Westminster this week - the Education and Adoption Bill debate starts today and dominates

Today sees the Education and Adoption Bill start its jounrey through the Commons from 3.30-10pm tonight. It will see several months of debate about what the state should do about persistently failing schools.
The explanatory notes to the first draft of the Bill, before parliament scrutinises it, are here:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2015-2016/0004/en/16004en.pdf

The rest of the week sees further debates including an Opposition Day debate on Wednesday and a Home Office debate thursday. I also have meetings with the local BBC TV team who are down in London on Wednesday, a local lad James is work experience with us all week, meetings with several constituents visiting Westminster and a stack of casework to catch up on.

A Charity or philanthropic institution could run a prison better than the state or a private company

Last week we debated prison reform in the House of Commons and I raised the need for alternative providers. At present, there are only two providers: the state and since the 1990's there are private companies. I want a charity or philanthropic institution to address this problem and take over a lower category prison and provide a different approach. After all we allow schools to be run by charities, businesses and faiths, so why not prisons?
The third sector magazine has done an interesting review of the debate here:
http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/Governance/article/1292673/tory-backbencher-floats-concept-charity-run-prisons/

This idea I first addressed in 2012 in the Commons and put in my book Doing Time. There is a full chapter entitled "Big Society Prisons".

The full debate from last week is here:
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/whall/?id=2014-04-30a.302.0&s=speaker%3A24962#g303.0

"Education breaks down barriers that holds young people back" Bishop of Newcastle spot on

Could not agree more with the Bishop of Newcastle who has said today:
"Education is the only means to break down some of the barriers that hold young people back. To build an aspirational culture that values, encourages and equips every child it has to permeate all that we do, so that we can overcome the disadvantage in which our children find themselves and enable each of them to be the best that they can possibly be."
Full story here:
http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/bishop-newcastle-must-solve-education-6848362

Educational improvements are the key to aspiration. I go regularly to the Excelsior Academy in west Newcastle, which is an inspiration to many.
Really welcome news about the rail academy in Newcastle today as well.

Thank you to the IEA - intensive Q+A session on prison reform yesterday

Fascinating evening last night where I gacve a 20 m inute speech on the next steps for prison reform, and faced an intensive grilling from over 30 experts at a dinner in westminster.
Everyone from prison governors to ex-prisoners, police officers, economists and academics were there.
Good to discuss the proposals for academy prisons, prisons run by charities or faith based organisations + the idea that a prisoner has the choice of prison he or she goes, based upon the best possible outcome for rehabilitation. Now that would be a brave new world but we have done this in education, so I see no reason why the prinicple, in theory, at least, cannot be extended. A tiring but very interesting evening.

With the Everest Excelsior pupils for fundraising and a Question Time event

I  donated £80 for hats for these plucky adventurers when I met them last Thursday. Then on Friday, myself, North East Conservative MEP Martin Callanan and North West Tory MEP Sajjad Karim fielded questions from the pupils and fellow students from Newcastle College at an event in Newcastle’s Beacon Centre.

Among the issues debated were racial discrimination, religious intolerance, youth unemployment, the Scottish independence vote, an EU referendum, dyslexia in education, affordable housing and car insurance for young drivers.
We encouraged all those there to use their vote at elections, whoever it was to be for, to make a difference to their lives.
It was great to meet the eight Excelsior students bound for Mount Everest base camp in October - their enthusiasm was genuinely wonderful to see. It will clearly change their lives

Excelsior Academy, Mount Everest and the Asian Business Connection

Excelsior Academy is an outstanding school; it is proof that education can transform lives. On Thursday I was asked to attend the presentation on behalf of the 8 students chosen to go to Nepal for a Mount Everest trip this autumn. In addition, there were awards in favour of young and not so young entrepreneurs, who have been encouraged and supported in their efforts to start or grow businesses or local community projects. It was an inspiring evening. The event was sponsored and supported by the Asian Business Connection [ABC]. This is a group who do so much for their local community. There was also food afterwards in the form of a delicious Curry Night. You will not eat better food in restaurants.

I have paid £80 to buy each of the 8 kids a special woolly hat to combat the cold. They are going to need it. I was really impressed by the school - this was my second visit. There is no doubt that Academy Schools with everything that they do, the freedoms they have, and the educational transformation, are transforming lives. It was a wonderful evening.    

Education is changing

Michael Gove is changing education with his reforms to education poliocy and practice that particularly feature academies and free schools, which allow headteachers and local schools to make radical improvement, away from the dead hand of local authority control. All this at a time when the Coalition have managed to protect the 4-16 years budget from the cuts that other departments have faced. The interesting question is what does Labour think of the reforms?
We know that the Liberals are absolutely committed. I and my Hexham headteachers recently met David Laws in Hexham QEHS, and were very impressed by his reforming zeal, his grasp and his commitment to change for the better for the pupil and the individual school.
Only yesterday this is what Michael Gove said about David Laws:
‘I think that it’s certainly the case that there’s a lot of momentum in the department for education at the moment for continued reform. One of the great things about having David Laws as a Liberal Democrat colleague is that he’s as enthusiastic as I am about seeing more academies and free schools established; like me wants to see the prestige of the teaching profession enhanced, including with some of the changes that we’re talking about today. He like me wants to say rather more about how we can improve school leadership even further in the autumn, and he like me wants to reform the funding system so it’s fairer overall. So there will be a lot more coming from us, right up until the election is called.

‘What I think will be the case is that rather than scorched earth, what we will have done is that we will have moved the ground of the education debate to such an extent that the next government I think will accept the basis of what we have done because as the Populus poll reinforces, it’s in line with what the public want."
Recently Stephen Twigg effectively accepted that free schools and academies are a force for good. The Labour party will have to make up its mind about performance-related pay and some of the other changes that are coming through the system.

Academies Row now settled

Northumberland County Council's punative approach to local schools will now be stopped: schools in Northumberland which were trying to become academies but were then effectively blocked because of pension concerns have won a victory after the Education Secretary agreed to change Government rules.

For several years schools wishing to break free of council control had been hit with rules forcing headteachers to pay excessive fees to the Council to have their staff covered by local government pension schemes. That money was taken directly from the funds used to pay for educational material, forcing heads across the county to think twice and threatening the success of the scheme.
But yesterday Michael Gove intervened, making it clear in a parliamentary statement that should any academy close down with pensions liabilities, the Government would step in and cover the losses.
I would expect several Northumberland schools which have been holding back from a move to academy status may now reconsider their options.

For example, the 20% surcharge saw Berwick Academy forced to take an extra £90,000 from money which should have gone on children’s education to pay the Council
Meadowdale Academy was also handed punishing pensions surcharges, with the Bedlington school losing £66,000 a year – money taken from teaching budgets.
Haltwhistle Middle School was among those said to have been prevented from converting as a result of the new fees it would face.
Now in a letter to me, Michael Gove has said the Government will underwrite the risk of an academy failing, removing any possible justification for the local authority to impose a surcharge.As I commented to the Journal:
“This announcement we have secured blows out of the water any justification they may have had for their financial block on academies."
Full report in todays Journal: http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/government-intervenes-northumberland-academies-row-4846645

Hexham schools discussed in DofE today

I met David Laws, MP, the Minister for Education, today to discuss the ways in which Hexham's Queen Elizabeth High School can be at the front of the queue for any future money for rebuilding or improving the school - using central government money.
We have successfully won the case for a rebuild of Prudhoe High School last year and it has been made clear to me by many parents, children and teachers that Hexham QEHS needs investment. Clearly these are difficult times to be pitching for further capital funds but if you do not ask you do not get. David was very helpful on this issue and made it clear that his department is conducting an assessment of all school buildings, including Hexham, this summer. From that assessment our needs will be clear and the bidding process can begin.
Separately I urged the Minister to come to Northumberland and meet local Headteachers himself and see both the amazing success of our schools and the problems that they face in providing education in a largely rural context. I am hopeful that he will be visiting in the near future this summer, and will let local heads know if and when he is coming. At that meeting I know he wishes to meet with Northumberland County Council officers to discuss amongst other things the Northumberland approach to the Local Government Pension Scheme and the bizarre approach of NCC to pension contributions by schools who are academies or who wish to become academies. I again raised this today. One thing is clear - the overcharging approach of NCC is unacceptable. Ministers agree. Michael Gove, the Secretary of State, agrees. The department for Communities and Local Government agree. This unfair approach will change, and it will change soon.