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10.24 pm
Ms Diane Abbott (Hackney, North and Stoke Newington): I associate myself with the remarks of my hon. Friend the Member for Hackney, South and Shoreditch (Mr. Sedgemore) and especially with his closing remark that for too long people have played politics with Hackney schoolchildren. However, the main thing that I want to do in the few minutes available to me is to emphasise the amount of positive work going on in Hackney schools and the fact that very many teachers and very many children are still achieving, still doing their best in difficult circumstances.
When I first read in the newspaper that a hit squad was coming into Hackney schools, I was a little worried, because although those of us who are familiar with the position now know that the hit squad was coming to address problems at the centre, the press coverage at the time gave the sad impression that all schools in Hackney were failing. That was very unfortunate. One of the problems that we have in Hackney is a flight of parents once their children reach the age of 11 because of the poor reputation--undeserved, I believe--of secondary schools in Hackney.
Like many parents, I have difficulty with the policy of naming and shaming because, ultimately, we are naming and shaming not the school but the children. Not so long ago, I visited Morningside school in Hackney. Teachers told me that, the day after Morningside was plastered all over The Evening Standard as one of the worst schools in the country, the atmosphere in the school was like a morgue. We must have a care with policy, because the people who bear the burden of the stigma are the children in the schools.
The hit squad is at work now, and my hon. Friend the Member for Hackney, South and Shoreditch is right to say that it has the support of teachers, councillors and parents in playing its part to improve education in Hackney. However, in a borough like Hackney, with the fourth highest unemployment in the country, with the one of the highest numbers of single parents in the country and with some of the worst housing in the country, education and achievement can never be satisfactorily addressed unless issues of poverty are also addressed and unless a policy of redistributing wealth is also considered.
I am not a class determinist when it comes to education; I do not believe that working-class children cannot achieve because they are working-class. I come from a working-class immigrant background and went to Cambridge university--a rather politically incorrect thing to admit nowadays. If children in Hackney are to achieve all that I know they can achieve, Hackney will need more resources and support and it will need policies to tackle the poverty and poor housing that we have in Hackney.
My hon. Friend the Member for Hackney, South and Shoreditch mentioned Clapton school for girls. It is actually one of the most improving schools in the country. I am very sad that the council is now talking about turning it into a mixed school. There is a history of educating girls on that site dating from the 19th century. I realise the difficulties in Hackney and I realise the pressures for more mixed-sex schools, but Clapton school for girls has an important history of educating girls. There are not that many schools in Hackney with a positive history. It is a good school.
Clapton school for girls educates substantial numbers of Muslim girls; a mosque has been built a stone's throw from it precisely because the community wants the girls to attend that school. I fear that, if the school is turned into a mixed-sex school, Muslim parents will withdraw their girls and there will be pressure for a single-sex Muslim girls' school in Hackney, which would be a backward step.
It is to the credit of schools in Hackney that they are able to educate so many children from so many different creeds and backgrounds together in one system. The decision to turn Clapton school for girls into a mixed-sex school is wrong. It will be detrimental and I believe that it will give rise to pressure for single-sex Muslim schools. Clapton school for girls should continue to be a school for girls.
The Minister for School Standards (Mr. Stephen Byers):
I am glad to have the opportunity to deal with the question of education in the London borough of Hackney. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Hackney, South and Shoreditch (Mr. Sedgemore) on securing the opportunity to debate the issue this evening. I also congratulate him on being a constant supporter of the Government's decision to establish the improvement team and on being an assiduous attender at the various meetings that have been held to consider the way forward for education in Hackney in these most difficult times.
I noted the comments made by my hon. Friend the Member for Hackney, North and Stoke Newington (Ms Abbott), especially towards the end of her speech. I guarantee that we will take her concerns into account should the Government be in a position to respond to any reorganisation proposals from Hackney.
As both my hon. Friends said clearly, the Government are concerned about the 30,000 children who get only once chance of a good education. I want to take this opportunity to say, on behalf of the Government, that many schools in Hackney are doing good work, often under difficult circumstances. I am pleased to put that on the record.
When I met the head teachers of Hackney--all 69 of them--just a week or two after we established the improvement team, I was struck by their commitment and motivation. As I come from a local government background myself, I thought of how much more they could do if they had the support and assistance of a good local education authority. They have been denied that. I happen to believe--I know that the Opposition disagree with this--that a local education authority that works well adds value to what its schools can do. It is a great shame that the schools in Hackney have not had that support.
I reinforce the points made by my hon. Friend the Member for Hackney, North and Stoke Newington: there are difficult circumstances in Hackney. It is one of the most impoverished urban areas in western Europe. In 1993, one third of all Hackney households had a gross income of under £5,000. Two thirds of households have no car; two thirds of children in Hackney secondary
schools take free school meals, the highest number in the country; and Hackney has the highest rate of unemployment in London.
The Government believe that children of unemployed or impoverished parents do not have to do badly in school--education should be their ladder of opportunity into work and off welfare, the wage slip replacing the giro cheque. Poverty should not be an excuse for failure, but a reason for targeted support and assistance. Children in Hackney, perhaps above children in all other parts of the country, deserve the highest-quality teaching, just as their teachers deserve the best possible support.
I acknowledge that the LEA in Hackney faces an immense challenge, but the magnitude of that challenge does not and will not excuse the provision of an inadequate service. On taking office in May, I asked for an analysis of the performance of all LEAs. That was an exercise distinct from the review of the performance of individual schools.
One LEA above all others gave us cause for concern--Hackney. As a result, we invited the Office for Standards in Education to inspect the authority. It agreed, and Hackney accepted. Ofsted was originally due to report at the end of this year, but it was so concerned at what it discovered that it brought its report forward and published it on 18 September. The report's conclusions were damning. Ofsted said:
There were concerns about the establishment of that team and, given some of the press reports before it was even appointed, I understand why. It has sought throughout to bring parties together, particularly governors, teachers and head teachers, in the interests of the children of Hackney. It has succeeded in doing that.
We gave the improvement team a remit, first, to ensure that Hackney met its statutory responsibilities; secondly, to work with head teachers and officers of the authority to prepare an education development plan; thirdly, to review urgently the LEA's management structure. We had no power to force the team on Hackney, as we had no power to require an inspection of the LEA by Ofsted. At all stages, the co-operation and agreement of Hackney has been necessary.
It is regrettable that the previous Government failed to provide legal backing to efforts to raise standards, particularly in relation to LEAs. This Government are prepared to take action to give themselves those legal
powers, which is why, later this week, we will publish a measure to allow us to intervene directly in LEAs that are failing to provide an adequate education for the children for which they have responsibility. Next year, Ofsted will begin a regime of LEA inspection, starting with 12 LEAs that will be inspected during 1998.
There is no doubt that, over the past few weeks, there have been periods of frustration for the improvement team and for all of us who are concerned about the education of children in Hackney, but I am pleased that the Hackney LEA has now accepted the team's recommendation of the appointment of a director of education at a salary that should attract quality applicants. The post was advertised last week and the appointment should be made by the middle of January 1998. At the request of the team, head teachers and chairs of governors will be involved in the recruitment process.
That is a vital breakthrough, ensuring that those who have responsibility for the day-to-day delivery of a quality education--the teachers, head teachers and chairs of governors--are involved in the appointment of a director of education for Hackney, but it is not enough. The team will vet all shortlisted applicants. For the reasons outlined by my hon. Friend the Member for Hackney, South and Shoreditch, we do not have confidence in the present administration making a suitable appointment, which is why the Secretary of State will approve the final shortlist. We need that power. I am pleased that Hackney has agreed that we should have the final say.
We have been pleased by the high level of co-operation throughout between the improvement team, many local education authority staff, head teachers, chairs of governors and the unions--not just the teacher unions, but those representing non-teaching staff. It is a long time since there has been liaison in Hackney at that level with the single aim of securing a better education for the young people of the borough.
A good example of that working together has been the discussions about the uses for the Government's £1.25 million of new capital money to be spent between now and March 1998 as part of our new deal for schools. Some head teachers have accepted that their schools will not benefit this time because there are other more pressing cases. That says a lot about co-operation among Hackney head teachers. The money will improve the condition of buildings to create an environment for quality education. I look forward to working with the head teachers and the improvement team to ensure that Hackney will benefit again from round two of the new deal for schools capital money in 1998-99.
Those are positive developments. The improvement team is to be congratulated on sticking to its task, often in the face of resistance and hostility. However, it tells me of its concern about the projected deficit of approximately £3 million in Hackney's education budget for the current financial year. That follows a substantial deficit in 1996-97. The improvement team has raised the matter directly with the elected members of the local education authority. Later this week, a joint meeting will be held to determine what action needs to be taken.
The district auditor is also concerned about overspend in other service areas. We shall monitor the situation closely. We expect elected councillors to take positive action to discharge their responsibilities.
"The current position is unacceptable. Some significant statutory duties are not being met.
It concluded by saying:
What needs to be done is, in fact, very clear. If Hackney children are to realise their potential, then the Authority must, above all else, act to raise standards in literacy and numeracy and focus on the needs of those pupils whose first language is not English".
"The LEA is in a state of disarray."
The Government would have failed in their responsibilities if they had not acted on the basis of those clear recommendations. We were not going to stand to one side, turn our backs on the children of Hackney and see them made the innocent victims of administrative and political failure, so the Secretary of State for Education and Employment established an improvement team under the leadership of Richard Painter.
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