It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Walker.
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Ribble Valley (Mr Evans) on securing the debate. I endorse all the remarks he made in his eloquent, articulate speech. His debate is timely: only this morning, I received an email from a parent in my constituency asking for my views on the school transport proposals. I should explain that Warwickshire County Council has, like Lancashire County Council, embarked on a consultation on changes to the supply of school transport for children whose parents do not choose their closest school. The consultation opened on Tuesday and runs until 17 September. If the proposals are adopted, children who enter secondary school this year or in September 2016 will not be affected, but those who start in September 2017 will be—by exactly the changes that my hon. Friend the Member for Ribble Valley spoke of.
In Rugby, the issue is grammar schools. My hon. Friend spoke about the impact on parents who wish their children to attend faith-based schools, single-sex schools or grammar schools. In Rugby, we have retained a selective system and in that respect are relatively unique in east Warwickshire. We have spectacular grammar schools in Lawrence Sheriff school, of which I am proud to be a product and therefore have a vested interest in, and Rugby high school, where my daughter is a pupil. We also have a bilateral school, Ashlawn school, which has a grammar stream alongside the secondary modern stream. Those schools are very popular with parents. An enormous number of children sit examinations to secure places there, and some parents move to Rugby simply to gain access to its schools.
The email I received this morning is from a parent who lives in the village of Binley Woods, to which I also have a connection because I grew up there. I travelled from Binley Woods to Lawrence Sheriff school in Rugby every day—a journey of about 8 miles. The email says:
“My son is due to attend Lawrence Sheriff School in September.”
My constituent’s son will not be affected by the proposals because they will not take effect for her son’s entry. However, there might be a concern if Warwickshire County Council makes changes similar to those that Lancashire is considering. What would happen if her son goes to the grammar school in September and a change is made thereafter? If any county council makes such a change, I hope that children who entered schools before the change will continue to get discretionary support.
My hon. Friend drew attention to an absurd example in his constituency, and I will give the Minister another. My constituent tells me that the allocated non-selective school for children who live in Binley Woods is Bilton school. That is a very good school that I visit regularly, but it is 8 miles away. Lawrence Sheriff school is just as far away. We have an absurd situation where a child who does well in a selective exam and goes to the appropriate school for their abilities—the school that will bring them on best in life—will have their travel paid for if they choose to turn down a place at the grammar school because the secondary modern, Bilton, is closest. However, if the child, having worked hard, takes the place they have secured at the grammar school, their transport will not be paid for. That is absolutely crazy and cannot happen.
My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to the issue of students from low-income backgrounds. Warwickshire County Council’s policy states that the discretionary payment would continue to apply to families with relatively modest means, whether or not Warwickshire makes the change, but my concern is the parents who fall short of that category. There is something of a cliff face here. For a parent, the cost of paying for transport to a grammar school is conceivably a reason for their child not to take up a place there.
I attended a grammar school and am a great supporter of retaining our grammar schools. I sat in a class with fellow pupils from ordinary backgrounds, with parents who were engineers, electricians or worked in cement factories. Those pupils took advantage of their grammar school education and went on to do well in life. There is a grave danger of putting a barrier in people’s way by denying them the opportunity to access the excellent education that our grammar schools provide. I join my hon. Friend on this issue. I have made my views clear today and will make my own representation to the consultation.
Will the Minister consider extending the statutory requirements to include parents who wish their child to go to a school other than the nearest one? Will he also comment on the absurd situation where two schools are almost exactly the same distance away and transport is paid for a pupil going to one but not the other?