HC Deb 14 June 1994 vol 244 cc509-10
10. Mr. Wareing

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to enable schools which have opted out of local authority control to opt back in; and if he will make a statement on the application of the principle of parental choice.

Mr. Robin Squire

We have no plans for such legislation—[Interruption.]

Madam Speaker

Order. I know that hon. Members are all happy to see each other again, but the House must come to order.

Mr. Squire

The whole House unreservedly welcomes its latest four-legged addition. Perhaps it would help if I recommenced.

We have no plans for such legislation and we have yet to hear of a self-governing school which wishes to return to local authority control. Parental choice is central to our education reforms and the option of GM status is a very important part of that.

Mr. Wareing

As not all parents have been as wise as those of the children of Croxteth community comprehensive school in my constituency in opposing opting out, and if the Government are really sincere about parental choice, would not it be correct for the Government to allow those parents who become—as inevitably they will—dissatisfied with opting out to ballot to opt back in to local authority control? Is not the Government's policy driven by ideology and not by academic and parental choice?

Mr. Squire

As I made clear earlier, we have no sign of any school which has experienced self-government wishing to switch back. On a management basis, it would not be an ideal way of organising education to have schools criss-crossing back between different forms of control.

The hon. Gentleman mentioned in passing the ballot at Croxteth. I know that he would wish me to mention that in Liverpool yesterday King David primary school voted yes to going grant-maintained.

Mr. Burns

Does my hon. Friend agree that the question that he just answered was particularly odd? He knows, as do the governors and parents of grant-maintained schools, that no school in its right mind which has taken that crucial decision would ever consider opting back in to local education authority control, with all the problems of bureaucracy and restriction that would follow such a decision.

Mr. Squire

My hon. Friend utters wise words. He recognises that the turnout at GM ballots is considerably higher than the turnout even at local elections.