My week in Parliament kicked off with one of the tasks of my job that I enjoy the most – engaging with local schools, and hearing of pupils’ plans for their future, together with their concerns for the nation’s. This Monday morning the school in question was Royal Hospital School (RHS), Holbrook, and my chat with their students was wide ranging and fun.
As it happens, later that same day the Government delivered an oral Statement to Parliament setting out its plans for replacing the long-standing Ofsted regime of rating schools’ performance. Yes, RHS is an independent school, not covered by Ofsted. Yet I cannot help thinking that – whether schools in Suffolk are fee-charging or not – they are becoming the centre of a growing and damaging political storm.
I fear the Government is unjustifiably meddling with a stable policy regime. Given all the disruption of the pandemic to education, surely what we needed was a period of stability? Whereas Labour have come to power rushing through very significant change – and I am convinced the net result could undermine England’s education standards.
Regarding the Ofsted changes, the Government has confirmed that we will be moving from the old ‘one word’ judgements – outstanding; good; requires improvement; inadequate – to a more detailed report with 40 points of comparison, and no single overall rating. BBC coverage of the proposals included one senior educationalist describing the depth of the reports as ‘bewildering’.
Indeed, for me, the key point is that parents understood the old system. No system is perfect. There is no ‘silver bullet’ way to undertake the perennially tough task holding passionate professionals to account. With so much at stake – literally our young peoples’ collective future – there has to be accountability. Better, in my view, that the system in place is understood and delivers a response when its verdicts are released. The case of Ruth Perry is tragic, and lessons must be learned from that particular inspection, but we have to ensure that the Ofsted regime continues to prioritise the highest possible educational standards.
That should also be true of the rest of Government policy, given the vital link between education outcomes and both national and individual prosperity. Indeed, whilst there was much the public were right to be frustrated with when they came to vote on our 14-year record back in July, the improvements to school standards in England is an area that I regard with immense pride. We shot up international rankings in core subjects, with a huge rise in the percentage of schools rated by Ofsted as Good or Outstanding.
Whereas, with Labour’s education reforms – currently going through Parliament – I fear that we are moving away from a rigorous, knowledge-based education system like that which underpinned improvements in standards for children under the previous Conservative Government. In particular, I believe that the Children’s Wellbeing Bill undermines the freedoms and flexibilities that have been central to the success of academies – enabling them to innovate, tailor their teaching to the needs of their pupils, and deliver outstanding results. My concern is that forcing academies into a one-size-fits-all approach could jeopardise the progress they have made and risks stifling the very qualities that have driven their success.
Of course, these changes will apply in the state sector, but independent schools like RHS remain vital if we are to offer the fullest choice of options to parents. I appreciate not everyone can afford such schools, but the irony is that the imposition of both 20% VAT - and in many cases Business Rates too - will ensure such schools are increasingly restricted to the very wealthy.
Whereas I’ve met countless families who are angry about the tax but are not wealthy; they just happen to care profoundly about their child’s education and have saved hard (often deferring foreign holidays and the like) to fund a place at an independent school. Moreover, as Shadow Defence Secretary, I’ve had to constantly remind the Government that many military families are dependent on a place at a boarding school – almost all of which are independent – to provide the stability for their children that life in the forces otherwise often lacks. As such, the Education Tax is not just taxing aspiration, but undermining our military, with the MoD grant for fees falling well short of the VAT impact.
Most importantly, I believe this tax will damage state schools. Instead, we need a commitment to excellence in education across the board, not ideology and rushed policy-making that can only damage the prospects of the next generation.
Published in the East Anglian Daily Times.
