HC Deb 07 November 1995 vol 265 cc713-4
1. Mr. David Evans

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how much more money would be available for schools if every education authority had a 95 per cent. delegated budget. [40039]

The Secretary of State for Education and Employment (Mrs. Gillian Shephard)

In 1995–96, some £650 million more would be in schools' budgets if every LEA were delegating 95 per cent. of its potential schools budget.

Mr. Evans

Does my right hon. Friend agree that, however much we spent on schools, members of the shadow Cabinet would still send their children to grant-maintained or private schools, while promoting policies that deprive working-class children and their families throughout the country of the same choice and opportunity?

Madam Speaker

Order. The hon. Gentleman should know by now that the Secretary of State is in charge of Government policy, not Opposition attitudes or policies. He must ask questions that enable the right hon. Lady to explain her policies to the House.

Mr. Evans

Will my right hon. Friend tell me, then, whether the leader of our party would send his child to the London Oratory school while telling all the kids in Islington to get stuffed?

Madam Speaker

I do my best.

Mrs. Shephard

So does my hon. Friend.

Unlike some Opposition Front Benchers, Conservative Members believe that grant-maintained schools provide diversity, choice and excellence. The point of my hon. Friend's question is that the money available for grant-maintained schools is not top sliced, so schools have the flexibility to handle all the resources to which they are entitled. It is that independence that makes them such a success, and so popular with parents—including those on the Opposition Front Bench.

Mr. O'Hara

Is not the truth behind the question that the real problem with education at present is central Government underfunding? Robbing Peter to pay Paul by diverting money from LEA budgets to delegated budgets would do nothing to stop those problems, but it would undermine core services such as those that deal with special educational needs—to which the Government pay cynical lip service—and advisory services, which are very important if the Government are serious about raising standards in schools.

Mrs. Shephard

I wonder whether I might gently point out to the hon. Gentleman that he is missing the point. He needs to understand that, if the total amount available to schools is top sliced by LEAs before budgets are set—which happens in many LEAs—schools receive less money. That is what the Labour party's policy fails to address.

Mr. Harry Greenway

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the policy of bringing grant-maintained schools within the ambit of local authorities would take away their independence and their drive for excellence in teaching? That is why that policy must be resisted strongly by the Conservative party and the Government.

Mrs. Shephard

As the right hon. Member for Sedgefield (Mr. Blair) has often pointed out, grant-maintained schools are state schools, but they receive 100 per cent. of their budgets rather than a percentage—however it is calculated—from LEAs. That gives them greater flexibility, and more independence to enable them to run their own affairs. That is what they prize, and what gives them quality.