David Laws speech in full
Conference, I know some of you think of me as a number-crunching, desiccated, calculating machine. There is, sad to say, some truth in that.
But let me tell you why I came into politics. To build a country in which opportunity is there for all. I am delighted to be the Minister for Schools because nothing matters more for opportunity than education.
And Sarah Teather – the first ever Liberal Democrat Education Minister – has shown the way. Sarah helped develop and implement one of our most important policies – the Pupil Premium. And Sarah also led on early years education and childcare.
It is thanks to Sarah that hundreds of thousands of two year olds, from some of the most hard-pressed families, will get free early years education.
Those are big achievements, putting our party’s principles into practice right across our country.
But for me, what really stands out is Sarah’s work to improve support for children with special educational needs. This isn’t a high profile area. It doesn’t win you lots of press coverage. But Sarah did it for the best reason of all. She did it because it was the right thing to do.
As schools minister, I want to build on this work, and I know exactly what I want to achieve.
Now, Mulberry School for Girls isn’t famous. It isn’t Rugby and it isn’t Harrow. But it is at least as good a school as they are. Nick Clegg and I went to see it on my first day as Schools Minister. It’s in Tower Hamlets. On paper, the background of the pupils means that many would say we shouldn’t expect too much. That poor or erratic results would be understandable. Excusable even.
The head teacher doesn’t see it that way. The staff don’t see it that way. And the pupils certainly don’t see it that way.
In Mulberry school the staff are inspirational, the pupils are inspired, and the results speak for themselves: almost four out of five students get good GCSEs, many go on to top universities.
Students told me that they wanted to be doctors, to go into business, and yes, one told me that she wanted to be Prime Minister.
These are no idle dreams. These are aspirations that these children have every hope of achieving. I want every child to be able to aim for the stars, and to be supported in reaching them.
Opportunity cannot only extend to the boundaries of the playing fields of Eton, or even Westminster. It must be available in every school, in every community, and in every part of our country. We are moving from an education system which entrenched privilege, to an education system which hands opportunity to every child.
And not before time.
The Liberal Democrat vision has always been clear: opportunity for all; no-one enslaved by ignorance. That is our vision, and my job is to deliver it in government. And what a job it is.
Today, only a third of children who receive free school meals get five good GCSEs, including English and Maths.
Frankly, that is appalling. It is a huge waste of talent. It is a national disgrace. And it must change.
Previous Secretaries of State for Education should hang their heads in shame. There is nothing inevitable about poor children doing badly at school. Mulberry School – and countless others – are showing what is possible.
Every school can be that good, and every school must be that good.
We will not achieve that overnight, or even by the end of this parliament. But by 2020 I want every mainstream school to get at least 80% of children to the benchmark level of success. And that should be just the start.
So how do we do this? One – in partnership with teachers. Two – through proper funding. Three – through innovation. And finally, by holding schools to account.
There are almost 25,000 schools in England alone. There are 450,000 teachers. And there are 8 million pupils.
Think about it. No schools minister can even pretend to run all of these schools. Instead, we have to work in partnership with heads, with teachers and with governors. Devolving power, working in partnership, letting go: that is what liberalism is all about.
Teaching is one of the most important jobs anyone can do. We must get the best people to become teachers – and we must keep them.
All too often schools feel “got at” by Government. All too often, teachers feel that politicians do not like them, and do not respect the amount of work they do.
Let me be clear. Every head, every teacher and every teaching assistant worth their salt is passionate, truly passionate, about nurturing the talents of children. I understand that. I see it in schools in my own constituency and all over Britain.
So let us try to avoid the “them and us” mentality that causes so much mistrust. I want the best for all children. Teachers want the best for all children. We are on the same side. And we are on the same side in our commitment to all children.
That is why Liberal Democrats rejected calls from some for a two-tier exam system that would divide children into winners and losers. That is why we reject suggestions that the exam grading system should force a fixed proportion of all students to fail, even if all of them have mastered the subject. The new English Baccalaureate exam will be more rigorous. But it will not be exclusive.
Now, a good education isn’t cheap. It never has been. It never will be. Money matters. Above all, it pays for good teachers. It helps schools provide intensive support when that is necessary to overcome particular challenges that some children face.
That is why the Liberal Democrats fought so hard to ensure that schools secured one of the best funding settlements. And I would like to pay tribute to Danny Alexander here. Danny may not yet be celebrated in every one of our schools, but he should be.
And it’s always a good idea to be nice to Danny, because you never know when you may need an extra billion…or two.
So, our Pupil Premium will deliver more than £6bn extra for schools during this Parliament. The Pupil Premium follows the most disadvantaged pupils to whichever schools they attend. So the schools that need most get most.
In its first year the Pupil Premium was worth £488 per child. This rose to £600 per child last year, reaching over 1.8m pupils, and almost every classroom in the country. And I can announce today that next year the Pupil Premium will rise again by a half.
So in 2013, we will give schools £900 for every child on free school meals or in care.
Just think what that will mean. A secondary school with 1,000 pupils, a third on the Pupil Premium, will be receiving around an extra £300,000 next year. In our General Election manifesto, we pledged that a Liberal Democrat government would spend £2.5bn on the pupil premium.
In 2014, we will again increase the pupil premium. By then, we will be spending £2.5bn on our pupil premium. Our pledge will have been honoured in full.
Conference, the pupil premium has gone from the paper written by Nick Clegg a decade ago to the front page of our manifesto. Through the machinery of government and now into the schools and classrooms of our country.
Making a real difference to children’s life chances. Conference, you voted for it, you campaigned for it, and now we are making it happen.
People have complained, and rightly, about what happened over tuition fees. And we in the parliamentary party have rightly apologised. But let us not forget the pledges we are delivering.
Not just our £2.5 billion Pupil Premium. The £10,000 tax free allowance. The Green Deal. Restoring the link between pensions and earnings. We do have a record of action and delivery in government.
We should shout about it. We should build on it. We should be very, very proud of it.
I have one final announcement to make today on funding. Last year, at this conference, Nick Clegg announced that up to £50 million would be made available to fund Summer Schools.
This was for disadvantaged pupils moving from primary to secondary school. Because, all too often, pupils who have made big progress through the school year fall behind over the long summer holiday, particularly if they are changing schools
Over 2,000 secondary schools took part this Summer, and the feedback was fantastic.
So I am announcing today that we are allocating another £100 million to continue this project in 2013 and 2014.
Of course, money isn’t everything. If it was, Labour would have given us the best schools we have ever seen. Money has to be spent well.
Schools can – of course – spend the pupil premium in any way they like. But equally, they must be held accountable. They have to close the gap between children from rich and poor backgrounds.
Last Thursday, the Chief Inspector of Schools reported that half of schools said that the Pupil Premium was having an impact. That is not bad after only one year of operation.
But he also said that there is much, much, more to do.
Now, let me be clear. I am not going to go back to the bad old ways of New Labour.
You cannot micro-manage 25,000 schools from Whitehall. It would undermine innovation and undermine the informed decisions of heads and teachers.
But I will hold schools to account. They must use the Pupil Premium money to help disadvantaged pupils to catch up. And you can help make this happen
If you are a head, or a teacher, do you have ideas that will improve standards for the most disadvantaged? If you are a school governor, look at how your school is spending the money. And ask yourself– is it based on evidence of what works?
And above all, if you are a parent, ask your school the same question.
The Head of Ofsted Sir Michael Wilshaw, who did so much as a head teacher to raise standards for children from poorer backgrounds, is committed to this goal. He will be giving me his views on how best practice can be spread across all schools.
Let me be clear that while I do not wish to be heavy handed with schools, the Pupil Premium has to deliver, for the sake of individual children and the country as a whole.
Now, Liberals believe in freedom. That is why our approach offers schools – all schools – more freedom to innovate. Greater autonomy is a characteristic of high performing school systems.
But with freedom comes accountability. It is “freedom to do”, not just “freedom from”.
That is why schools that do not persuade Ofsted that they are at least “good” must improve. How can we settle for less than every school in every neighbourhood being a good school?
Well, that is precisely what we and Ofsted are aiming to deliver. Schools that are not rated “Good” are not good enough. They will be re-inspected and if they do not improve there will be intervention.
This is going to increase the number of schools in which support and intervention is necessary. But we should celebrate the fact that more children will get a decent education as a result, rather than pretending the problem does not exist.
Conference, let me conclude by saying this. You will have seen that as well as my post as Schools Minister, I have responsibilities in the Cabinet Office. But my first responsibility, my passion – in line with everything Liberal Democrats believe – is for education.
A good education is the cornerstone of a liberal society. A good education for all is the cornerstone of the society our party wants to create. My job is to deliver just that.
And your job is to help me, to hold me to account and to tell people what we are achieving together.
