Education Bill

I, too, had not intended to speak, but I would like to do so in defence of new clause 1, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Bedford (Richard Fuller). He is very radical when it comes to education and desperately keen to ensure, as am I and many Members across the House, that children from deprived backgrounds get the education that they deserve and that would allow them to be educated out of poverty. He is concerned that that is not happening because we are not being radical enough in providing the Secretary of State with powers to help those schools that are trying to move forward and improve the benefits they offer. New clause 1 suggests that local authorities have some powers to take on the task of getting rid of some of the poorer head teachers or dealing with those aspects in schools that cause the problems, but that they seem unwilling to use them. My constituency is in a neighbouring authority to that of my hon. Friend. In that authority, more than half of the secondary schools have applied for academy status, but none of the schools in my constituency has applied because, apart from one, they are all rated as satisfactory. Our concern is that all those schools should have the benefits and opportunities that come with academy status and that allow them to take forward the aspirations of poorer children. I support the new clause and believe that we must be radical. The Government are pushing huge sums of money at helping poorer children. I support the Bill because in my constituency the pupil premium will be worth nearly £1 million this year for poorer children. I believe that my hon. Friend is being radical enough in probing the Government to ensure that poorer children in more deprived areas have the opportunity to benefit from academy schooling.