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The Lord Bishop of Blackburn: I hope that the noble Baroness did not gain the impression that I was not taking the federation seriously. That is why I spoke for rather longer than I have previously about our concerns. Nevertheless, in some circumstances, this is a possible way forward which might meet some of the challenges that we face. But I hope that I did not give the impression that we were not concerned about the one governing body. That was not the purport of my remarks.
Lord Peston: I do not want to let this matter go because it is a very serious argument. I hope that my noble friend will, first, reassure the Committee that this model of pressure, "You schools, if you want any money, will have to federate", is not one that is
remotely implied by the Bill. It certainly did not occur to me that that was so. Secondly—and I am sorry that the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp, views the matter so grudgingly—I view federating as an opportunity. I accept that logically it follows that the federated school would become the federated school with its governing body. That must be the case. One would then have to accept that in any local area this group of two or three took a wise decision.I hate to make any tart remarks to Members of the Committee opposite, but they have said how keen they are on governing bodies and how important they are to the school. If the schools federate it follows that they should trust the governing bodies. If they get together and decide that it is in the best interests of all their schools to federate, that is the right outcome. But at this point it will be the governing body of the federated enterprise. It is unavoidable.
The noble Baroness has put her finger on the issue of regret: "Oh, I am sorry that our separate school has now gone". The answer is that we are sorry that it has now gone, but a case has been made out by the relevant people that this is the right way forward. I know that it is a situation of, "Is the pot half full or half empty?". However, in this case I am optimistic—I think that the right reverend Prelate used that word—that this is an opportunity that could be grasped. I repeat that I think that that will be rare, but I should like—what is my cliché for today?—to give it a fair wind.
Baroness Blatch: Before the noble Lord sits down, did I hear him say that a school would go with its governing body? My understanding is that it would go without its governing body. It would share sovereignty over the running and management of the school. The governing body would be disbanded. For many schools that would be a leap into the dark that might or might not work.
Lord Peston: I trust governing bodies to take the decision to form a federated school. My model is therefore not one of outside forces making people do things that they do not want to do. It is one of governing bodies thinking about what is in the interests of each of their schools and forming a federation with a federated governing body. If I may provoke the noble Baroness, it is like the countries of Europe deciding to pool some of their sovereignty to produce a European Community—which many of us favour overwhelmingly as the future. We do not feel any loss of sovereignty or anything else. That is the model that I should like the noble Baroness to think of when she considers the matter.
Baroness Ashton of Upholland: I shall attempt to follow my noble friend's remarks. This is a dangerous area, but the French are still French, the Italians are still Italian and the Spanish are still Spanish. The point is that schools will retain their ethos. The decision is about a strategic objective.
I want to build on the enthusiasm of the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Blackburn and encourage other Members of the Committee to be
enthusiastic. The provision is part of a range of collaborative approaches to allow schools to come together in different ways and work together in collaboration.Clause 29 provides the opportunity for schools to form joint committees. Those of us who went through de-grouping—which I am pleased that no Member of the Committee has yet mentioned—as I did, remember that one of the big issues for an infant and junior school when de-grouping was how to ensure that curriculums worked effectively together. We are considering a range of collaborative measures of which federation is one.
I shall give the Committee two or three real examples from schools and local allocation authorities to whom we have been talking about the provision—because it has arisen from discussion. I can think of at least one area where a special school is co-located on a community school site—something that we are considering in other contexts to support our special schools but also to enable the special school's expertise to become part of the expertise within the mainstream sector. It is considering the model of federation. It may decide to choose another collaborative model, but it is considering whether that model would make sense for it.
Infants' and junior schools may want to federate. Those working in rural communities such as those described by the noble Baroness, Lady Blatch, may consider that a federated model would be easier for them and allow them to think more strategically. Schools with sixth forms that are working increasingly in collaboration are thinking about how to ensure that their sixth forms thrive and that their students can come together to take advantage of the different subjects offered in the different schools. Federation may be an approach that they want to follow.
Another example was mentioned by the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Blackburn, which concerns what I would call the social inclusion agenda. Schools coming together in some areas could enable us to consider closer collaboration—working effectively together—between schools of different faiths and of none.
That is the backdrop. Federation is permissive. It can work only if it is what governing bodies want to do— I stress that.
I shall deal with the amendments individually because they raise different points about ensuring that the character and ethos of a school remains. I shall deal first with Amendments Nos. 112 and 116. Federation will work only if it is entered into because schools want it and are committed to making it work. As my noble friend Lord Peston said, the decision to federate must be entirely voluntary. I am not sure that that would be the case if the appointing body for one stakeholder group had power to determine which schools could federate. That would be the effect of the amendments.
Amendment No. 112 would effectively allow local education authorities to decide which schools should or should not federate. I take this opportunity to say that we do not intend federations to become a tool for
local education authorities to rationalise governance provision within their area. That is not their purpose. Federations are in no way intended to reduce the diversity of schooling provision available.Amendment No. 116 would mean that any Church of England, Church of Wales or Roman Catholic school could join a federation only with,
- "the written consent of the appropriate diocesan authority".
The people best placed to weigh up the views of all the relevant stakeholders and take a balanced decision on whether federation is in the best interests of the school involved is the school's governing body—including the LEA and, where appropriate, foundation representatives. That is why we propose that the decision whether to federate should rest with the governing body of each school. Of course, as part of the decision-making process, the governing body will have to consult. I recognise the importance of ensuring that that consultation is carried out thoroughly and consistently. That is why we will develop regulations setting out the procedures for consultation with all the key parties, including the local education authority and the diocesan authority, before the decision to federate is taken.
I draw the Committee's attention to a further important safeguard in the process for agreeing an instrument of governance for the governing body for federation. I assure the Committee that we will not be removing any rights currently enjoyed by bodies in relation to agreeing the instrument of government. Currently, for maintained schools that have foundation governors, the school's governing body and the local education authority are required to agree the instrument of government and any alteration to it with foundation interests. That includes those who appoint foundation governors, trustees and the diocesan authority. In the interests of parity and fairness, regulation will provide that that requirement also applies to the instrument of government developed for schools with foundation governors that are federated under a single governing body.
If any of the parties above, including the diocesan authority, disagrees with the instrument of government or any alterations to it for a school within a federation involving foundation governors, the case can be referred to the Secretary of State. She will then arbitrate after taking representations from the relevant parties and come to a final decision.
That is exactly the same process as currently successfully applies to any maintained school with foundation governors. It will ensure that dioceses have the protection of arbitration by the Secretary of State if they disagree with a proposal to federate.
I turn to Amendment No. 113. As I said, our purpose is to enable schools to collaborate strategically and through that to improve educational standards for their children. It is in no way a proposal to reduce the diversity of schooling provision available in any one area. Indeed, we have taken steps to ensure that schools within a federation should be treated as separate schools for most purposes—other than governance, of course. That means that no school will be able to change its religious character, admission arrangements, category or from single-sex to co-educational simply through the act of joining or being a member of a federation. I agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Blatch, that it is important to state that in the Bill, as we have indeed done in subsection 3(b).
In relation to the character and structure of a school, the requirements set out in Chapter 2 of Parts 2 and 3 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 will continue to apply to all schools within or joining a federation. Let me explain what safeguards that provides. Section 33(2) of the 1998 Act prohibits a change in the religious character of any school. That will continue to apply, regardless of whether a school joins or is already in a federation.
In practical terms, I reassure the Committee that any proposal to change a school's religious character could, as now, be realised only by publishing proposals to close one school and open another. If a federated school wants to change its category or change from single-sex to co-educational, it will be required to publish a statutory proposal under Sections 35 and 28, respectively, of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. Federation cannot be used to bypass that statutory process.
Clause 23(3)(b) also states clearly that schools which have federated may not be treated as single schools for admission purposes. There will continue to be separate admission arrangements for every school within the federation.
I hope that this has given reassurance that federations cannot be used as a back-door for schools to change either their character or their structural requirements. We agree with the motivation behind the amendment: that any changes in these areas should continue to require statutory proposals and be subject to scrutiny by the local school organisation committee.
Amendment No. 113 also makes reference to "academy". Academies are not within the scope of Clause 23, which relates to maintained schools only.
I turn to Amendment No. 114. It will be vitally important to ensure that the governing body of a federation is not too large and unwieldy to be effective. That will not help schools towards the ultimate goal of improving standards. However, at the same time, we need to ensure that all participating schools are broadly content with their level of representation on the governing bodies of federations. We expect all governing bodies of federations broadly to comply with the stakeholder principle as recommended by the Way Forward group which under Clause 18 of the Bill will be set out in regulations. We believe that that is
vital to ensure that a fair balance of interest between the key stakeholders of parents, staff, LEA community, foundation and partnership governors is secured.All of the categories of governors applicable to the relevant schools within a federation will need to be included. Thus within a federation including aided, voluntary aided or foundation schools there will always be foundation or partnership governors.
While it would be preferable for at least one parent representative from each school within a federation to sit on the governing body, regulation on this point could unduly constrain the ability of the governing body of a federated school to choose the size of governing body which works best for them. Simply requiring that each school within a federation has a specific level of staff representation reduces flexibility for schools. One of the objectives of federation is to allow strategic collaboration to facilitate that which is already often occurring on the ground.
With that in mind, particularly the possibility of schools sharing staff, we think that it should be left to the governing bodies of the schools involved to propose the appropriate level of staff representation from each school on the governing body of the federation. On the stakeholder group, perhaps I may reassure the Committee that whatever the combination of schools involved in the federation, each stakeholder group particular to the category of any one school proposing to federate will be represented on the governing body.
We think it advisable that the proportion of representation for each group should be determined on a case-by-case basis informed by consultation at local level. We intend to develop overarching principles to ensure the level of representation is fair and we shall be consulting extensively ahead of finalising the principle. However, again we would wish the regulations to leave enough scope and flexibility to allow for local circumstances surrounding each individual mixed category federation to influence the precise proportion of representation in these stakeholder groups rather than to prescribe a single formula.
On Amendment No. 134, I emphasise that we intend to leave as much flexibility as possible open to schools so that they can devise the form of collaboration that is best for them. We firmly believe that the decisions on whether to collaborate and with whom to collaborate, the extent of collaboration and the nature and form of joint working arrangements must rest with the individual governing bodies of the school involved. Such safeguards as are necessary to ensure proper accountability—for example, that the full governing body and not a committee of each school should consent to such an arrangement, that any proposal for such an arrangement should appear as an agenda item, and that joint committees should have proper terms of reference, and so on—will be placed in regulations.
We do not believe that it is necessary for LEAs to be formally consulted. Schools should be free to find their own partners and have sufficient experience of running
their own affairs to take these decisions for themselves. But that is not to say that governing bodies should not be able to seek advice from the local education authority if they feel that it would be helpful. However, I believe that the option of whether to do so should rest with the governing body of the school involved and should be decided by them on an individual basis.
I hope that in the light of the explanation and assurances I have provided the noble Baroness will feel able to withdraw the amendment.
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