§ Mr. CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) if he will publish the bid documents and business plans which have been submitted by those companies invited to tender for the management of local authority education services; [101504]
(2) what meetings his Department has had with the London Borough of Islington concerning improving the education service (a) by the borough council and (b) by a privatised service; [101508]
(3) what criteria he will use to monitor the performance and profits of organisations receiving privatised education services. [101470]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisBoth the documentation leading up to the inclusion of organisations on our list of function providers for LEA intervention, and the bids submitted in specific cases, are treated as commercial in confidence. Officials have had a large number of meetings with Islington Council, involving elected members, officers, headteachers and school staff, in order to discuss urgent action by Islington officers to improve standards and the planned outsourcing of the service. Officials have also been involved in the evaluation of tenders leading to the recent announcement of a preferred service provider. I have personally met Islington members and officers, spoken to groups of headteachers and visited a number of schools. The proposed contract with the preferred service provider remains under negotiation, but it will include arrangements for regular monitoring against service standards, and link payment to the delivery of targets for pupil performance.