§ 11. Mr. Bill MichieTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what representations he has received regarding cleaning standards in schools since competitive tendering became operative.
§ Mr. ForthThe Department receives representations from time to time on various compulsory competitive tendering issues. I am not aware of any recent correspondence specifically relating to school cleaning.
§ Mr. MichieIs the Secretary of State aware that the current contracts given out for the cleaning of schools are totally inadequate? The standards of one of the schools in my constituency, Herdings junior and nursery infants, are not up to scratch. That is not a criticism of the school cleaners; it reflects the fact that the local authority did not have enough money to include better specifications in the contract. Will the Minister review the position of schools and, I hope, improve it?
§ Mr. ForthWhere appropriate, it is for local education authorities to set standards for themselves and put the work out to tender based on those standards. They have responsibility for monitoring whether the standards are being achieved. The hon. Gentleman should return to his local education authority and satisfy himself as to whether it is setting proper standards, tendering properly and monitoring the achievement of standards in schools.
§ Mr. John MarshallWill my hon. Friend confirm that compulsory competitive tendering has saved local authorities a lot of money? Should not education budgets be used to educate children rather than to preserve jobs in the National Union of Public Employees?
§ Mr. ForthMy hon. Friend makes a good point. Recent research by the Institute of Local Government Studies shows that cost savings of about 6 per cent. have resulted 289 from compulsory competitive tendering for local authority services while providing the same or higher standards. I trust that local education authorities will be considering the matter carefully to see whether they can redeploy into education the resources saved.