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Mr. Tom Harris: Look behind you.
Mr. Brady: The hon. Gentleman would be wise to look behind him. He was possibly close to Ms Fiona Millar in a previous incarnation, as was the Minister for School Standards, because she is the partner of the real
Deputy Prime Minister. She has made it clear why the funding crisis is afflicting our schools. She wrote from Gospel Oak primary school:
- "Why has this happened? . . . The Government has changed the way that it allocates block grants to councils and has moved money from the south east to the north, Camden has been one of the authorities that has done least well out of this change . . . There has been a significant increase in the contribution that employers . . . have to pay to national insurance contributions . . . There has been a significant increase in schools' contributions to the teachers' pensions fund . . . There has been a significant reduction in grant paid to schools called the Schools Standard Fund."
So one would think that hon. Members would be justified in thinking that Downing street and the Department for Education and Skills know the cause of the problem, but that is not the case: either they blame the media, as they tried to do on the Channel 5 news yesterday when they suggested that it is a media invention and there is no real problem, or they pass the buck to local authorities. But are they so clear about that when councils, such as Trafford, where my constituency is located, or Manchester, are Labour run? In Trafford, Mr. Tarun Kapur, the head of Ashton-on-Mersey school, has highlighted a shortfall of between £60,000 and £80,000. Who should the voters blame for that—Labour Trafford or the Labour Government? I hope that the Minister answers that.
Andrew Bennett (Denton and Reddish): Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr. Brady: No, I do not have time.
There is even worse news in Manchester. We heard Dame Jean Else, the head of Whalley Range high school for girls, on GMTV this morning. That is an excellent school which, of course, was the school of the former Secretary of State for Education and Skills, the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley (Estelle Morris). That head teacher threatened to resign rather than accept the £600,000 shortfall that her school faces. She said:
- "I am faced with having to lose some of my incredibly valuable staff and cut aspects of the curriculum and I really feel it will defeat the object and I am not prepared to do that."
We have heard today about threats to post offices and local pharmacies, increasing levels of violent crime and, above all, increased tax, which has gone up locally by 60 per cent. since 1997 and has risen nationally as well. There is stagnation and decline in the provision of our public services. Our constituents are not just bewildered by the fact that higher taxes are accompanied by cuts in services and teacher redundancies—they are angry as well. On Thursday, voters will have an opportunity to deliver a judgment on Labour's record of taxing more
and delivering less. What the Minister must do now is demonstrate that he really understands the anger and frustration felt by people across the country.6.45 pm
The Minister for School Standards (Mr. David Miliband): This debate has illuminated clear differences between the parties about local and national policy. There is a clear choice—to build on progress by supporting the amendment or turn the clock back by backing the motion.
For the benefit of hon. Members who have not attended the whole debate, I want to pick out some highlights. I enjoyed the contributions of my hon. Friend the. Member for Croydon, Central (Geraint Davies), the hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Mr. Davey), my hon. Friends the Members for Reading, West (Mr. Salter), for City of Chester (Ms Russell) and for Workington (Tony Cunningham), the hon. Member for Westbury (Dr. Murrison) and my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley, East and Mexborough (Jeff Ennis). However I want to pick out three contributions in particular. I hope that Members on both sides of the House agree that the right hon. Member for North-West Hampshire (Sir George Young) made a thought-provoking and thoughtful speech. I think that he and my right hon. Friend the Minister for Local Government and the Regions know more about local government and housing finance than anyone else in the country, and I believe that they will have an interesting debate about the points that he made. My hon. Friend the Member for Ogmore (Huw Irranca-Davies) took us down the Maesteg branch line to remind us that there is no greater danger to community than unemployment, no greater misery than poverty pay, no greater fear than having your community written off, and no greater hypocrisy than Conservative tears for broken communities.
The right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden (David Davis) deserves mention too. He put at the centre of his speech the fate of Hampstead police station, and made a £2 billion commitment to 40,000 more police officers—not, I hasten to add, all at Hampstead police station. I am sure that the hon. Member for Buckingham (Mr. Bercow) was sitting behind him when he made that extraordinary £2 billion commitment, although he is not in the Chamber at the moment. The hon. Gentleman still has the reflexes of a shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury—he flinched when the right hon. Gentleman mentioned £2 billion.
Let me say at the outset that I take seriously the representations made to hon. Members on both sides of the House by professionals in our hospitals, schools and police services including, notably, the letters from teachers and head teachers to which there has been reference. The Secretary of State for Education and Skills will write to all local authorities on Friday about money as yet unallocated to schools and will urge them to meet schools to discuss the allocation process, not just in Oxfordshire or Epsom and Ewell but all over the country. Whatever our differences in the House, I hope that there is no difference in our respect for the people who work in our public services. The Government have
a duty to meet their concerns and respond to their queries; the House has a duty to stand up for their achievements.
Mr. Edward Davey: Can the Minister tell the House why that money is unallocated? When head teachers and governing bodies are trying to set their budgets for next year, why is that money not there so that they can plan for it? Why is it coming at the last minute?
Mr. Miliband: Money is not coming at the last minute. Announcements were made in the usual way in December, and local authorities still have, we estimate, about £500 million on the returns that they submitted to us. It is early in the financial year, but before any schools start making decisions about the financial prospects for this year it is important that they are aware of all the money that is coming to them, which is why we are saying that every local education authority should sit down with every school in difficulty to ensure that they get the money.
The House has a duty to stand up for the achievements of public servants, but it is noteworthy that today there is not a word of praise in the Conservative motion or from their spokesman about higher standards in schools; not a word about shorter waiting in the health service; not a word about the 27 per cent. reduction in crime according to the British crime survey since 1997. The Opposition talk about betrayal, but theirs is the betrayal of hard work and successful efforts. Rather than running down public servants they should be applauding them. More staff, who are better trained and properly supported, are delivering results across the country. In the health service, there are 300,000 operations a year. Waiting times and waiting lists are falling; every patient is seen and treated in accident and emergency within four hours; serious cancer cases are seen and treated within two weeks; every trust is using booked admissions, and waiting times for heart operations have been halved; and 19 new hospitals are on the way. That is a record of progress, and a record to be proud of.
Chris Grayling: Last week I spoke to a consultant who told me that, simply to meet the Government's targets, staff had been forced at the end of the four-hour waiting time to admit patients to hospital who would otherwise have been sent home an hour later. How can that be right?
Mr. Miliband: I am sorry. I thought the hon. Gentleman would congratulate the Government on the £560 per pupil increase in funding for education in Epsom and Ewell since 1997. I am happy to pass on to the Minister of State, Department of Health, my hon. Friend the Member for Redditch (Jacqui Smith), the case to which he refers. I am proud of the work that has gone into reorganising accident and emergency services to deliver a better service.
On our streets, burglary is down 41 per cent., car crime is down 34 per cent., street crime is down 16 per cent. in the first six months of the street crime initiative, and the chance of being a victim of crime is at its lowest for 20 years.
We have heard a great deal about schools today, but we have heard nothing about the change from a country which, five years ago, was 42nd in the world education league when the Opposition were in charge. Now, results for primary school children are the third best in the world—a record of progress and a record to be proud of. The chief inspector of schools says that standards of teaching have never been higher. He says that standards of teacher trainees have never been higher.
In maths, our 15-year-olds are the fifth best in the world, in English the eighth best, and in science the fourth best. The number of schools in special measures has been halved, and the percentage of pupils reaching level 5 at age 11 has doubled. That is a record to be proud of, and it has been achieved not just by investment, but by reforms that the Opposition have consistently opposed.
The literacy hour proposed by the Government was opposed by the Conservatives. Sure start, which was mentioned by several hon. Members, was opposed by the Conservatives. Even the reduction in class sizes was opposed by them. Excellence in cities, which is now delivering improvement at GCSE at twice the national average, was dismissed by the Conservatives. Performance pay for teachers was opposed, as was reform of the school work force. We propose, they oppose, and standards rise. And what happens? Do the Opposition apologise? [Hon. Members: "No."] Do they learn? [Hon. Members: " No."] They complain and run down public services. That is the real betrayal in this country.
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