§ 2. Mr. HardyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what representations she has received on the introduction of home-school contracts for all schools. [2071]
§ The Secretary of State for Education and Employment (Mrs. Gillian Shephard)I have received a variety of representations about home-school agreements.
§ Mr. HardyAlthough it appears that the Government are beginning to move along the road down which the Labour party has pointed for some time, will the Minister assure the House that she will not adopt the approach in 338 order to pursue selection any further? Does she recognise that the value of the approach could be considerable? Will she assist local authorities to secure the resources to allow it to be effective?
§ Mrs. ShephardMany schools will find such agreements to be a useful part of their policies for strengthening parental support and involvement. As many authorities and schools already have such arrangements, I see no need for extra resources.
§ Mr. PawseyDoes my right hon. Friend welcome the Opposition's conversion to the policies of this Government, policies that will do much to help improve the quality and standards of state education? Will she confirm that it will be up to individual schools to decide what actually goes into the home-school contracts and that, if people want a particular contract to refer to the disciplinary measures that a school wishes to introduce, that will be quite in order?
§ Mrs. ShephardMy hon. Friend is ingenious, as ever; indeed, his ingenuity matches his common sense. The content of home-school agreements would certainly be up to individual admission authorities, be they local education authorities or schools. However, the Bill will include a power for the Secretary of State to rule out particular conditions.