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Literacy Hour
8. Mr. Colin Burgon (Elmet): What representations he has received from schools regarding the literacy hour. [88973]
The Secretary of State for Education and Employment (Mr. David Blunkett): The latest survey shows that 90 per cent. of head teachers welcome the literacy hour and find it extremely valuable and useful in transforming the life chances of children. This week, Ofsted said that the project was an important catalyst in the majority of schools in tackling deep-seated problems with literacy. We are very pleased that the literacy hour is making such a difference. We shall go forward to ensure that, despite the legacy that we inherited, our children will be able to read, write and add up at the age of 11.
Mr. Burgon: I thank my right hon. Friend for that comprehensive answer. He will be interested to know that I recently visited St. Edward's primary school in Boston Spa in my constituency, which achieves high standards. Its head teacher, Mark Brennan, was especially keen to stress how the literacy hour will serve to drive up standards further. Several other head teachers in my constituency have said the same, so it is clear that the literacy hour is an outstanding success. Will my right hon. Friend take this opportunity to praise the teachers and the non-teaching assistants who have worked so hard to deliver this good news story for us all?
Mr. Blunkett: Yes, I shall take this opportunity to do just that, with cross-party support. We thank Lord Putnam, Lloyds TSB and all the others who have worked so hard on the national awards. We also greatly appreciate the fact that, at 7 pm on BBC1 this Sunday, the BBC will publicise the excellence of teachers and the good work that is being done. We can all celebrate what is happening in our classrooms. For the excellent work of our teachers and non-teaching staff we say, "Thank you."
Mr. Stephen Dorrell (Charnwood): There are many thousands of good teachers in our schools, and improvements in the attainment of literacy standards are welcome. However, how can teachers take seriously the Secretary of State's protestations about the importance that he attaches to their professional status when his Department is issuing guidance that tells them how to use every 10 minutes of the literacy hour? Should he not
concentrate on setting standards and targets rather than trying to tell teachers how to teach? If he really believes in the professional status of teachers, should he not be leaving teaching to those best qualified to do it?
Mr. Blunkett: One section of the right hon. Gentleman's party has just denounced targets, and he welcomes targets but not the means by which to reach them. We need a strategy that provides a framework and the resources to back it up, and we have provided £55 million. We need teacher training to make the strategy achievable, and added support for pupils, which youngsters themselves have welcomed, for activities which, in the past, only the rich could afford in the Easter holidays or at weekend. We also need to ensure that teachers have the professional judgment to make appropriate adjustments on the principle of inverse proportion to success. Where intervention is not needed, we will stay out, but where it is needed, we will intervene.
Mr. Malcolm Wicks (Croydon, North): Does the Secretary of State recognise the sad irony of our having to address basic literacy as we approach the 21st century when the problem had been identified by Parliament at the end of the 19th century? Children enjoy the literacy hour in my constituency, but does the Secretary of State recognise that both for children with high ability whose reading standards are high and for those who may struggle with reading, some flexibility may be needed in the hour?
Mr. Blunkett: As part of our development for gifted children and our extension of what is available in the school, rather than outside the neighbourhood, we shall issue specific guidance. This week's Ofsted report said that struggling children, and the average, had benefited greatly from the structure that we have provided. The additional boost to classes had transformed their life chances, and not simply those of the children who were coasting or doing well. Our strategy is helping those who, in the past, would simply have been abandoned to entering adulthood without being able to read and write properly and who would then have formed the cohort so graphically identified by the Moser report a few months ago.
Dr. Julian Lewis (New Forest, East): Is it not perfectly obvious that one way in which to assess the efficiency and effect of the literacy hour, and to drive up standards, would be to publish the results of tests held at age seven? Does the Secretary of State recall his feeble answer in yesterday's education debate when I put it to him that he had been hurt by criticism that too much bureaucracy was being placed on schools? Can he explain how it would add to the bureaucracy affecting schools if local education authorities and his Department ensured that those results were published?
Mr. Blunkett: I answered the hon. Gentleman's question last night. It is a pity that he either did not hear me, or cannot remember it.
Dr. Lewis: I have just read it in Hansard.
Mr. Blunkett: I am pleased that the literacy hour has enabled the hon. Gentleman to look up the answer this morning. My answer remains the same. He cannot in one
breath ask us to relieve pressure, reduce bureaucracy and spend less on centralised collection, collation and publication of data, while in the next breath demand the opposite.
Miss Melanie Johnson (Welwyn Hatfield): Does my right hon. Friend agree that we can build on the excellent progress that schools are making on literacy and numeracy by using electronic conferencing and the information communication technology that the Government are putting into schools for professional development of teachers?
Mr. Blunkett: The database that is being compiled and the way in which the standards site is now working are enabling people to spread best practice, and to share what they have found to work well--rather than merely what is offered by the framework. That also provides them with the wherewithal to support integrated learning systems, which are most important for underachievers. I am extremely pleased that the Under-Secretary of State for Education and Employment, my hon. Friend the hon. Member for Norwich, South (Mr. Clarke), is taking forward the development of the national grid for learning; a concept that did not even exist as a twinkle in the eye of the Conservatives--never mind the £1 billion that we are spending on it.
Specialist Schools
9. Dr. Howard Stoate (Dartford): How many schools have been designated specialist schools since May 1997. [88974]
The Minister for School Standards (Ms Estelle Morris): Since May 1997, 196 schools have been designated, bringing the total to more than 400. That is a considerable achievement and puts us on course to reach our target of 800 by 2003.
Dr. Stoate: I thank my hon. Friend for that most satisfactory reply. In my Dartford constituency, there are three highly popular and successful specialist colleges: Dartford grammar school--a language college; Dartford West school for girls--a technology college; and the Leigh city technology college. Does my hon. Friend agree that a sports college in Dartford would complete the learning community, and would add to genuine choice and diversity for parents in my constituency?
Ms Morris: I congratulate my hon. Friend on taking every opportunity to push the cause of his constituency. There are nine specialist schools in his county. A sports college would complete the set; our vision is that there should be several schools of each specialism in every local authority area. I look forward to receiving applications for specialist sports status, but I know that my hon. Friend would not want me to prejudge such applications.
New Deal (Disabled People)
10. Ms Helen Southworth (Warrington, South): If he will make a statement on the progress of the new deal for disabled people. [88975]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education and Employment (Ms Margaret Hodge): The new deal for disabled people, currently being piloted, is making good progress. Although the journey towards work will take many months for many in that client group, I am pleased to report that, by the end of May, a total of 472 people had already been placed in jobs.
Ms Southworth: I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. Does she agree that this is the ideal time for employers in large, medium and small companies to review their recruitment, and to take advantage of the benefits to their companies of employing people with disabilities? I am holding discussions with employers in my constituency. What is my hon. Friend doing to encourage employers, nationally, to seize that opportunity?
Ms Hodge: We are working with many employers so that they can recruit from the widest possible pool of talent, including people with disabilities. For example, in Manchester, where we are running a disabled person pilot, Centrica has employed 50 people with disabilities, and carers. B and Q is another large employer, which has put disability in the mainstream, in respect both of employment and the supply of goods and services. In the Thurso scheme, we are working with employers; 30 people are now in work, who were--between them--unemployed for a total of 194 years. One third of those people had been unemployed for more than nine years and some of them had been unemployed for more than 20 years. That example demonstrates the importance of the scheme for getting disabled people into work.
Mr. Paul Keetch (Hereford): I add the congratulations of Liberal Democrat Members to the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow) on his position on the Opposition Front Bench. I am not sure whether he is in the gateway period, but, given the rather high staff turnover in the Conservative education team, perhaps his job is not too long term.
What is the benchmark for the success of the new deal for disabled people? Given that, before the introduction of the new deal, 21 per cent. of those disallowed incapacity benefit had found full-time jobs within six months, does the Minster accept that the new deal will have to do better than that if it is to be judged a success?
Ms Hodge:
We are being extremely careful in rolling out the new deal for disabled people to ensure that we find out what works before there is a national roll-out. It is a complex area of policy development, given the broad spectrum of disabilities with which we are coping and the real barriers to employment faced by many disabled people. We shall review that benchmark at an appropriate time, but I am sure that the hon. Gentleman agrees that it would be wrong to set inappropriate targets without learning what works.
Miss Anne Begg (Aberdeen, South):
I am sure that my hon. Friend is aware of the concerns of a number of disabled people: that they will be called in for interview; that they may be unable to gain access to the building; that the adviser will be insensitive to their needs; and that
Ms Hodge:
The new deal for disabled people is a voluntary programme. So far, we have managed to engage more than 3,000 people in the programme following their first interviews, and nearly 2,000 are implementing a focused employment action plan.
We are taking a number of steps to ensure that disabled people see this as an opportunity. For example, the implementation of part III of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 will of itself ensure proper access to services for disabled people. The Disability Rights Commission--the legislation to establish it completed its passage through the Commons last week--will also provide a vehicle to support the rights of individuals.
The opportunity to work is a crucial civil right for disabled people. I say that on the basis of my meetings with disabled people. That opportunity restores their self-esteem, their sense of value and their self-confidence. It is vital, and it is something that we intend to pursue.
Mr. Tim Boswell (Daventry):
It is common ground in the House that the employment of persons with disabilities requires a good deal of care, sensitivity and, indeed, expense. In the light of what the Minister has said, will she confirm that all personal advisers will have expertise, or access to it, in regard to the particular disabilities--or complex of disabilities--of people seeking employment? Does she share the view of the disability charities that the balance between expenditure on the new deal for the disabled and the new deal for young people may require some re-examination?
Finally--in the light of what she said about pilot schemes--will the Minister confirm that the new deal for the disabled is on target for the plan to roll out nationally on 1 April next year?
Ms Hodge:
First, let me welcome the hon. Gentleman to the Front Bench. I think that this is the first occasion on which I have had the pleasure of engaging him in debate on disability rights, but I welcome him back to the Front Bench--although nowadays it is the Opposition Front Bench.
Personal advisers receive training in respect of all the new deals, and the disability organisations are involved in the training that we provide for personal advisers in all the employment programmes in which we are engaged. As for the amount of money that has been set aside, the new deal for disabled people is only one part of our employment programme to help disabled people to obtain work. Last year, the Employment Service helped nearly 100,000 disabled people to gain employment.
Are we on target for rolling this out nationally? Let me repeat what I said earlier: my view is that we must get this right before we roll it out nationally. I will not be stuck with a date if we have not established what works in terms of securing opportunities for disabled people to obtain work.
Mrs. Theresa May (Maidenhead)
indicated dissent.
Ms Hodge:
Let me tell the hon. Lady that I consider this to be one of the most exciting, innovative initiatives that we have launched. It gives disabled people opportunities, and it is not a subject for cheap gibes.
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