HC Deb 16 February 1982 vol 18 cc128-9
3. Mr. Montgomery

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he has any plans to alter the status of the maintained voluntary schools or the Church's role in many of these schools; and if he will make a statement.

The Under-Secretary of State for Education and Science (Dr. Rhodes Boyson)

My right hon. Friend has no plans to alter the status of maintained voluntary schools or the Church's role in them. The Government fully support the very valuable part that voluntary schools play in our education system. They provide what many parents want for their children—education in a maintained school, but in an atmosphere that reflects their faith.

Mr. Montgomery

Does my hon. Friend agree that that answer is in marked contrast to the anti-Church and anti-voluntary school policies being pursued by the Labour Party?

Dr. Boyson

I take my hon. Friend's point—[HON. MEMBERS: "Rubbish."] It is not rubbish. The first draft of the Labour Party's election campaign for the Greater London Council last year contained the following: That no child should be educationally segregated by virtue of his or her sex, religious, ethnic or socio-economic status. If children are not to be separated by religion, there will be no voluntary schools. That was cut out later, because of a great outcry, but it was there at the beginning.

Mr. Hardy

Has there ever been a two-year period when so many voluntary schools have been closed?

Dr. Boyson

I do not know of any two-year period when there has been such a fall in the birth rate in the years before. It was no desire of this Government that there should have been a fall in the birth rate five years ago. It must have reflected the policies of the Labour Government of that time.

Sir William van Straubenzee

I fully endorse my hon. Friend's confidence in such schools, but should not the long-term objective be to work towards nondenominational schools, perhaps with some restructuring of the arrangements between the Churches and the State?

Dr. Boyson

That is an interesting point, and it is not the first time that my hon. Friend has raised it. Obviously, the Government support denominational schools where parents demand them. Similarly, we consider sympathetically any requests for joint-denominational schools.

Mr. Kinnock

Does the Minister recognise and register the fact that there is no anti-Church or anti-voluntary school sentiment in the Labour Party? On the contrary, the Opposition wish to see an improvement in the standards of education and provision for the liberty of every individual in Britain.

Dr. Boyson

I am sure that all hon. Members will welcome that statement. At the same time, there is a suspicion that bubbling at the bottom of the Labour Party is an anti-voluntary school complex. The Times printed a letter last week from a Councillor Hilary Benn, who I believe is a member of the Labour Party, stating: The case against any extension of voluntary-aided denominational education is overwhelming.