Education and Inspections Bill

What a horrible image. When Dr. Philip Cowley updates his next pamphlet on Back-Bench rebellions, he might like to consider the following subtitle: ““The Education White Paper: How to lose friends and fail to influence people””. I give credit to the Government for eventually and grudgingly—at times, it felt like pulling teeth—making important concessions in response to the concerns raised both in the alternative White Paper and by the Education and Skills Committee, teachers, schools governors and many others. However, there have been spectacular gaffes along the way, most notably when hon. Members were told that their concerns were misplaced and would all disappear once we truly understood the nature of the White Paper. I have to say, spinning a set of proposals to curry favour with the Daily Mail and patronising the hell out of Labour MPs is an interesting, but inadvisable political tactic and I trust that Ministers have learned from it. I was in the Department for Education and Skills for a very short time as the White Paper was being prepared. It became clear to me that my role as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister for Schools would be to promote the White Paper proposals among my colleagues—something that I was simply not prepared to do. It is not that everything in the White Paper is necessarily objectionable or runs contrary to Labour values. In fact, the points of contention about trusts, admissions and the role of local education authorities are contained in a comparatively short section of the White Paper: some 28 pages in a 116-page document. Perhaps most objectionable of all, however, was the contention put forward without a single shred of evidence that good local education authorities are an inevitable drag anchor on progress and innovation. That was pure dogma, inserted into the middle of an otherwise reasonably acceptable White Paper. We know where it came from, and I have to say that it was not from the Department for Education and Skills. Poor LEAs have to be dealt with, but good LEAs offer support and encouragement and play a vital co-ordinating role in helping schools to improve and in driving up standards. They did not deserve to be trashed as they were in the White Paper and I trust that they will not be again.