26 October 2006
Speech at NLGN Conference
Jim Knight MP

Good morning. It’s a big day for local Government with the launch of the White Paper. I hope when you have a chance to read and reflect on it, that you will find some really positive proposals that will help you in your work.

Today I will try to offer you some clarity and reassurance. The Education and Inspections Bill isn’t about piling more work onto Local Authorities. But it does require them to work differently. Today I’d like to talk about some of those important differences.

Of course, this isn’t a brave new world that we have never encountered before. Many Local Authorities are well advanced in strategic commissioning for children’s services. This is having a tangible impact in delivery.

Services are working together more effectively, improving children’s lives. With strategic commissioning for schools, the starting point is the same. It means putting the needs of children and families first, and building the system around those needs.

Just as in commissioning for children’s services, the Every Child Matters outcomes must be embedded in the whole commissioning cycle. This change in mindset, attitude and culture is driving the improvements in children’s services and will work equally well for schools.

Local Authorities will be able to draw on their experiences of children’s services, applying the lessons they have already learned and adapting them to work in commissioning schools.

On the other hand, commissioning within the schools sector poses its own unique challenges.
There are no formal contracts between Local Authorities and schools. There are also practical issues to be overcome. Perhaps there aren’t many potential new providers in your area. Perhaps there are constraints on the land and buildings available, making flexibility difficult.

I don’t underestimate the scale of these challenges, but I do think the important thing is to roll up our sleeves and address them with verve and determination. That’s why the Education and Inspections Bill empowers Local Authorities to act decisively in the best interests of children and families.

Perhaps most importantly, Local Authorities will have a duty to help every child reach their potential. This duty enshrines in legislation the principle that I have been talking about. That it is individual children who should be central to all our thinking, our work, and our systems. And that no child should be overlooked.
Other duties – to promote diversity, to respond to parental demand, and to secure fair access – will all contribute to this overarching objective.

So what is it, exactly, that Local Authorities will be doing differently? What will it require to help every child reach their potential? How can we ensure that greater choice doesn’t mean greater inequality?

Local Authorities will be the champions for children, the fighters for families in their areas. But that means taking a step back from schools in order to stand up for families.

Of course, positive and productive relationships between schools and Local Authorities are absolutely essential. But, Local Authorities have also got to be able to challenge schools to raise their game when they need to.

That means creating more breathing space between Local Authorities and schools, by encouraging more self-reliance and self-governance. This will help to give schools the greater freedom they need to innovate and shape their own identity. And in turn, this will deliver the diversity that parents want.

And where there is a history of low expectation and a culture of low achievement, we expect Local Authorities to take a very active role in working to turn this around, raising aspiration and attainment.

We want to see more rapid interventions where there are warning signs of weakness. Nor should Local Authorities be afraid of taking radical action where necessary. Coasting schools blight prospects, and poor schools damage lives. We must not tolerate either.

Secondly, for Local Authorities to deliver what parents want, it’s important to really listen to them and find out exactly what they do want. That means getting more and better evidence about the views and needs of parents. More importantly, it means acting on what parents want.

Sometimes what they want may seem like a pipe dream. The instinctive response may be to see the obstacles rather than the opportunities. But we are looking for original ideas from all our partners, including parents, who after all, are best placed to know what their children need.

Crucially, Local Authorities will need to seek out the views of all parents – not simply those who shout the loudest. Of course, those parents who may hold back are the ones who are most often ignored or disregarded. But their voices must be listened to, respected and acted upon if we are to create a school system that works for everyone.

Not all those parents are going to want the same thing. And that is where Local Authorities have such an important role, enabling diversity to flourish, so that parents have a real choice.

Choice is not just an end in itself. It has a tangible impact on standards. Without choice, there can only be inertia, uniformity and stagnation. The whole thrust of public sector reform in this country is about empowering users by putting power in their hands. Education is no different – in fact it may be more important here than anywhere else.

Because choice leads to diversity, discovery and improvements in delivery. It puts pressure on all schools to raise their game – whether they have serious problems or are just comfortably coasting.

There are still those who see choice as sinister and cynical.
They worry only better-off parents are able to take advantage of greater choice. Or even worse, that it actually means greater choice for schools to cherry-pick the best and brightest. So those who would benefit most from greater choice could continue to be excluded.

Local Authorities have an absolutely vital role in ensuring that this doesn’t happen. Not only is there a new duty to promote fair access – but there are also new tools to help prevent inequity, such as the more robust admissions code, and new transport arrangements.

Together, I think this duty and these practical measures will deliver the right balance between the choice that parents want and the equal chances that they deserve.

I also want to stress that greater choice doesn’t mean cut-throat competition, with schools trampling all over each other in the scramble to attract parents.
In fact, schools do best when they look beyond the school gates and collaborate with others – whether businesses, community groups or other schools.

The experience of Excellence in Cities demonstrates the power of collaboration, how it can make a difference in the most disadvantaged areas. We are now using that experience to tackle different problems and raise standards across the board. From behaviour partnerships to federations and education improvement partnerships.

Greater collaboration will be essential to deliver some of our boldest programmes – Every Child Matters and the fourteen to nineteen reforms.

Your own experience of Every Child Matters will leave you in no doubt that it only makes a difference where people think differently.

Are more open to working with others. Put the needs of child first and the boundaries of the service second.

Although of course they are far less advanced, the fourteen to nineteen reforms require an equally ambitious degree of collaboration. Every single young person will have an entitlement to study from any one of the new diplomas. But they are vastly different, and no single school will be able to deliver every single diploma.

Schools and colleges will have to work together, building on their own strengths. There will be really practical challenges here, but the pathfinders show that it can be done. And it must be done if we are to offer young people the breadth and quality of education they deserve.

Finally, Local Authorities will be taking crucial decisions about the mix of schools that will work in their area.

A mix that will meet parental aspirations and raise attainment. Where not every school offers every single course imaginable. But where every school plays to their strengths, and collaborates with others to share those strengths. The new mix will often mean more Academies, more foundation schools and perhaps more faith schools too, alongside the new Trust schools.

These decisions won’t be easy, but can’t be shirked. If we are serious about raising standards, we mustn’t be afraid to look for fresh ideas, new perspectives, creative approaches. Collaboration doesn’t mean schools closing ranks with each other. It also means looking to other partners, whether from business or the community for the inspiration that they need to innovate.

So Local Authorities have got to make sure that new providers are really encouraged to come forward in competitions for new schools.
And they must also support existing schools to make their own tricky decisions. Schools will be thinking about Trust status, or federating with others, and they will need support from Local Authorities to make it work.

Some Local Authorities are already a long way down this road and are coming up with positive results.

In embracing the new strategic role, Devon has found schools have responded with an entrepreneurial spirit, bidding to run children’s centres so that they can benefit their wider community as well as their pupils. Six schools are also working as Trust pathfinders, looking at the issues which Trust status raises in rural areas.

Nottingham is encouraging schools to take on more responsibility and support each other through clustering and sharing training.

And in Brent, all schools are now characterised by self-governance, either voluntary aided, foundation or Academies. But independence hasn’t lead to isolation - they are developing a fruitful partnership based on their experiences of Excellence in Cities.

We in central Government need to learn from those experiences to make it easier for others to follow. The report “Schools of Thought” launched by the New Local Government Network yesterday is a timely examination of some of the issues thrown up by your experiences.

What I found really positive is the way that Local Authorities are focussing on the whole child, the journey they go on, and the support they need. This is exactly the kind of approach that is needed – the approach that makes sense - understanding the child’s perspective, experience and needs.

What is also very positive is the way that many Local Authorities are starting to feel confident in this new role. They are already making the connections with children’s services that I was talking about before, and successfully adapting their experiences to work in the schools sector.

But of course, it’s very early days. And the report sheds light on where we need to do some more thinking if this is to really work. There is one issue that already stands out for me. That is the stark statement that this won’t work unless we work together.

I could wax lyrical about the importance of partnership between schools, businesses and community groups for hours. But the fact is that partnership between central and local government is going to be equally important if we are going to get the framework right.

That is why I’m pleased to announce today that we will be working closely with several Local Authorities from across the country to directly address some of the thorniest issues you are coming up against.

These Authorities are already doing a lot of things very well, but are also grappling with difficult questions and complex solutions. In working with them, we can iron out these problems together, helping us to fine tune the policies, and sharing their stories and solutions so that you will all benefit. I’m very grateful to those Authorities for agreeing to work with us.

I hope I’ve shown this morning commissioning isn’t just about lofty targets, bureaucratic processes and decisions far removed from reality. It’s about getting the system right so that children can flourish. This is a vital role that Local Authorities undertake and I am very grateful for your efforts. Thank you very much.