Secretary of State labels Labour policies as ‘politics of envy’
Gillian Keegan MP took her first departmental questions this week, since her appointment as Secretary of State for Education, along with the new ministerial team at the Department for Education.
Shadow Secretary of State, Bridget Phillipson, asked about childcare. She said that many parents are having to give up jobs due to the cost of childcare, and that no action in the recent fiscal statements had been taken to support families.
In response, Gillian Keegan argued that important progress had been made, such as offering up to 30 hours free childcare, and spending of £3.5 billion on early education entitlements and £20 billion over the past five years on supporting families with childcare costs. She added that the Government is working to improve choice and affordability of childcare.
Following this, Phillipson asked about private schools, mentioning Labour’s plans to end tax breaks to the independent sector. Keegan argued that such a policy would lead to disruption in education, and labelling it the ‘politics of envy’.
Recently elected chair of the education select committee, Robin Walker, asked about high needs pupils. Quoting the SEND Review Green Paper to ensure pupils had ‘the right support in the right place at the right time’, he said students were missing education as a result of the lack of places in specialist schools. He asked when progress will be made on spending on high needs and specialist provision.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families, Claire Coutinho, responded. She said in March 2020, £1.4 billion of high needs provision capital allocations was announced. However, she said that the Government hoped to address the practice of sending children to schools far from home, in their response to the Green Paper.
Labour MP for Easington, Grahame Morris, asked about the impact of the cost of living on both schools and families. Gillian Keegan said that all schools are benefiting from the energy bill relief scheme, and the recent increase of £2 billion to the schools budget. Through the National Network of Special Schools for Schools Business Professionals (NNoSS), we are lobbying for fair and equitable distribution of these additional funds to ensure special and alternative provision schools receive the support they need.
While these announcements are welcome, our recent State of the Region survey highlighted the financial challenges schools face. Just under half of responses said that energy costs will double or more in 22/23. Over three quarters said that increased costs on energy and staff pay will push their schools into deficit in the next three years, which for most of these schools will force them to use reserves.
Conservative MP for Sedgefield, Paul Howell, asked what was being done to ensure that the sports premium was reaching schools in challenging areas. Schools Minister Nick Gibb said that improving sports and PE was a key priority for the Government.
With the instability at the Department for Education over the summer, there is a great deal of uncertainty on a range of education policies, at a time of increased pressures for schools on finances, catch-up, and staffing. Schools North East will continue to lobby on these key issues. Shadow Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, will be speaking at our annual Academies Conference in January. This will be an important opportunity for North East schools to have their voices heard by a key educational policy maker.
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