Grant-maintained Schools (Hansard, 2 November 1993)

§ 9. Mrs. Peacock
To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many local authorities now have more than 10 per cent. of their pupils being educated in grant-maintained schools.

§ The Secretary of State for Education (Mr. John Patten)
In 30 local authorities, 10 per cent. or more of all pupils are already being educated in self-governing schools. In 47 local authorities, more than 10 per cent. of secondary pupils are educated in grant-maintained schools and 15 per cent. of the country's secondary pupils are now educated in grant-maintained schools—nearly 500,000 pupils today.

§ Mrs. Peacock
What responsibilities will the funding agency have for schools in areas in which more than 10 per cent. of pupils are in grant-maintained schools?

§ Mr. Patten
The new Funding Agency for Schools will have considerable powers in such areas. Once more than 75 per cent. of pupils in either the primary or secondary sector are being educated in grant-maintained schools, the Funding Agency for Schools will take over the planning of school places in its entirety. Local education authorities can ask to go into the care of the Funding Agency for Schools long before that if they wish. Already at least one borough, Hillingdon, has passed the 75 per cent. point, so from 1 April the Funding Agency for Schools will be dealing with all the schools in Hillingdon, shortly to be joined by Brent and a good number of other local authorities.

§ Mrs. Anne Campbell
What plans does the Secretary of State have to force all schools to adopt grant-maintained status by abolishing local education authorities and when can we expect an announcement about that?

§ Mr. Patten
None, Madam Speaker.

§ Mr. Pawsey
Does my right hon. Friend agree that the principal opposition to grant-maintained schools comes from two sources; politically motivated local education authorities and local education authorities which seek to protect their education empires?
Will my right hon. Friend accept my congratulations on the appointment of Sir Christopher Benson to the Funding Agency for Schools? Does he agree that Sir Christopher will reach those parts of the educational scene that other educationists will not reach?

§ Mr. Patten
On the first two parts of my hon. Friend's question, the answers are yes and yes.
As for Sir Christopher Benson, we are extremely fortunate to have the present serving chairman of the Housing Corporation moving to the Funding Agency for Schools. He is a man with an international reputation and that makes the attack on him in The Guardian by the Opposition spokesman on education all the more disgraceful. He has not been attacked by any Labour Front Bencher during his tenure as chairman of the Housing Corporation, yet the hon. Lady has started to attack him before he has even taken up his job.

§ Mrs. Ann Taylor
Will the Secretary of State confirm that there were 95 school ballots on grant-maintained status in October last year, while there were just 19 ballots in October this year? Will the Secretary of State also confirm that it is five years to the day since the first school ballots for grant-maintained status took place and that, at the rate at which schools have become grant-maintained, it will take the best part of the century to reach the Government's targets?
Does the Secretary of State have any plans to revise the targets, now that his bribe-and-divide policy is simply running out of steam?

§ Mr. Patten
We have no targets; we have figures. Already this year some 450 schools have taken part in ballots on grant-maintained status and there will be another 50 ballots before Christmas.
The hon. Lady simply does not understand her brief. I understand that a learned judge has said recently that repetitive strain injury does not exist; repetitive political self-damage occurs every time that the hon. Lady opens her mouth.

§ Mr. Burns
Will my right hon. Friend join me in condemning the petty, vicious and nasty policy of the Labour and Liberal-controlled Essex county council, which is seeking to cut all capital funding to any school in Essex which thinks about or puts in motion a grant-maintained ballot?

§ Mr. Patten
I am afraid that the Lib-Lab-Democrat pact which is now in charge in Essex runs Kent very close for the title of the worst education authority among the new Lib-Lab controlled shires.
I agree with everything that my hon. Friend said. It is entirely wrong for any local authority to attempt to use bully-boy—and, to satisfy the hon. Member for Dewsbury (Mrs. Taylor), bully-girl—tactics to stop schools voting in favour of grant-maintained status.