Education and Inspections Bill

moved Amendment No. 1: Before Clause 1, insert the following new clause- ““PRIMARY DUTIES IN RELATION TO HIGH STANDARDS AND THE FULFILMENT OF POTENTIAL For section 13A of EA 1996 substitute- ““13A PRIMARY DUTIES IN RELATION TO HIGH STANDARDS AND THE FULFILMENT OF POTENTIAL A local education authority shall ensure that their functions relating to the provisions of education to which this section applies- (a) promote high standards, and (b) promote the fulfilment by every person concerned of his educational potential.”””” The noble Baroness said: I speak to Amendments Nos. 1, 8 and 10. Amendment No. 1 attempts to strengthen the commitment made in the Bill to the high standards of education and the promotion of the potential of every person attending our schools. I say ““person”” because our Amendments Nos. 8 and 10 seek to clarify the definition of children and young adults attending our schools. I prefer to define those children and young adults as people. I have teenage sons and a teenaged daughter who I know would seriously object to being referred to as ““children””. Amendment No. 1 first and foremost reinforces the duty to promote high standards in schools and the fulfilment of potential. While the Bill states that as an intention, I remain wary of its precise wording. My amendment is prompted in part by a letter from the Minister in another place to my honourable friend Nick Gibb MP. The Minister stated that, as the Bill stands, local authorities will have a duty to act ““with a view to”” promoting high standards, fulfilment of potential and fair access, which I will address in a moment. He added: "““As the duty is to act ‘with a view to’, it will be a ‘target duty’—that is confirmed by Parliamentary Counsel””." He went on to say that the clause would be the, "““overarching expression of the Government’s aspiration that improvements in standards should benefit children from all backgrounds and circumstances””." While that principle is entirely in line with the thinking from these Benches, I believe that we are in danger of expecting aspiration to produce a reality. The amendment would place a solid duty on local education authorities to promote high standards and the fulfilment of potential. The key word is ““promote””. This is not a duty to produce high standards—that is the job of schools, not local authorities. A direct duty, as laid out in my amendment, would instil in every local authority a working function of promoting high standards and the fulfilment of potential. My amendment also omits the reference to ““fair access”” added to the Bill in another place. I confirm to the Committee that that omission is in no way an attempt to prevent children from all backgrounds and walks of life having access to whichever school they wish. Rather, I did not see the merit of its inclusion. Clause 1(1)(c) states that local authorities need to ensure, "““the fulfilment by every child concerned of his educational potential””." Paragraph (a) provides that high standards must be promoted. The net effect of those two paragraphs will, if they are successful, be to ensure that each individual child receives an education that fulfills his potential to a high standard. I should be grateful if the Minister could inform the Committee precisely what the inclusion of ““fair access”” contributes to those aims and could give me a precise definition of ““fair”” in this context. I fear that although it may look perfectly harmless in the Bill, the inclusion of a fair access clause without the appropriate definition could encourage local authorities to stifle diversity in favour of the ““deadening uniformity”” that the Bill is intended to get rid of. I want to ensure that the Bill is remembered for its effectiveness, not merely its intention. I look forward to the Minister's response on both those matters and I beg to move.