HC Deb 30 October 1984 vol 65 cc1144-6
2. Mr. Cockeram

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what response he has received to the Green Paper on parental influence in schools.

14. Mr. Flannery

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will make a statement on future legislation on the composition of school governing bodies.

The Secretary of State for Education and Science (Sir Keith Joseph)

Responses to the Green Paper have been received from over 650 individuals and organisations. The Government are now carefully considering the way ahead in the light of those responses and will make a statement in due course.

Mr. Cockeram

Will my right hon. Friend remember that, at the end of the day, our schools exist for the benefit of our children and their families, not the unions? Will he also remember that the representations that he has received from the unions are well orchestrated and organised, whereas those from parents are diffuse and not so well organised, and will he take that into account in weighing the representations that he has received?

Sir Keith Joseph

I agree with my hon. Friend that education is for the children. I shall certainly weigh carefully all the representations that have been made. I shall seek to find as much approval as I can for the general views expressed in the consultation paper on the composition of school governing bodies. The Government are carefully considering the representations that have been made, which, in most cases, were rather hostile.

Mr. Flannery

Does the Secretary of State visualise the majority on the governing body being parents who, for instance, have any or all of the say on the school's curriculum? Has the right hon. Gentleman taken into account the fact that the impact on the curriculum would have definite repercussions in highly vocal areas, as opposed to areas—often in working class districts—where parents are not highly vocal?

Sir Keith Joseph

I make no apology for the Government's view that it would be sensible to have a majority of parents on governing bodies, because we believe that the great majority of parents are trustworthy people who, if given appropriate powers as school governors—I include parents who come from the areas to which the hon. Gentleman referred — will seek to exercise those powers responsibly and for the common good. As I rather lightly said in answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Ludlow (Mr. Cockeram), the Government have found that the consultation paper has produced a rather hostile set of views against that proposition, and we are now considering those views.

Mr. Forman

As my right hon. Friend has been asked to do so by the local education authority in the London borough of Sutton, in which my constituency is situated, will he take full account of the cost and administrative implications of some of the changes and ensure that local authorities are not out of pocket as a result?

Sir Keith Joseph

There might be a certain amount of disagreement about the cost implications of the Government's proposals, but I shall certainly take into account the views expressed by those who have replied.

Mr. Beith

Does the Secretary of State recognise that quite a lot of the overwhelming opposition to his idea has come from parent groups? Does he understand that many of those parents who serve on governing bodies are sick to death of local authority party political representatives trying to run the bodies with a majority block vote? They do not want parents to be brought into the same act; they would rather that schools were run as a partnership between parents, the local authority and the community.

Sir Keith Joseph

I agree with part of what the hon. Gentleman said. I note that the Liberal party, in its response to the consultation paper, has come out against the Government's proposals, although the hon. Member for Cambridgeshire, North-East (Mr. Freud) greeted my announcement of the Government's proposals as "pure high octane Liberal policy".

Mr. Peter Bruinvels

Will my right hon. Friend take note of the fact that already there are a number of problems with co-opted members — for instance, on the Leicestershire education authority—defeating the elected members of the Conservative group? Will there not be even more problems when parents are given additional representation?

Sir Keith Joseph

My hon. Friend has illustrated the complexity of the issues that must be sorted out. The Government are urgently considering the replies to the consultation paper.

Mr. Andrew F. Bennett

Would it not be better if the Government came clean, abandoned their proposals to change the 1980 Act and the tripartite approach to governors and got on with the much more serious task of ensuring that all local authorities quickly implement the 1980 Act? Would it not be better to look at ways in which parents on governing bodies can be much more responsive to other parents in the community and be elected in some genuine democratic way? Too often, a person on a governing body is simply a friend or a person persuaded to serve on the governing body by the head of a particular school.

Sir Keith Joseph

I would have more respect for what the Labour party now suggests if it had acted more quickly on its own Taylor committee report and managed to get any legislation through before it was thrown out of office.