Contributions
793 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDMulti-academy TrustsI am not sure if the noble Baroness is worried about them being in post for too long or too short a period of time. Given that the programme has existed at scale for only about…10 Jul 2019HANSARDMulti-academy TrustsMy Lords, for those who do not know, I was the founding chairman of the Inspiration Trust, so I am fairly familiar with it. When I took on this post, I agreed with both the ethics…10 Jul 2019HANSARDMulti-academy TrustsMy Lords, the first priority is competence. We want good, strong people on these trusts who will challenge the senior leadership teams and also provide support and encouragement.…10 Jul 2019HANSARDMulti-academy TrustsMy Lords, my noble friend is entirely correct. A few dozen trusts have not performed as well as they should have on governance, but we have that in any large organisation—we now…10 Jul 2019HANSARDMulti-academy TrustsMy Lords, the financial arrangements and auditing of academies is based on a clear framework and effective oversight, with robust intervention when needed. Trusts must comply with…10 Jul 2019HANSARDEducation: Industrial StrategyI am afraid that I did not hear the noble Baroness because of some interruptions. My apologies.24 Jun 2019HANSARDEducation: Music A-levelMy Lords, as the noble Lord will know, these matters are all subject to the spending review, which is under discussion at the moment, but he should rest assured, as I said in my…24 Jun 2019HANSARDEducation: Industrial StrategyMy Lords, we welcome the Augar review. It was the most far-reaching review of further and higher education since—amazingly—1963. It makes a number of recommendations that we are…24 Jun 2019HANSARDEducation: Industrial StrategyThe noble Baroness is right. The number of starts for the first quarter of 2018-19 is some 76,000, compared with 41,000 this time last year. We know that the quality of the new…24 Jun 2019HANSARDEducation: Industrial StrategyMy Lords, for that to happen, we need to make sure that we have apprenticeship standards for the creative industries. A great deal of work is going on there and the number of…24 Jun 2019HANSARDEducation: Music A-levelThe right reverend Prelate shares the concern of many Peers in this Chamber today. As I have said in Answers to earlier Questions, music has been extremely important in my own…24 Jun 2019HANSARDEducation: Music A-levelMy Lords, I do not have the specific number of music teachers in the system but I know that the vacancy rate is only 0.5%, so I do not see that as a crisis. We have seen pressure…24 Jun 2019HANSARDEducation: Music A-levelMy Lords, I accept that there have been declines in the area that the noble Lord pointed out. However, as I mentioned in my earlier reply, music can be taught in various different…24 Jun 2019HANSARDEducation: Music A-levelMy Lords, it is of course correct to say that A-level entries in music have declined in recent years. However, we want all students to have the opportunity to study arts subjects…24 Jun 2019HANSARDEducation: Music A-levelMy Lords, it is correct that some universities have withdrawn the list of facilitating subjects, but they have replaced it with a website which gives children pointers to the…24 Jun 2019HANSARDEducation: Music A-levelMy Lords, music is a vital subject. That is why we are allocating more funding to music education programmes—over £400 million between 2016 and 2020—than to any other subject…24 Jun 2019HANSARDEducation: Industrial StrategyMy Lords, I am concerned about funding for further education. I believe that it needs to be a priority in the spending review; I have said that publicly, as recently as last week…24 Jun 2019HANSARDEducation: Industrial StrategyMy Lords, shipbuilding is a long-standing and noble industry in this country, and we will continue to encourage it. However, we are in a globalised world, and it is a priority…24 Jun 2019HANSARDEducation: Industrial StrategyMy Lords, as we place a much greater emphasis on skills and professional technical education, further education colleges have an increasingly key role to play in delivering the…24 Jun 2019HANSARDEducation: Industrial StrategyMy Lords, I recognise the pressures that FE funding is under and we are looking at this carefully ahead of the spending review. Further education is a driver of social mobility,…24 Jun 2019