HC Deb 16 November 1964 vol 702 cc157-70

Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Mr. Lawson.]

9.55 p.m.

Lord Balniel (Hertford)

During the course——

Mr. Deputy-Speaker (Dr. Horace King)

Order. Hon. Members may have an Adjournment debate themselves one day. It would assist if they left the Chamber quietly.

Lord Balniel

During the course of this debate I should like to call attention to the recent policy which has been pursued by the Mid-Herts Divisional Executive for Education in so far as it relates to the appointment of governors of schools within its area, and during the course of the debate I shall be very critical indeed of the conduct of the Mid-Herts Divisional Executive.

But I want to make it absolutely clear from the start that I make no criticism at all or the staff of the divisional executive or of the divisional educational officer for the area. Indeed, I share with the community at large a sense of admiration for the work which is undertaken by the staff of the Mid-Herts Divisional Executive and by the divisional educational officer. Nor, of course, do I make any criticism at all of the teachers in the schools. The whole community is indebted to the teaching profession in Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield and the whole of the area covered by the Mid-Herts Divisional Executive.

But recent actions of the divisional executive in undertaking a massive dismissal of school governors have caused widespread dismay. This has caused astonishment and indignation and it has also caused bewilderment among the parents of the children in the schools in the area. I should tell the Parliamentary Secretary that during the nine years in which I have been Member of Parliament for the constituency I have never before received so many representations from my constituents on a local issue affecting their own interests so closely. If the hon. Member will study the correspondence columns of the Welwyn Times and the Herts Advertiser he will gain some indication of the strength of feeling which exists locally about this matter. Indeed, the representations which I have received indicate a strength of feeling not by persons involved in political life in the area but a strength of feeling and indignation by parents as parents rather than as persons interested in party political affairs.

The Minister has a direct responsibility under Section 68 of the 1944 Act to make inquiries into the conduct of a divisional executive following on a complaint, and I hope that he will consider his responsibility in no way in a partisan sense, because of course I appreciate that he belongs to the political party which has acted in a way which I deprecate. I hope that he will consider himself as the person who has the ultimate responsibility for the education which is provided for children in the area and holding the ultimate responsibility towards the parents in ensuring that satisfactory education is provided.

Section 68 of the 1944 Act reads as follows: If the Minister is satisfied, either on complaint by any person or otherwise, that any local education authority…have acted or are proposing to act unreasonably with respect to the exercise of any power conferred or the performance of any duty imposed by or under this Act, he may…give such directions as to the exercise of the power or the performance of the duty as appear to him expedient. I am not now asking the Minister to exercise his powers under Section 68 of the Act, because I appreciate that he does not at present have the background knowledge of what occurred. But I ask him to initiate his own inquiries in the light of what I am about to tell him.

It being Ten o'clock, the Motion for the Adjournment of the House lapsed, without Question put.

Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Mr. Whitlock.].

Lord Balniel

As I was saying, I am asking the Minister to initiate inquiries into what has happened in this area in the light of the background knowledge I am giving tonight, and it might be for the convenience of the House if I set out in some detail the background picture. Following on the local elections, the Labour Party gained control of the divisional executive.

Mrs. Ren ée Short (Wolverhampton, North-East)

Hear, hear.

Lord Balniel

The hon. Lady says "Hear, hear", but I think she will not be so sure when I have recounted the incidents which have occurred in my constituency. Her comment shows that she has no knowledge whatever of the happenings in the area.

In September the divisional executive had to undertake its responsibility of appointing governors to the schools within the area. Naturally, one accepts that in the reappointment of governors there will always be a certain number who are anxious to retire. One equally accepts that it is desirable that there should be constantly into the boards of governors an infusion of new blood, young people, anxious to take their part in the conduct of schools. One also appreciates that on occasions some governors are found to be inadequate to their duties or even guilty of dereliction and that it is generally felt that they should not be reappointed. One also accepts that membership of boards of governors should be kept in broad alignment with the ebb and flow of local opinion.

It is right that there should be a broad alignment, by gradual change in alignment, with changes in local opinion as reflected at local elections, but this is very far removed from what took place, which was a massive dismissal of school governors in Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield, Essendon, Cuffley, Brookmans Park and in the whole area covered by the executive. It is the kind of conduct which, thankfully, we have not seen before in Hertfordshire. In the nine years I have represented the area this kind of conduct has never taken place and, from all the inquiries I have made, no one can recollect any similar incident.

What is particularly important is that the emphasis is precisely the emphasis of the changes for those areas where there is very little Labour support. Hon. Members may say, "This always happens in the appointment of governors of schools. Party politics always enter into it". I do not agree. This does not happen in Hertfordshire and we are proud of the education which is provided in the area.

It is worth pointing out that these massive dismissals could have been halted had we been prepared to use the influence of the political machine because these are no more than recommendations by the divisional executive, which go to the county council. If we, the Conservative Party, which has a majority control over the county council, had wished, contrary to what has been the practice for years in the past, to use our party political machine, we could have halted the action which was taken.

The Press referred, quite rightly, to about 39 school governors being dismissed. If I take the most generous interpretation of the action of the Mid-Herts. Divisional Executive, it would appear that 32 school governors were anxious to continue holding this office, but were dismissed. This figure does not in any way include the numbers dismissed on the recommendation of the county council, nor does it in any way include the numbers dismissed on the recommendation of the local authorities. These 32 people were dismissed on the recommendation of the divisional executive, and they are persons against whom no single voice of criticism had been raised, nor has any complaint whatsoever been levied against them. Overwhelmingly, they are persons who are held in the highest respect locally.

Some of these persons are of an entirely non-political type; by the very office they hold they are non-political. There is a clergyman, there is a sergeant in the police force, there is the treasurer of the Hatfield Rural District Council. They are just the kind of person—not attached deeply to party politics—who, I believe, can bring a useful influence to bear in our schools.

Some of the people who were dismissed have dedicated much of their spare time to serving the schools over and above the ordinary call of duty as governor. One of them, for instance, I know had spent an enormous amount of his spare time digging the swimming pool for the school. He was replaced by someone who had had no connection whatever with the school. Some of these persons who were dismissed had served with considerable distinction helping the schools for a number of years.

Others had been appointed so recently that the school to which they had been appointed had not even been opened; they had only been able to attend one governors' meeting or, in some cases, two. One of them wrote to the local Press, and I quote from his letter in the Welwyn Times and Hatfield Herald: I was selected as governor of the new Monks Walk Secondary Modern School as recently as March of this year. There has been only one meeting of the governors since my appointment. It is difficult to understand the reason why, if I was a suitable person to be selected as a governor in March I am not suitable in September of the same year. My complaint is that absolutely no explanation on at all has been given as to why he or anyone else has been dismissed from the boards of governors of these schools—and, as I say, they have often been replaced by persons who had no interest in the welfare of the school in the past.

I quote from another letter which appeared in the Herts Advertiser and St. Albans Times on 16th October. It is from someone living in Brookmans Park, who writes: My object in writing originally was to expose the utter nonsense of this sordid business, instancing the replacement of a local manager who, if interest in the welfare of the school were any qualification, stood head and shoulders above everyone else, by a local individual who till then was completely unknown and had taken no interest in the school's welfare. I believe that the writer of that letter has gone to the heart of the matter; the criterion for the appointment of a school governor should be, to use his words, the "welfare of the school." I believe that it is the appointment of governors of that kind, who are interested in the welfare of the school, and not the appointment of delegates of party politics, that parents really want.

I have received very many representations from parents. They seem to me to be very reasonable. The dismay felt locally is so widespread that I felt it right to request a public meeting with the executive council at which I and the parents could have an explanation given to us why there has been this massive dismissal of governors. I regard a public explanation given to me, the elected representative, and to parents as the absolute minimum courtesy to which the parents are entitled, and I also regard it as the absolute minimum of ethical behaviour which one can expect from a divisional executive charged with the responsibility for education. So far, in spite of repeated requests over a considerable period of time, no reasonable explanation has been given to the parents or to me.

The chairman of the executive council, writing in his capacity as chairman, has written—I quote from the Herts Advertiser of 25th September: More detailed consideration was given to these appointments this year than we have given for some time, but I can assure you and your readers that no governor or manager was replaced because of his membership of any political party or none. If that is the case, it makes the action of the executive even more bewildering. In fact, it makes it totally incomprehensible. I must tell the House—I am always very careful not to use intemperate phrases—that I have not met a single person who accepts this assurance—not a single person of any political party—which has been given by the man who is charged with the responsibility for the education of our children in that area.

How else can one possibly explain the reasons why these school governors were dismissed? How can one possibly explain why in, for instance, Chancellor's School, Brookmans Park, when three posts had to be filled and three governors were anxious to accept the responsibility, every single one of them was dismissed? How else, apart from political motivation, can one possibly explain why in Bushwood Infants School, Welwyn Green, when there were four posts to be filled and four governors were anxious to be reappointed, every single one was dismissed? How else can one explain, apart from political motivation, how in Cuftley Primary School, where there were four posts to be filled, three of the governors who were anxious to continue in office were dismissed? These are not areas where the Labour Party can reasonably expect to be in control. If there is another explanation, it has never been given publicly, and I believe that the parents of the area are entitled to a public explanation.

What I am asking the Minister to do is to make inquiries about the reasons for this continued secrecy by the divisional executive. It is a matter which affects the education of children in the area. It is a matter which is causing widespread concern.

I wrote to the divisional executive, and I propose to quote my letter in full. It was the last act which I undertook as Member of Parliament before the General Election. I wrote: I have received many representations from parents expressing dismay at the action of the Mid-Herts Divisional Executive in dismissing 39 school governors. As the Member of Parliament for the area, I feel bound to ask for a public explanation. This massive dismissal affects directly the education of children. I feel strongly that their parents are entitled to an explanation. So far, no reasons have been given publicly for this unprecedented step in Hertfordshire We have a wonderful record in education in Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield and I am concerned about the public impression now being created by this strange method of procedure. Many of the people are well known for having devoted much of their time to the local schools. Many are very experienced. They are widely respected by parents and teachers. Others have been appointed so recently that they have not yet had a chance of even attending one single governors' meeting. Public concern amongst parents appears so widespread that I now request a meeting in the immediate future with the Mid-Hertfordshire Divisional Executive. At this meeting I will require an explanation to be given publicly to me as to why these persons have been dismissed. Further correspondence follows. The divisional executive was not prepared to see me and I gave it fair warning that, if it was not prepared to give a public explanation to me and to parents, the very first act I would take on being reelected Member of Parliament for the division would be to raise its conduct personally with the Secretary of State. On 15th October I received a letter from the executive which read Your request was considered by the Emergency Committee of the Divisional Executive and they asked me to say that all the appointments"— I ask the hon. Gentleman to take note of this— were made in public. The meetings of the Divisional Executive are public meetings and the decisions are taken by majority vote. The constitution of a divisional executive provides for meetings to be called by members of the Divisional Executive and there is no provision for visitors to speak or to be heard. I would hardly say that the elected Member of Parliament wishes to be described by the divisional executive as a "visitor". The letter went on: They may, of course, he present as ordinary members of the public. The Executive is, therefore, unable to accede to your request The executive is, therefore, refusing to give a public explanation to me and to parents as to why it has undertaken these dismissals. In its letter it says that this event took place at a public meeting. It is true that it was a public meeting but, in fact, one member of the public attended it. He happens to be a former chairman of the Hatfield Rural District Council. As the executive claims that this was a public meeting, it is worth reading what he, the one person to attend, wrote in a letter to the newspapers. He said: Perhaps it is just as well that I was the only member of the public present—though, to be fair, I do not know how they could ascertain the date and the venue of a meeting—for a larger audience might well have wondered if they were really in the presence of the body controlling educational matters in this area. I regret very much the forcing into the schools of central Hertfordshire of party politics and I believe that it is very widely resented indeed by parents in the area. The governors of these schools should not be delegates of the Labour Party or of the Conservative Party. They should be appointed solely to enhance the welfare of the schools.

I personally—and many others—know very well why this action has been taken. It has, of course, been taken because the extreme Left-wing of the Labour Party is anxious to force through comprehensive schools and abolish the grammar schools. I quite accept—and I am not arguing this at the moment—that there may be or may not be a good argument for comprehensive schools in various parts of the country. What I say is that the arguments for comprehensive schools should be argued publicly before parents. Let them be argued on their merits. The forcing through of comprehensive school education should not be achieved by appointing Labour Party delegates, "yes-men", to the boards of governors.

10.20 p.m.

The Minister of State for Education and Science (Mr. Reginald Prentice)

The noble Lord the Member for Hertford (Lord Balniel) was good enough to tell me what subject he intended to raise tonight. Naturally, when he told me that it was this, I was prepared to take it very seriously, indeed. Therefore, I have already done what he invited me in his speech to do—to make some inquiries into the matter. The inquiries which I have made do not at all bear out the kind of allegations which he has made to the House in a speech which was rather lengthy for this time of night. My own time is now limited. He has used a good deal of strong language not supported by any evidence for the allegations he has made.

Let me, first, make clear my position and that of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State in this matter. The appointments to governing bodies of schools in the area which we are discussing are made by the local education authority, in this case, Hertfordshire County Council which, as the noble Lord recognised, is a Conservative-controlled body. The appointments are made partly from the nominations of Mid-Herts Divisional Executive, and partly from nominations from other sources. There are also governors appointed by other bodies, foundations of voluntary schools, and so on, but I need not go into those in detail now. The Secretary of State has no role in this procedure.

Successive Ministers of Education have refused to intervene in cases of this kind over the years. The noble Lord mentioned the position under Section 68 of the Education Act, 1944, and quoted part of that Act which says that we have powers to intervene if a local education authority acts unreasonably on this or any other matter. I would only say that the word "unreasonable" has been subjected to much legal interpretation and legal advice to successive Governments, and that it is so narrowly construed that since 1944 there have been only six interventions by Ministers of Education on any matter under Section 68 and no interventions at all over the appointments of school governors or school managers.

What has happened from time to time is that a number of Ministers—and the first instance I know of was in 1947, when the late Mr. George Tomlinson was involved and there have been several since then—have deprecated the practice of any local authority packing governing bodies with members of its party, irrespective of other considerations. That is a principle which I and my right hon. Friend will support. If it were applicable in this instance, we would be prepared to condemn what has happened, but I should like to put it into this context.

A great deal of humbug is talked keeping party politics out of bodies of this kind. On governing bodies of schools, hospital management committees and all voluntary bodies in local government and public services in all areas there are members of all political parties who work voluntarily for their parties and give public service in their localities. Of course, local politics are, and should be, mixed up with appointments to these bodies. What we are saying is that we would deprecate the situation if any local authority were to exclude all its political opponents regardless of their merits, or people of no political party who had something constructive to contribute to school governing bodies and to the other bodies we are talking about.

What I suggest is that the noble Lord has fallen into the trap into which so many people fall, which is that they deprecate the introduction of party politics when it is Labour politics which are introduced, but calmly accept the situation over many years when the Conservative Party dominates bodies of this kind.

I have had a great deal of local advice and I have consulted the columns of the local Press to which the noble Lord referred. I have had advice from the officers and members of the county council and the divisional executive committee and from my Department, particularly those officers of the Department and Her Majesty's inspectors who are concerned with the local situation. All the advice which I have had, from whatever source, confirms that the allegations to which we have listened tonight are distorted and exaggerated.

Lord Balniel rose——

Mr. Prentice

The noble Lord took far too long, and I have only a few minutes.

Lord Balniel

Which county councils did the hon. Gentleman consult?

Mr. Prentice

May I say something about the scale of the operation and quote certain schools as examples? At the Howard Secondary Modern School, Welwyn Garden City, 13 governors were appointed by the county council of whom three were nominated by the Mid-Herts Divisional Executive, and one new appointment was made to the governing body. At Heronswood Secondary Modern School, 13 governors were appointed by the county council with one new appointment. At Monks Walk Secondary Modern School there were 13 governors appointed by the county council with one new appointment. At Welwyn Garden Grammar School 10 governors were appointed by the county council with one new appointment.

In all, there have been 32 new appointments, to take the figure which the noble Lord gave, out of about 300 governors and managers, of whom 158 were appointed by the local education authority and less than half on the advice of the Mid-Herts local education authority. Of those not reappointed either their term of office had come to an end or they have been given explanations.

I have not time to go into individual cases even if I wanted to and it would not be fair to individuals; I do not think the noble Lord was fair to the individuals he mentioned by bringing out their embarrassment in the way that he did. I am told that a number of reasons operated. One was poor attendance and another was a desire in the case of the infant schools to get more women serving on the management bodies. To give an example, there were five men and a woman on one manegement body. There are now three men and three women.

The statement which the noble Lord quoted from Mr. Leonard Bowmer in the Press said quite categorically that no one was removed because of membership of a political party. I accept that statement and I am sure that the noble Lord should accept it. I do not know what grounds he has for making the implication which he has made against someone who has given local service of the quality which Mr. Bowmer has given education over so many years.

Not all those brought on to the governing bodies are members of the Labour Party. They include many people who are either political opponents of the Labour Party or who have no party politics. It is true that there has been a shift to greater Labour membership. There is now a larger Labour membership of the governing bodies than there was before. The explanation for that is that when the divisional executive was under Conservative control for so many years it was guilty of some of the practices of which the noble Lord has complained.

The present situation is that if one takes the party balance on these governing bodies—I wish that we had not started this argument; the noble Lord started it—the share of Labour members on the governing bodies in that area is considerably smaller than the proportion of Labour support if measured in terms of the three district councils, or in terms of the votes cast in the county council election or General Election in that area. If one took that and transposed it on to these governing bodies, the Labour Party would be entitled to a bigger share that it has had since these alterations were made.

One figure which I have been given shows that in those governing bodies in the area of the Hatfield R.D.C. there are 88 Conservative or Independent school governors and managers and 55 Labour, whereas on the Rural District Council itself there are 11 Labour Members, 11 Conservatives and two Independents. This is an illustration of what I mean. There has been a shift, but it has not been anything like the kind of takeover bid implied in the remarks of the noble Lord.

The final point that I want to make is this. These appointments have been confirmed by the county council, which is a Conservative-controlled county council. It is much more a matter for them than for me. It has the authority to make these appointments. It is true that, traditionally, it does not normally interfere with the nomination, but if this were a case in which educational standards had been set aside in order to satisfy the political ambitions of local Labour people those would be exactly the kind of circumstances in which the county council would have intervened and used its powers; it has done nothing of the sort.

The noble Lord has made remarks which will not serve the cause of education in his area. I say to him frankly that those who voluntarily give their time to be governors and managers of schools do a very valuable job and deserve the support of their Member of Parliament. They should not start their term of office with the sort of attacks which the noble Lord has made tonight. I do not think that he has done a service to education. I think that if anyone is tending to spoil the educational standards of the area by introducing party politics in the wrong fashion——

The Question having been proposed at Ten o'clock and the debate having continued for half an hour, Mr. DEPUTYSPEAKER adjourned the House without Question put, pursuant to the Standing Order.

Adjourned at half-past Ten o'clock.