Education and Adoption Bill

I apologise in advance for my slightly croaky voice.

It is good to return to the Bill, whic...

You are coasting.

I have been accused of coasting. We shall come to that later. Either I am doing something very ri...

I rise to support my hon. Friend’s argument. One of the best achievements of the previous Governm...

I join my hon. Friend in welcoming that, and of course he is too modest to outline his own part i...

Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the major challenges in respect of coasting academy schools...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. There seems in the Department to be an in-built bias against ...

indicated dissent.

The hon. Lady is just very enthusiastic and very keen. I appreciate the attention she is paying t...

Does my hon. Friend agree that the figures are actually worse than that because they are being ma...

My hon. Friend is right. We only have to speak to headteachers to know the difficulty of recruiti...

As always, my hon. Friend is making a persuasive case. Is not the situation even starker than tha...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. If we project the figures over the course of this Parliament,...

And grammar schools.

Indeed. I recently participated in an interesting Adjournment debate on this matter with Conserva...

My hon. Friend recently guided me through my first Bill Committee experience, for which I am grat...

I thank my young apprentice for his intervention. He is a very quick learner, as he has just show...

The shadow Minister will be aware that we inherited the structure of academies from the previous ...

This is not an extension; it is a dilution of what was an effective, limited and targeted interve...

My hon. Friend is making a very important point, because the evidence shows that the most importa...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right about that. There was a resource available locally of an outst...

Does the hon. Gentleman think that it was the parents’ wishes that a school should fail or that i...

No parents wish for a school to be put into special measures under any circumstances, but that do...

I am delighted to follow the hon. Member for Cardiff West (Kevin Brennan), who gave me a cue to s...

I have great respect for what the hon. Gentleman is saying and for the record in Trafford, but do...

Kent is obviously a very big county, and there is a lot of diversity in performance there. I beli...

I congratulate my hon. Friend on this welcome amendment. We have heard from the Opposition in ano...

I am grateful to my hon. Friend, who makes an important point. Of course, I was deeply disappoint...

Does the hon. Gentleman accept that when the question is reversed and the public are asked whethe...

I do accept that, but I think it is a false choice to offer people, given the advances we have si...

I shall resist the temptation to respond in detail to the hon. Member for Altrincham and Sale Wes...

I genuinely wish the hon. Gentleman every success in his chairing of the Liverpool challenge. Doe...

I do recognise that. A number of multi-academy trusts have proved hugely successful, and I praise...

It is a pleasure to take part in this stage of the debate on this important Bill. I, too, support...

I was never wholly convinced by the academies programme of the previous Labour Government, but as...

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for inviting me to contribute to this very important debate. I s...

In Kingston and Surbiton, we have the two Tiffin schools. One is just outside my constituency, an...

I thank my hon. Friend for his very helpful intervention. That point justifies the free schools p...

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his comments about parents. Is he at all concerned about ...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question, because it goes to the heart of the Bill. The Bill i...

The hon. Gentleman mentioned meeting a representative of PTA UK, but is he aware that it submitte...

It is absolutely right for there to be engagement, but I think that we are confusing two differen...

Just for clarity, amendment 12 is consequential to new clause 1, which would replace the Governme...

According to the “Member’s explanatory statement”, amendment 12 would

“remove the clause th...

I rise in support of new clauses 3 and 9, and to make a few remarks about amendment 11.

Wha...

I wholeheartedly agree with the hon. Gentleman on that last point, as I am sure would most Member...

I will consider the hon. Gentleman’s comments carefully. I am certainly happy with the idea of lo...

I rise to speak in favour of my new clauses 4 and 5 and the new clauses and amendments in the nam...

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way. Our hon. Friend the Member for North West Durham (Pat Glas...

Order. I know that the hon. Gentleman means well, but when he says “your” in the Chamber, he is r...

My hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield, Heeley (Louise Haigh) is indeed honourable for giving wa...

I am very grateful for that intervention. My hon. Friend raises an example—one he has raised on s...

Is the hon. Lady seriously criticising these individuals, who are looking to assist in the educat...

The Minister made the same point in Committee when I was raising these issues then. This is not a...

As we know, the academic evidence shows that when there is parental support for and buy-in to a s...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Communication and consultation can only be positive, and sign...

It is great to be called for the first time under your stewardship, Madam Deputy Speaker. I rise ...

This has been a short, but high-quality, debate, with excellent contributions from Members on bot...

In the Minister’s list of Government policies, he omitted to mention the policy on free school me...

The hon. Gentleman will know what we achieved in the last Parliament. He will hear later, when th...

rose—

I give way again to the hon. Gentleman. I suspect he is missing his Front-Bench role, given his i...

The whole House is. I am just representing the views of my constituents, which is why I am sent h...

Of course the RSCs have been established only recently, and already 60% of all secondary schools ...

I am grateful to the Minister for his work in Committee, where I served, alongside other colleagu...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right about that, and I was grateful for her involvement in, and con...

During the evidence session, the hon. Member for Fareham (Suella Fernandes) put the same question...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention on my hon. Friend the Member for Fareham (Suella...

Will the Minister give the House the figures for maintained schools that have used some of the al...

As I said in Committee, these figures are significantly higher than the school system as a whole,...

Presumably, the Minister will tell us why the immediate remedy always has to be academisation.