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Reception Classes
13. Mr. A. J. Beith (Berwick-upon-Tweed): What estimate his Department has made of the number of four-year-olds in reception classes; and if he will make a statement. [64048]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Employment (Ms Margaret Hodge): In January 1998, 350,959 four-year-olds were in maintained reception classes in England.
Mr. Beith: Is the Minister aware that in rural Northumberland, where successive local government settlements have left schools desperately underfunded, schools feel under pressure to take in four-year-olds to maintain their position at the expense of the viability of play groups? As there are so many four-year-olds, will there be a curriculum for them along the lines of the foundation key stage about which the Minister spoke before Christmas? Or shall we finish up with four-year-olds in sets, as recommended by the chief inspector?
Ms Hodge: What matters is not so much the setting in which a child receives that pre-school experience, but the nature of the experience itself and we are focusing on that. That is why we have asked the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority for proposals to review the desirable learning outcomes. Like the right hon. Gentleman, we recognise that what count are skills in listening, speaking and working together, in persistence and co-operation. We shall pursue that agenda and there is no question at all, in anything that has been said, relating to setting.
Business of the House
12.30 pm
Sir George Young (North-West Hampshire): Will the Leader of the House tell us the business for next week?
The President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons (Mrs. Margaret Beckett): The business for next week will be as follows.
Monday 18 January--Opposition Day [3rd Allotted Day]
Until about 7 o'clock, there will be a debate entitled "Rationing in the NHS", followed by a debate entitled "Pensioners and Dividend Tax Credits". Both debates will arise on Opposition motions.
Tuesday 19 January--Consideration in Committee of the Greater London Authority Bill.
Wednesday 20 January--Until 2 o'clock, there will be debates on a motion for the Adjournment of the House.
Conclusion of consideration in Committee of the whole House of the Greater London Authority Bill.
Thursday 21 January--Remaining stages of the Road Traffic (NHS Charges) Bill.
Second Reading of the Scottish Enterprise Bill.
Friday 22 January--The House will not be sitting.
The provisional business for the following week will be as follows:
Monday 25 January--Second Reading of the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill.
Tuesday 26 January--Opposition Day [4th Allotted Day].
There will be a debate on an Opposition motion, subject to be announced.
Wednesday 27 January--Until 2 o'clock there will be debates on the motion for the Adjournment of the House.
Second Reading of the Tax Credits Bill.
Thursday 28 January--Motions on the Social Security Benefits Up-Rating Order, The Social Security (Contributions) (Re-Rating and National Insurance Fund Payments) Order and The Guaranteed Minimum Pensions Increase Order.
Friday 29 January--The House will not be sitting.
Sir George Young:
As we meet today for the first time on a Thursday morning, as an experiment, can the House be assured that the new arrangements will be monitored by the Modernisation Committee, to help us to decide whether the experiment should be made permanent? Part of the Government's modernisation package was a constituency week in February. Will the Leader of the House tell us what has happened to that?
On House of Lords reform, can the Leader of the House confirm press speculation that the Bill will be published next week; will the White Paper be available in good time for the Second Reading debate; and will there be a statement to the House on the setting up of any royal commission on the constitution? Finally in relation to the House of Lords, I have asked on many occasions whether all the stages of the constitutional Bill could be taken on
the Floor of the House. I have had no satisfaction, and the time has come for the Leader of the House to give a clear assurance that that convention will be respected.
On the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill, will the Leader of the House confirm that the key issues of conscience on the age of consent will be taken on the Floor of the House, and on a free vote?
Finally, may we have a debate in Government time on benefit fraud, to clarify the confusion that has arisen from certain assurances about resources given by Ministers on Monday which have been challenged both by local authorities and by Benefits Agency investigators?
Mrs. Beckett:
I can confirm that it was quite explicit that the experiment--of which the first day is today--was indeed an experiment. The monitoring will be a matter for the Modernisation Committee, but in relation to conclusions, I should like to point out delicately to the right hon. Gentleman that, as we are only hours into the first day, it is a little early to worry about conclusions, although the House will rightly want to consider how we proceed on the matter.
The right hon. Gentleman also asked--I did not quite catch his question as someone was murmuring in my ear--about a potential non-sitting week in February. I remind him that I said during our debate about the experiment that I was not able to give an assurance that it would be possible to find time in the present Session. The Government are mindful of hon. Members' wishes to have a clear picture of the path of Government business and debates and consideration in the House in the months ahead, and to receive notice of when decisions may be made. However, the right hon. Gentleman will appreciate that the Government face a great deal of heavy business at present and that this part of the Session has barely begun. I cannot, therefore, at present confirm that we will feel able to put aside time in this Session, although we shall obviously keep the situation under review.
The right hon. Gentleman asked about the handling of legislation to reform the House of Lords. The Government hope to publish the Bill and the White Paper next week--so, yes, we intend to provide proper time for hon. Members to study both the White Paper and the Bill. As the right hon. Gentleman said, he has raised previously the issue of whether all the Bill's proceedings should be taken on the Floor of the House. I have said before that the Government intend to respect normal conventions and that the matter will be discussed through the usual channels. That remains our position. The right hon. Gentleman need not feel the unease that he expresses.
The right hon. Gentleman also referred to the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill. That matter can be discussed through the usual channels, but the Government at least intend to recognise the fact that it is in some ways a matter of conscience. I anticipate that that recognition will underlie our decision, but we shall discuss the matter through the usual channels.
Finally, the right hon. Gentleman asked me to find time for a debate on benefit fraud, consequent on earlier exchanges. I am not immediately familiar with those exchanges, but I shall undertake to draw the right hon. Gentleman's observations to the attention of the relevant Ministers. I cannot, however, undertake to find time for that debate in the near future.
Mr. Tam Dalyell (Linlithgow):
As chairman of the all-party Latin America group, I wish to know whether there will be a statement next week--possibly from a Treasury Minister--about the implications of the bank crisis in Brazil. Furthermore, will there be a statement before my Adjournment debate on Monday 25 January about the French proposals in relation to Iraq and the lifting of sanctions? Will my right hon. Friend and her colleagues look favourably at my ten-minute Bill, the Military Action Against Iraq (Parliamentary Approval) Bill, which asks simply that there be a formal vote in the House of Commons regarding any further bombing of Iraq and that any such action be supported by a two-thirds majority?
Mrs. Beckett:
I recognise the concern that my hon. Friend has expressed about events in Brazil and I understand his wish for that issue to be raised with Treasury Ministers should matters develop in a damaging direction. I understand that my right and hon. Friends, together with others in the international community, are doing all that they can to ensure that there is no crisis in Brazil of the kind that might lead to demands for a statement. My hon. Friend will have seen that my hon. Friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury is on the Front Bench, and she will certainly bring his views to the attention of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor.
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