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10.26 pm
Mr. Keith Vaz (Leicester, East): It is typical of the generosity of my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Leicester, West (Mr. Janner) to offer his Leicester
colleagues the chance to make a brief contribution to the debate. I wish to pay tribute to him for the way in which he has championed this cause. I first met my hon. and learned Friend 20 years ago, when I was a student with his son at university. I came to the House at his invitation to have a look at the proceedings. I knew then of his reputation for fighting hard on behalf of his constituents, and tonight we have seen a tour de force and an example of the passion and the commitment that he gives to his constituents of Leicester, West. He will be missed after the next election, because, as the House knows, he has announced his retirement.
My hon. and learned Friend has raised a crucial issue and he has put forward, in the most eloquent and passionate terms, the concern of teachers, parents and ordinary citizens about vandalism in schools in Leicestershire. I do not want the House to think that such incidents happen only in Leicestershire. Of course, it is a national problem, and my hon. and learned Friend has merely highlighted it on a local basis.
I wish to add my voice to my hon. and learned Friend's and to stress the need for the Under-Secretary to come up with firm proposals in her reply. I, too, would like to know what is in the report that the Secretary of State will publish tomorrow. I hope that the Minister has seen a copy; my hon. and learned Friend said that he had seen a copy. It is vital that we do not just get promises and warm words, but that we have some positive action to ensure that schools are supported. As my hon. and learned Friend said, they suffer greatly because of the cuts in budgets that they have had to endure after 17 years of the Government.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Employment (Mrs. Cheryl Gillan)
indicated dissent.
Mr. Vaz:
It is no good the Under-Secretary shaking her head. It is true that the schools are suffering because of the high rate of crime, which has doubled since the Conservatives have been in office.
I have just had a conversation with Mr. Jones, who is a teacher at Charles Keane college. My hon. and learned Friend knows it well, because people from both our constituencies attend it. Mr. Jones told me that last night there was a burglary at Charles Keane college. The burglars stole the telephone keyboard, which is essential to the functioning of the school, which will have to replace it out of its budget.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Employment (Mrs. Cheryl Gillan):
I congratulate the hon. and learned Member for Leicester, West (Mr. Janner) on securing an Adjournment debate on such an important subject. I am sad to hear that he has announced his retirement. I am sure that the House will be a poorer place without him. The hon. and learned Gentleman is renowned, most notably for his buttonholes. I note that he is not wearing one tonight. I hope that that is not the result of anything that I have done.
The hon. and learned Gentleman shares a concern about security in schools with many other Members. I am pleased that he allowed his hon. Friend the Member for Leicester, East (Mr. Vaz) to contribute to the debate. The hon. and learned Gentleman and the hon. Gentleman join many colleagues throughout the House, including my hon. Friend the Member for Rutland and Melton (Mr. Duncan), the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for Loughborough (Mr. Dorrell), my hon. Friend the Member for North-West Leicestershire (Mr. Ashby) and my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Harborough(Mr. Garnier), to name but a few in the area around the hon. and learned Gentleman's constituency who are interested also in school security; as, indeed, we all are.
As the hon. and learned Gentleman rightly said, the timing of tonight's debate is both fortuitous, in the sense that the report of the working group on school security is to be published tomorrow, and unfortunate because, of course, I cannot tonight give more than a flavour of the group's recommendations. A flavour, however, I shall give at this stage. I do not think that the hon. and learned Gentleman has too long to wait. Indeed, given the late hour, it will not be long at all before the report is published. I hope that the hon. and learned Gentleman's curiosity will be fully satisfied.
School security is a problem that concerns us all, as parents, as members of the local community and certainly as politicians. Vandalism and arson damage the fabric of schools, the morale of their staff and pupils and the effectiveness of teaching and learning.
The Government are entirely at one with the hon. and learned Gentleman in our concern for schools suffering from such crimes. He kindly referred to the visit of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to Braunstone Hall school in Leicester last year, to discuss school security matters with local head teachers. In a recent exchange with the hon. and learned Gentleman, I expressed my great sadness over the arson attack faced by Emily Forte school in his constituency. It was a great sadness and I reiterate my remarks on that earlier occasion.
I know also that the hon. and learned Gentleman and the rest of the House shared the country's shock and grief at the recent tragic events at St. George's school in Maida Vale and at Dunblane. Those events were all the more horrific because of the traditional place of schools at the heart of their communities. Schools naturally want to be open and welcoming to pupils, to parents and to the local community. They are often centres for wider education and leisure activity locally. They seek to be encouraging of education generally, and to draw parents and the community into supporting the education of local children. Those characteristics benefit and enrich our villages, towns and cities. They should be valued and protected.
Nevertheless, it is natural that recent events should have raised questions about whether that accessibility exacts too high a price; whether schools now need to secure themselves more rigorously against threats from outside.
Despite the emotional impact of the incidents that we are discussing, there is general agreement that attempting to turn schools into fortresses is not the right response. There is a need to strike a balance between
access and security. It is to the credit of heads, teachers and school governors throughout the country that they are determined to avoid a siege mentality. Such determination should be applauded and supported.
That response should not be taken as an excuse for inaction. It is clear that there are limits to what can sensibly be done to prevent events as extreme as the horrific killings in Dunblane, but there are effective and practical measures that can be taken to protect staff, pupils and premises, without turning schools into fortresses.
I have already referred to the working group on school security, which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State established immediately following the fatal stabbing of head teacher Philip Lawrence. In the wake of his tragic death, its remit was to consider what more should be done to help to ensure that schools are safe places for their staff and pupils.
The group brought together representatives of all the main interests in school security: head teacher, teacher and support staff associations; school governors; voluntary aided, grant-maintained and independent schools; local education authorities; parents; the police; and Government Departments. We are immensely grateful to the group's members for their efforts in drawing up the report so quickly and with such care. I am sure that the hon. and learned Gentleman will read it with interest, as it bears on much that has been said tonight--if, indeed, he has not already had a sneak read earlier.
Without wanting to pre-empt the detailed recommendations, I can confirm that the group has made a range of positive and practical suggestions, covering issues such as the role of governors, local education authorities and school staff in maintaining and improving security; the availability of advice and guidance on security-related matters to schools and others with an interest; the law relating to troublemakers in and around schools; and funding for security improvements. The Government's response will be in equally positive vein: indeed, we have already acted on early recommendations from the group.
First, we have taken firm action to counter the menace of people carrying knives and other weapons in schools. The Offensive Weapons Bill, which is currently before Parliament--promoted by my hon. Friend the Member for Sutton and Cheam (Lady Olga Maitland)--has been amended: it now makes it an offence to carry a knife or other offensive weapon on school premises, and we are extending to those premises police powers of search for such weapons. The press has focused on the application of the measure to pupils, but it is at least as much concerned with weapons carried by intruders.
Secondly, following recent consultation, we are adding school security to the list of items on which school governors must report annually to parents. That will help to highlight and reinforce the important role of governors in maintaining and improving security in their schools. I have already mentioned that the school security working group has considered funding matters. There are already sources of funds that could, depending on LEAs' and schools' priorities, be used to pay for improved security. LEAs receive formula capital allocations for improvement and replacement work in county and voluntary controlled schools; equivalent support for grant-maintained schools
is channelled through capital formula allocations from the Funding Agency for Schools for England. Voluntary aided schools can receive support through the minor works programme and the voluntary rationing scheme.
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