My Lords, I support Amendment 17 onwards. I was sorry to miss such a lot of last Thursday’s consideration of the Bill. I had to leave, as those present on Thursday will know, in order to get home before the bonfire celebrations in Lewes. That I did, just, dodging flaming torches, effigies and the burning of David Cameron, Sepp Blatter and Jeremy Clarkson among others. However, I have caught up by reading Hansard. As an antidote to fireworks and bonfires, I dipped into some of the former education Bills, such as the Education and Inspections Act and the Academies Act, as well as other Acts going through Parliament at the moment, such as the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill.
Two things strike me about that reading. One is that we must have the most complex, baroque and byzantine education system in the world, and it does not seem to be getting us very far. The other is that education cannot exist in a vacuum. The noble Lords, Lord Addington and Lord Hunt, are right to have pointed out on several occasions the connections between government policies—for example, the involvement of communities in sport and, as I have said, the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill, which emphasises devolution. That leads me to believe that there cannot be only one form of governance that is suitable for a school, and that local communities and institutions must have a say. We all know that parental involvement in a child’s education is a very good predictor of success for that child or those children. So local structures are important.
Amendment 17 raises several interesting issues and questions for the Minister regarding special measures for improvement and consultation. I repeat that not just one system for anything will work. My noble friend has pointed out the investigations and action by the Catholic Education Service.
The Minister may well say that the amendment would make things too complex and too long. The Bill of course gives all power to the Secretary of State for Education, and we are suggesting here that that power should be devolved and broadened. We have heard a great deal in Committee and at Second Reading about how a single day at a failing school is too long for a child. I agree that poor education is a terrible thing, but it is worth looking more closely at what that poor education means. I myself do not think that one day at a failing school will do all that much damage. Poor education might of course be happening in just one subject at the school, or it may be inherent in the school system, which is what we are concerned about. A change of staff may be required, but the amendment suggests taking care to get good governance arrangements to avoid it. I agree that sometimes the speed of change is of the essence, but as the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock, said, that does not necessarily mean lack of consultation.
We have heard about the possibility of delays in sponsorships. Speaking of speed and change, I remember being a parent governor and the chair of the governors of a primary school in Wandsworth. We had—if I dare use the term—a coasting head teacher. We, the governors, persuaded him to leave. I will not go into the methods used. We then appointed a dynamic, ambitious head and within months the school became a dynamic, ambitious school. Parents and governors knew what had to be done and did it. I am not advocating that as a general theory for change, but there is more than one way of doing things and parents should be listened to.
5.15 pm
On 9 July, Nick Gibb, the Minister for Schools, suggested in Committee in another place that the Bill will,
“‘sweep away the bureaucratic and legal loopholes previously exploited by those who put ideological objections above the best interests of children’”.—[Official Report, Commons, Education and Adoption Bill Committee; 9/7/15; col. 284.]
Who are these people? Are they parents or school governors? Nick Gibb also said, strangely, I think:
“We are against not analysis”—
I suppose by that he means logic, reason and research—
“but delays to academisation”.—[Official Report, Commons, Education and Adoption Bill Committee; 9/7/15; col. 275.]
Delays in academisation would cut out unnecessary debate, delaying tactics and obstruction of process, and we shall no doubt come to this later on. Sometimes you have to pause, delay and think about what is best for a particular school and for particular children. Parents and the community have a right to a say in that.
I find the Government’s logic regarding consultation on the Bill quite bizarre. Perhaps someone can explain it to me in simple language. For example, where a school is eligible for “intervention”—a term which seems
to flatter but in fact condemns—consultation is not needed on whether it should become an academy. If it proposes to convert to an academy by choice, the governing body will need to consult. A coasting school, as yet undefined, would be converted with no need for consultation, but a “high-performing school” would be required to consult on academy conversion. It should discuss conversion with staff, parents and others who have an interest and take account of those views before entering into an academy agreement with the Secretary of State. This is a very strange way of going about things. Statutory consultation generally takes place after an academy order has been made, but governors are able to carry out some consultation before making the application. We are seeking to modify some of this by involving RSCs in consulting the local authority, trustees or persons representing foundations or, in the case of an academy school, the person with whom the Secretary of State has made governance arrangements.
I understand that 25% of failing schools are academies, so some arrangements need to be made for dealing with that. I understand that a failing academy can move only to a different academy chain and not out of the system, so we now have a failing academy chain—we are going to come to inspecting chains later—and a school which needs to move to a different chain. Therefore an academy can be set up, fail and be taken over by another sponsor. How long does this take? Surely if there is consultation on this it must take quite a long time to consult trustees and chief executives of trusts. I thought that speed was of the essence here. Academisation can be done quickly. Can it be dismantled quickly? Can it be re-set up quickly? What is happening to those children in the mean time? I look for a response.