HC Deb 18 January 1977 vol 924 cc55-7
3. Mr. Spearing

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what plans she has for assessing the reactions to the views expressed in her series of consultation meetings on educational policy.

20. Mr. Forman

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how she plans to assess the reactions to Government educational policy that will be expressed during her series of consultation meetings.

The Secretary of State for Education and Science and Paymaster-General (Mrs. Shirley Williams)

I have now completed the first round of discussions on educational issues. The views so far expressed are being taken into account in the preparation of an agenda and background paper for discussion with a wide range of interests at eight regional conferences in February and March. Proposals for further action, which will be formulated in the light of these discussions, will then be published in the form of a consultative document.

Mr. Spearing

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that reply. Does she not agree that some of the matters that have been submitted after the Prime Minister's initiative have already been largely resolved? Will the issues to be put forward in my right hon. Friend's agenda be in the form of questions, and will they go into the areas that have largely been resolved in this House and elsewhere?

Mrs. Williams

The four main areas of concern that have been identified in particular, and have been agreed with the groups with which I have already held preliminary discussions. were, first, the curriculum; secondly, the question of educational standards and assessment; thirdly, the training of teachers; and, fourthly, education in working life—the relationship with both sides of industry. These will indeed be put in the form of questions to the conferences.

Mr. Forman

Does the right hon. Lady accept that the important thing about these eight regional conferences is that they should be more than just a public relations exercise? Can she assure the House that that will be the case? In reassuring the House on this point, can she give us details about the ways in which parental interests and concerns will be taken fully into account?

Mrs. Williams

Yes. Representatives of the teachers, the parents, the local authorities, the trade unions and employers and of higher and further education will be invited to the eight conferences to be held in England and Wales. This will be the first occasion on which there will have been widespread consultations with the parental interests. I can assure the hon. Gentleman that this is not intended to be a public relations exercise. However, I hope that one of the outcomes will be a more balanced view of what is happening in education than perhaps exists at present.

Mr. Noble

What consultations has my right hon. Friend had with regional councils of further education? Did she note in The Guardian yesterday the remarks of the principal of a college in Bradford that attempts were being made to close down part-time courses for students in industry? Will not this destroy a comprehensive approach in further education? What steps will my right hon. Friend take to prevent the closure of courses which are essential both to industry and to the advancement of students taking part in them?

Mrs. Williams

I am aware of the report to which my hon. Friend refers. We are looking into this matter urgently. I hope my hon. Friend will appreciate that the main scope of the regional conferences concerns itself quite deliberately with the schools, because if we go too wide we shall not reach conclusions at all.

Dr. Boyson

Further to the matter put to the right hon. Lady by my hon. Friend the Member for Carshalton (Mr. Forman), is not the Secretary of State aware that, since these conferences are to be only by invitation, there is a risk that they will represent the education establishment which has been in charge while there have been static or declining standards? Must there not be some means of bringing in the ordinary parent who is not a member of an organisation but who also holds strong views? I might perhaps add that the Opposition hope that there will be a follow-through, as distinct from the case of the Bullock Report, which came out in December 1974 but has not yet been debated in this House.

Mr. George Cunningham

Take 100 lines.

Mrs. Williams

As I have explained already, the area of invitation to the conferences goes far beyond the area of educational interests. Judging from the hon. Gentleman's recent speeches, I had expected him to realise what the Government were trying to do to widen the debate on education. I believe that we have a great deal to learn from the conferences and that they will include people recommended for their local influence on education, including parents with that kind of local influence, and not be simply through conventional methods of invitation.

Sir W. Elliott

Will the right hon. Lady accept that her suggestion that there should be parental involvement in the conferences will be greatly welcomed in Newcastle upon Tyne, where, she will recall, there was great distress recently about the reorganisation of feeder schools to comprehensive schools? Will she make the strongest recommendations in her future policy that there shall be parental consultation on this subject?

Mrs. Williams

We always advise full consultation with teachers and parents by local authorities which are making changes in their systems of education. I assure the hon. Gentleman that the first conference of all will be held in Newcastle upon Tyne on 18th February and that this recognises the importance which we attribute to that part of the country.