| Previous Section | Index | Home Page |
Mr. Janner: I appreciate what the Minister has said very much. Can she give an indication of when the Government will respond to the report's recommendations?
Mrs. Gillan: The hon. and learned Gentleman is jumping the gun. I have said that we are publishing the report tomorrow, and that I believe that he will join us in welcoming the Government's response. He can press me, but I am afraid that he will get no further tonight: he will have to wait until tomorrow.
The report is not, and should not be, the last word on school security. Specifically, important lessons may arise from Lord Cullen's public inquiry into the Dunblane tragedy. The Government will of course consider carefully any further issues that that inquiry raises, but school security should not be an issue to be considered only in the wake of individual high-profile incidents which, however shocking, reveal only a partial picture of the problems faced by most schools. To be effective, school security measures must be based on a regular and realistic assessment of the day-to-day risks faced by schools in different areas and in conditions that will vary over time. It is important that all people concerned remain alert to new needs and to changing circumstances. Protective measures are relevant only if they enable school staff and pupils to work and to study in safety.
That must be a continuing priority for all people with a part to play. It is one to which the Government are fully committed, and I refer the hon. and learned Gentleman especially to the Department's guidance to schools on security issues, which covers crime prevention in schools, intruder alarm systems, closed circuit television, security lighting, school glazing and vandalism, graffiti removal and control, lockers and secure storage and "Schoolwatch UK", a video on the main criminal threats faced by schools.
The Government are fully committed to the security of the UK's schools. I was sorry that, even though the hon. and learned Gentleman and the hon. Member for Leicester, East spoke on this subject with such emotion,
I yet again failed to hear the amount of money that may be forthcoming from the Labour party in this matter. Again, no spending pledges were made, but there was merely a plea for more money.
Mr. Janner:
Wait until we are elected.
Mrs. Gillan:
That will be the day.
I congratulate the hon. and learned Gentleman on securing the debate and I hope that, tomorrow, he will be big enough to welcome the report warmly, and the Government's response.
Question put and agreed to.
Adjourned accordingly at twenty minutes to Eleven o'clock.
| Index | Home Page |