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Gregory Barker (Bexhill and Battle) (Con): The Secretary of State said that there would be no selection for foundation schools, but can she confirm that they will be able to select pupils on their ability in foreign languages? Given that they can do that, how will that aptitude be assessed? Will it be by interview, examination or continuous assessment?
Ruth Kelly: No, that will not be the case. Only schools that are specialist schools in those subjects will be able to have an aptitude procedure. I am talking about the existing part of the specialist school system, which will work in the way that it does at the moment.
The guarantee that I can give the House on trust schools, the delivery of vocational education, children's services, and the "Every Child Matters" agenda, is that,
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after the Bill, every school will have to collaborate to deliver the best for their pupils, but they will have the powers that they need to collaborate as they see fit and to work with other schools and external partners to drive up standards for their children within a strong local authority system.
The Bill will help us to raise standards in our schools, especially the under-performing schools in our most challenging communities. It has been crafted on the basis of constructive discussion and dialogue. I am grateful to many colleagues in local government and schools and, of course, to my hon. Friends and colleagues here today who have contributed to the debate and helped to make this a better Bill. I look forward to an ongoing dialogue.
It is because education is so important to us, on this side of the House, that we debate it so passionately. We always have and we always will. We are united in our aim of using education as an engine of social mobility and social justice. That is why we are taking forward our vision of a modern, outstanding education system. The Bill will ensure that young people have a right to high quality vocational education.
Joan Walley (Stoke-on-Trent, North) (Lab): On that point, will it be the case that parents who want to name a trust school for their statemented child will have the right to be able to force that trust school to accept them?
Ruth Kelly: Yes, and not only that. I can tell my hon. Friend that in future all looked-after children will also have priority in admissions to all schools, whether they are at the beginning of the admissions round or even later, when the school is full. I will make it a requirement that looked-after children are put top of the admissions list.
Mr. Henry Bellingham (North-West Norfolk) (Con): Will the Secretary of State give way?
Ruth Kelly: No, I must make progress.
The Bill will ensure that young people have a right to a high quality vocational education. It will introduce a tough new system to ensure high standards of discipline in the classroom. It will mean good quality school food for every child but, most importantly, it will ensure more good schools in our communities. This is a progressive Bill, a reforming Bill, a Labour Bill. I commend it to the House.
1.33 pm
Mr. David Willetts (Havant) (Con): Raising standards in education is one of the most important tasks facing any Government, and any responsible person looking at the evidence of the state of our schools today would recognise that much more needs to be done: too many of our schools are simply not good enough.
Mr. Adrian Bailey (West Bromwich, West) (Lab/Co-op): Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr. Willetts:
I will in a moment.
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Our weaker schools are concentrated, as I hope the hon. Gentleman would agree, in some of our poorest areas where children most need a hand up from a strong, rigorous and effective education.
Mr. Bailey: I was interested to hear the hon. Gentleman's appreciation of the importance of education and good schools. Will he explain why the Tory Government consistently failed to provide adequate funds for schools and why he has consistently voted against the extra resources needed for them?
Mr. Willetts: The hon. Gentleman should contemplate the important question of why, despite the large increases in funding since 1997, the improvement in school standards has been so modest. The answer is that there has not been serious educational reform alongside the increases in funding. That is what today's debate is all about. At last, belatedly, we are seeing some school reform to match the extra funding.
Michael Connarty (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (Lab): Is it not significant that the areas with the deepest pits of failure are the areas that the Tories control, where grammar schools are prevalent?
Mr. Willetts: That is complete nonsense. We know, sadly, where the problems of failure are concentrated: in some of the poorest parts of our country. No one, on either side of the House, can take any pleasure from the statistics. Some 77 per cent. of children from a more prosperous household get five or more good GCSEs; 32 per cent. of children from a poor household get five or more GCSEs. That is the notorious 45 percentage point gap in pupil achievement. Sadly, that is virtually no better today that it was in 1997, when the Government took office. That is why Government Members should tell us why, after nine years in office, they have made such little progress.
Mr. Willetts: I will give way to the hon. Member for Tooting (Mr. Khan).
Mr. Sadiq Khan (Tooting) (Lab): Will the hon. Gentleman confirm that he unambiguously welcomes clause 40?
Mr. Willetts: I had better just check. There are many clauses to which I am not able to give an unambiguous welcome. Our judgment on the Bill is based on its overall impact on schools. There are many features of the Bill, which I hope to come to in the course of my remarks, that I very much hope it will be possible for us to improve in Committee. That is why it is so important that, if at all possible, we have a long time to study the Bill carefully in Committee. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman agrees with me about the importance of paying due attention to clause 40 and many other clauses that we may well wish to amend.
Mr. Willetts:
I see a neighbour from Portsmouth.
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Sarah McCarthy-Fry (Portsmouth, North) (Lab): Will the hon. Gentleman explain to the young people in my constituency who have seen a massive improvement in the percentage of people getting five GCSEs, from a very low 25 per cent. in 1997 up to 46 per cent., how he can interpret that as no improvement in education?
Mr. Willetts: There has been some modest improvement. [Interruption.] Yes, I am not going to deny that. As I recall, the figures are that 37 per cent. of people were getting good GCSEs, and that is now up to 44 per cent. We recognise and welcome that, but the question for the hon. Lady is why, after nine years, when there have been 207 instructions to schools from the centre and funding has gone up, the achievement of improved standards is relatively modest. The answer is that, despite all the extra funding, schools have not been reformed as they should have been. That is the agenda behind the Bill, to which I now hope to turn.
Greg Clark (Tunbridge Wells) (Con) rose—
Mr. Willetts: I will do so after I have accepted an intervention from my hon. Friend.
Greg Clark: The number of people getting good GCSEs may have improved, but is my hon. Friend aware that the number of schools causing concern has increased in the past six months? The proportion has increased.
Mr. Willetts: It is indeed one of the significant problems, to which my hon. Friend rightly draws attention, that there are too many schools in special measures, failing and giving cause for concern. They drift along in those circumstances for far too long. One of the measures that I welcome is the measure to try to speed up that process so that failing schools do not drift along in that limbo state as long as they do at the moment. I am grateful for the opportunity to endorse one of the Secretary of State's proposals.
Mr. Willetts: I will give way to the right hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich (Mr. Raynsford) and then I will try to make some progress.
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