§ 16. Mr. Bill Rammell (Harlow)If he will make a statement on the number of bids received for education action zone status in the latest round. [81531]
§ The Minister for School Standards (Ms Estelle Morris)My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has received 123 applications, which come from every region in England.
§ Mr. RammellDoes the Minister agree that the key benefit of an education action zone is not just the additional money that it brings— although that is welcome—but the fact that it brings parents, teachers and the public and private sectors together to boost educational achievement? That has been my experience in working with schools in Harlow to produce a bid. Will my hon. Friend look carefully at Harlow's bid, which is unique in involving the local cable television network to increase access to the internet? By linking it to schools, it will engage parents more meaningfully in their children's education.
§ Ms MorrisI agree very much with my hon. Friend. Of course the money allocated to education action zones is welcome but, more importantly, the zones are levers for the sort of partnership that we have not seen in our education service for the past 18 years. When education partners in the community work together, the children in our schools will benefit. I congratulate my hon. Friend on the work that he and his colleagues have done in Harlow. He is correct to say that the bid is unique in using cable 474 television, but he can imagine the number of requests that I have received from hon. Friends asking me to look carefully at their bids. I assure both him and them that I will do so.