well qualified to raise the matter again this morning.
As Minister of State for the Armed Forces, responsible for the welfare and deployment of service men and women and for almost every other aspect of their lives, I share the hon. Gentleman's concern that this particular aspect of their lives should be satisfactory. I am therefore glad of the opportunity to respond to the points that he raised. "Allegations" is the wrong word--let us say that the hon. Gentleman raised a number of points about various schools. I shall be writing to him in detail about them as I do not have the necessary facts to answer them, especially his final point relating to a school which, I understand, has left the trade association. I shall have that investigated at once, and I am grateful to him for letting me know about it. I shall write to him about the specific matters that he raised with which I am unable to deal now.
The hon. Gentleman made a number of extremely interesting points, and I listened with great care to what he had to say. I found much of what he said persuasive and I understand his genuine concern, which we share in every aspect of defence business, to ensure not only that the Ministry of Defence achieves best value for taxpayers' money but, just as important, that service children receive the best possible education.
I pay tribute to the work of service schools, which are splendid. Indeed, in my discussions with officials this morning while being briefed for this debate, it was said that many of the schools are excellent. I know from my own experience of visiting units all over the world that service men and women greatly value the education that their children receive. I also pay tribute to all the teachers and administrators who do so much to provide such an admirable service for the children of our service men and women.
I assure the hon. Gentleman and others that my Department shares the hon. Gentleman's aims--indeed, it would be like condemning motherhood and apple pie not to do so. The hon. Gentleman raised some important issues that need further investigation. I shall be in touch with him about them and would like him to come to see me to talk about them.
Although we are committed to devoting as much as possible to the business of the front line, we are of course mindful of our wider responsibilities. Although the provision of the boarding school allowance in these times of reduced defence budgets may seem odd to people who do not understand the principle, the scheme is soundly based. I acknowledge that what the hon. Gentleman and the hon. Member for Torfaen (Mr. Murphy) said was not a criticism of the boarding school allowance per se but of the way in which it is handled.
The policy is soundly based. Not everyone realises how important such an allowance is to the otherwise turbulent side of family life for service men and women. It may be helpful, therefore, if I set out for the benefit of the House a little of the background to the issues raised today.
I am sure that we all agree that our highly trained and professional men and women are the armed forces' greatest asset and that it is essential that we look after their interests, not only to ensure that morale remains high, although that is critical, but because we are more likely to retain these admirable people in the forces if they feel that their needs and those of their families are properly met and fettled.
Service life places incomparable pressures on the family. Too few civilians--those who have never had any connection with the forces--understand that service men
and women are not the same as civilians. Service personnel may be invited to make the ultimate sacrifice. They are not ordinary people, and I take this opportunity to pay my own very warm tribute to the families of all personnel in the armed forces. Without their support and tolerance, undoubtedly our armed forces would not function so effectively. The understanding and support that service wives give to their husbands, and vice versa, is crucial to the effectiveness of our forces. However, we cannot and will not take, and never have taken, that support for granted.
The welfare of one's family is one of the most important motivations in seeking any career. The services are clearly no exception--indeed, they are a shining example. Given the pressures that service families so often face, it is even more important to ensure that service personnel are confident that the welfare of their families is guaranteed. By doing that, we achieve value for money as we retain important people with specialised expertise in whom we have invested valuable training resources and who have such exceptional experience to give to the service of their Queen and country.
The provision of the boarding school allowance is one of the ways in which the needs of our service personnel are met. The allowance is available to service parents of all ranks to provide a stable education for their children in the face of the turbulence that is often a feature of service life. Service personnel who follow the flag and move their families wherever they are required to serve are eligible to receive it. Many of the service people most affected by turbulence are high achievers. Therefore, although the boarding school allowance is a cost to the Department, it is an extremely important tool in helping to persuade highly trained and vital service personnel to stay in the forces--something that we are very conscious of the need to do better across the board.
Because of your interest in defence, Madam Deputy Speaker, you are aware that service personnel and their families can be posted to various parts of the United Kingdom and overseas. Some of these postings are to isolated locations where adequate educational facilities are sometimes simply not available. Postings often occur at highly irregular intervals and sometimes at very short notice--such is the lot of service families. Depending on the service, postings last on average for two years. That could result in frequent and disruptive school change for children required to accompany their parents.
The availability of the boarding school allowance allows personnel of all ranks who suffer such turbulence the opportunity, if they so wish, to maintain their children in boarding schools. Children thus spend a substantial time at one school, which provides the continuity that is so important in education and which would otherwise be missing.
Boarding education is confined mainly to the independent sector, as only a small number of schools in the state sector offer boarding facilities. The provision of assistance with the fees enables service personnel to provide their children with the continuity offered by a boarding education. The boarding school allowance is not an education subsidy to allow service personnel access to a superior education--many state schools provide an
education that is every bit as good as that provided by schools in the independent sector--but a contribution towards the average cost of a boarding education.
Mr. Jamieson:
Does the Minister accept that local education authority boarding schools that are deemed to be excellent should be included on the admissible schools list, and that listed independent schools that are found to have shortcomings should be removed from it?
Mr. Soames:
I do not agree with that proposition. The hon. Gentleman has raised a number of very important points this morning. I shall consider his comments and perhaps he and I can discuss them officially after I have raised them with the Department for Education and Employment.
Those who wish their children to attend the more expensive boarding schools will have to pay a substantial proportion of the fees. The maximum rate of boarding school allowance that may be claimed is set at 75 per cent. of the average fees of all those schools attended by at least 30 children of service personnel. The rate is currently £1,883 per term for children at junior schools and £2,248 per term for children at senior schools. Parents are required to contribute a minimum of 10 per cent. of the school fees, although a large number pay considerably more than that. The average level of school fees in the independent sector is £3,415 per term according to the independent schools information service. Service parents who send their children to an "average" school must therefore find £1,200 out of their own pockets for each child, each term.
As with parents everywhere, service parents are responsible for selecting an appropriate school to suit the needs of their children. In order to find the right school, some parents will seek to stabilise their families in an area of their choice and serve unaccompanied when required to do so. Some elect to move their children around with them, and most children cope successfully with several changes of school. I find that amazing and I am always impressed by how well such children manage.
However, frequent changes of school may be harmful to children's education. Some have little alternative but to attend boarding school. That group is relatively small: of a service population of some 231,000, only about 7,500--about 3.2 per cent.--claim boarding school allowance. As the hon. Member for Torfaen (Mr. Murphy) pointed out, that number has reduced by more than 30 per cent. in the past five years as a result not only of draw-down in the armed forces but of control measures put in place to restrict the allowance to those who are genuinely affected by turbulence.
The hon. Member for Devonport is concerned that some parents elect to send their children to schools that do not perform well academically or that have been criticised in other areas. The Ministry of Defence has no statutory authority to control the educational standards of schools attended by children whose parents are in receipt of boarding school allowance--that responsibility rests with the Department for Education and Employment. However, the Ministry of Defence is keen to ensure that parents receive good advice about their selection of schools.
The Service Children's Education Agency--a new agency established on 1 April this year--has assumed the responsibility previously exercised by the Service
Children's Education Authority to provide general education advice to parents. In order to achieve that aim, it will continue to maintain close links with DFEE, OFSTED and other relevant professional bodies. It will also visit schools attended by a large number of children of service personnel, or when concerns are expressed about a school, in order to monitor the quality of accommodation and of pastoral care.
The Ministry of Defence maintains a list of schools for which parents may claim boarding school allowance.A copy of that list is kept in the Library. Prior to 1 April this year, the Service Children's Education Authority was responsible for checking that each school maintained adequate control over boarding facilities and met certain other basic criteria--including registration with the DFEE--before it was placed on the admissible schools list. That responsibility now rests with the Service Children's Education Agency.
Schools must be registered with the DFEE in accordance with the Education Act 1994 and must attain, and maintain, an acceptable standard of education as required by that Department. Before initial registration, a school is inspected by one of Her Majesty's inspectors and standards are monitored subsequently through "light touch" inspections carried out by the Office for Standards in Education, examining standards of achievement, teaching, learning and welfare. It is intended that those inspections be carried out every five years approximately, or more often when a school gives cause for concern.I shall discuss the hon. Gentleman's points on that subject with the Department for Education and Employment.
When standards are considered to be unsatisfactory in respect of unsuitable or inadequate accommodation, a failure to provide efficient and suitable education, or the existence of an unsuitable proprietor or teacher, the Secretary of State for Education and Employment issues a notice of complaint. That gives the school a specified period--usually six months--in which to improve in those areas where it was considered to be failing. If the school fails to comply within the notice period, it will be struck off the register and compelled to close, at which time it would no longer be eligible to remain on the Ministry of Defence list of admissible schools. When Ofsted reports are published about particular schools, the Service Children's Education Agency ensures that they are made available to parents with children at those schools. I noted the hon. Gentleman's point about reports and I shall consider that matter.
As to the question of the distribution of funds, the Service Children's Education Agency does not distribute funds to schools. Boarding school allowance is paid to service personnel to allow them to choose the most appropriate school for their children. The agency makes as much information as possible available to parents in order to help to inform their choice. We are constantly looking for ways of improving the quality of the information that we provide, and some of the hon. Gentleman's points are worthy of consideration in that regard.
The independent review--mentioned by the hon. Member for Torfaen--of the armed forces manpower, career and remuneration structures conducted recently by Sir Michael Bett was tasked with making recommendations to adapt those structures to the foreseeable needs of the next century. Its work on remuneration structures included an examination of all allowances paid to service personnel, paying particular attention to those factors of service life that created a need for them.
It concluded that, because of the unusually high level of mobility in the services--particularly in the Army--there is a continuing need to ensure that service personnel have the opportunity to provide their children with continuity of education through a boarding education. The provision of proper education for children is clearly a strong imperative for all parents, and the independent review concluded that it may not be possible for the services to retain personnel who feel unable to meet their aspirations in that regard.
Bett recognised that there is a continuing need for a form of boarding school allowance. The review made a number of recommendations to target the overall education allowance package better in order to ensure that only those with a genuine liability to move are entitled to benefit. The recommendations are being examined, together with all of the independent review's other recommendations, and I shall announce the results of the study later this year. Following a meeting this morning, I am pleased to report to the House that the work is going extremely well.
One factor that clearly influences the future cost of the boarding school allowance is the extent to which we are able to offer stability to service personnel and to their families. That will depend largely upon the operational demands that are placed on the individual services in the future.
The hon. Member for Devonport is right to raise those issues in circumstances where public funds are involved. As the hon. Member for Torfaen said, the hon. Gentleman has been extremely diligent in pursuing the matter in the past few years and I am grateful for his interest. As a former teacher, he will be well aware of the importance of maintaining and improving educational standards. The Government and the Ministry of Defence are committed to achieving the highest possible standards in education.
While the Ministry of Defence has no statutory power to regulate schools in the independent sector, I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for bringing his concerns to my attention on the Floor of the House. I shall pass them on to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Employment and, having discussed them, I shall be happy to meet the hon. Gentleman, should he so desire, to explore the matters in greater detail.
| Next Section
| Index | Home Page |