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Teachers (Appraisal)
11. Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to improve the appraisal system for teachers in Scotland. [17323]
Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: Appraisal should be the basis for assuring teaching standards in Scottish schools. The present voluntary arrangements have resulted in too few teachers being appraised. My right hon. Friend and I have therefore decided that appraisal should be put on a statutory basis. Consultation on the draft regulations has begun and will be operational by the start of the new school session.
Mr. Clifton-Brown: Does my hon. Friend agree that the appraisal of teachers goes hand in hand with the testing of children? Has my hon. Friend noticed, in contrast to the positive proposals in the White Paper on the future of education in Scotland, the near hysteria of Opposition Members and their teaching union allies in opposing those policies? Does he agree that that shows that old Labour is still alive and kicking in some areas and that the tragedy is that it is to the detriment of children in Scotland?
Mr. Robertson: My hon. Friend is right. Our approach to appraisal of teaching, and testing in S1 and S2 in
secondary schools, is part of our continuing drive to push up even further standards in Scottish schools. That contrasts sharply with the attitude of Labour Members, whose answer to all this seems to be to close bad schools.
Mr. Welsh: When will the Minister respond to the 40,000 parents, children and teachers in Edinburgh and the 20,000 in Glasgow who demonstrated against the Government's education policy? Will he now appraise his mishandling of the education system? If he will not, the electorate certainly will.
Mr. Robertson: As I understand it, those people were demonstrating not against the Government's policy but against the spending decisions and expected spending decisions of local authorities. Every teacher on that march and every parent of every child in Scotland's schools should know that every local authority in Scotland has more money to spend next year on education than last year. We expect those local authorities to make education the same key priority as the Government have made it.
Sir Hector Monro: On the training of teachers, does my hon. Friend agree that the continuation of the assisted places scheme and the introduction of vouchers for nursery education are crucial for the future of Scottish education and that if the Labour party continues to object and say that those schemes will be abolished, it will continue to plummet down the polls as it did yesterday?
Mr. Robertson: Every parent in Scotland of a pre-school child should know what the Labour party intends to do this year, next year and the year after. It would snatch back the vouchers, worth £1,100, which we are issuing and allow parents to choose, for the first time, whether to send their child to a nursery in the private or local authority sector. We are empowering parents by giving them that money and if, God forbid, Labour was sitting on the Government Benches, it would snatch that money back.
Mrs. Liddell: Will the Minister acknowledge that the key to raising standards in Scottish schools is the excellent work done by Her Majesty's inspectorate of schools? Will he condemn the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Mr. Evans), who claimed that school inspectors do not have proper jobs? Is not it hypocritical of Conservative Members to attack teachers when no action is taken against Conservative Members who pollute our schoolchildren with racism, sexism and bigotry?
Mr. Robertson: The hon. Member who should be condemned is the hon. Lady who, two weeks ago, was briefing the press that the Government intended to privatise HMI. That was absolutely untrue. As always, the hon. Lady seeks to hector and lecture all involved in Scottish education with the attitude that granny knows best. That is why granny wants to snatch back £1,100 from the hands of parents in Scotland.
Secondary Education
13. Sir David Knox: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much was spent per pupil in secondary
schools in Scotland in the most recent year for which figures are available; and what was the figure in 1978-79, at constant prices. [17325]
Mr. Raymond S. Robertson: Current expenditure per secondary pupil in 1994-95 was £2,874. That is 37 per cent. higher in real terms than in 1979.
Sir David Knox: Is my hon. Friend satisfied that that impressive increase in expenditure per secondary school pupil in Scotland has been reflected in improvements in the quality of education provided to them?
Mr. Robertson: My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We are putting more money in and our standards are rising. As we made clear in our White Paper "Raising the Standard", which we published a month ago, in the next Parliament we will continue that work.
Mr. Salmond: Did not the Education Minister effectively instigate the teachers' strike in Glasgow today through a financial settlement which aims a dagger at the heart of Scottish education? The Minister spent £250,000 on a study that basically told us that expenditure on secondary education in Scotland is higher because the provision is higher. Is it Tory policy to reduce provision in Scotland to the level that pertains south of the border? If so, the chances of the Education Minister getting his old job back in teaching after the election will be extremely limited.
Mr. Robertson: Every teacher marching in Glasgow will want to know what Glasgow city council has been doing with the additional £3.5 million, compared with last year, for education that it has received for next year. They will want to know why that city council is saying that it must cut front-line education services while it has managed to find money to send councillors to a symposium on cultural policies at St. Petersburg, an international rose trials exhibition at Rome, a meeting of the International Badminton Federation in Hong Kong; and to Rostov's city days event at Rostov-on-Don. That is what Glasgow teachers should be asking of Glasgow city council.
Mr. Bill Walker: Does my hon. Friend share my astonishment that, given a substantial increase in real expenditure per pupil, nationalist councillors are saying that services in schools will have to be cut and certain subjects, such as music, will be charged for excessively--despite the fact that expenditure has increased?
Mr. Robertson: My hon. Friend is absolutely right. His local authority has received almost £2 million more than last year to spend on education next year. The Scottish National party-controlled council in the constituency of the hon. Member for Angus, East (Mr. Welsh) will have £250,000 more to spend next year in comparison with last year. Teachers, parents and pupils should ask those councils what they are doing with that extra money.
Mr. Malcolm Bruce: In the light of the comments that the Minister and his colleagues have made about narrowing the gap between expenditure per head in England and in Scotland, and given that the secondary school pupil-teacher ratio is 16 in England compared with
12 in Scotland, what would that ratio be if he and his colleagues were in power for a further five years? When can I tell my constituents that they will get a new academy at Garioch, Oldmeldrum--for which a site has been acquired, but for which capital consent is inadequate--given that the Under-Secretary, the hon. Member for Kincardine and Deeside (Mr. Kynoch), can get a school at Laurencekirk and the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Mr. Salmond) can get a new school at Banff? The current settlement is already inadequate, so how can it possibly be cut further?
Mr. Robertson: The hon. Gentleman talks about teacher-pupil ratios, but he seems to forget that, during the lifetime of these four Conservative Governments, pupil-teacher ratios at primary and secondary schools have consistently fallen. I assure him that, during the lifetime of the next four Conservative Governments, they will continue to fall.
Public Expenditure (Glasgow)
14. Mr. David Marshall: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on public expenditure in Glasgow. [17326]
Mr. Kynoch: Public expenditure per head in Scotland is about 25 per cent. higher than in England, and Glasgow benefits significantly as a result.
Mr. Marshall: The Minister totally ignores the stark reality of the crisis facing the city of Glasgow. Will he
be honest and tell us what he expects will be the cumulative effect of substantial cuts in the budgets of Scottish Homes in relation to Glasgow, of Glasgow city council, of the Glasgow development agency and of the Greater Glasgow health board? What effect will all those cuts have on the health and well-being of the citizens of Glasgow? What does he intend to do to help the city in his last few weeks as a Minister?
Mr. Kynoch: The hon. Gentleman should be addressing some of his comments to Glasgow city council. My hon. Friend the Housing Minister just mentioned some of the prioritisation that is going on in Glasgow at present. Incidentally, I should say, for the benefit of the hon. Member for Gordon (Mr. Bruce), who said that Laurencekirk was not getting a school, that it successfully obtained it through the challenge fund today--a fact which I thought he might welcome.
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