Education and Inspections Bill

I hope that we do not accept these amendments. One of the big steps forward in the Bill is the attention that it gives to putting parents’ wishes and their representations more firmly on the statute book. That is important because, as someone who has been both a provider and a receiver of state education, I feel that the danger is that parents often feel like pawns in the system and are completely powerless at the moment. Taking that new provision out of the Bill would be a retrograde step. I am also sceptical about the suggestion that all parents just want whatever their local school provides. I agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Sharp, that many parents do want a good local school, but they want to use their local school if it provides the education that they want for their kids. That is not the situation in many cases and we have to empower parents to have the opportunity to look at provision other than in their local school. That is what the Bill provides and it is a significant step forward.