Speeches by O'Brien.

“To answer the question that the hon. Member for Derby North asked directly, subsection (2)(b) says the policy “is to be implemented as the relevant school leader considers appropriate.” I think this is—”

“The hon. Member is in danger of literally saying it is too expensive to get to the truth. He just said that the cost of a national inquiry was the obstacle to having one. I really hope that he will rethink that point.”

“I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time. Around my constituency, we have seen the closure of a couple of local independent schools, which have blamed the decision to introduce VAT. This will mean more people looking for places in local state schools that are already oversubscribed and, in turn, fewer peopl…”

“I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.”

“Will the hon. Lady give way?”

“The new clause is based on calls by victims for a national inquiry; I was about to come to that point. Having a proper national inquiry does not stop us from getting on and implementing any of the recommendations in the previous report. Indeed, awareness raising was one of the recommendations that was made. Without a n…”

“This is a very positive moment. Will the Minister commit to continuing that survey, which is, as he says, so important?”

“We have a run of new clauses here—49, 50 and 51—and I will speak about them at the appropriate moment. I will not move new clause 50 in the interests of time. During lockdown a lot of parents, including me, gained an even greater respect for the teaching profession, yet we do not treat teachers like other professionals…”

“I pay tribute to the Minister for the reasonable way in which we have conducted this important debate. We have a huge disagreement with clause 50, which we think is a major mistake. We also have concerns about the process. We believe that it is better for this House to debate these big issues about what fairness is and…”

“Of course it is not. This is stupid. It affects the entire country.”

“Harborough, Oadby and Wigston. “Harborough” is fine.”

“I am extremely grateful to the Minister for her offer to write on this point. To avoid disturbing her flow any further, can I ask her to explain something? If a school is not happy with the decision of the adjudicator on its PAN, what will the appeal process look like for that school?”

“The Minister says that the Secretary of State can shut schools in other ways. The schools authority, under this law, will have the power to set a PAN to zero. I did not hear the Minister say that, according to guidance, that should not happen. Will she say that now?”

“Of course it is a new power.”

“No!”

“I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Amendment proposed: 48, in clause 51, page 112, line 4, at end insert— “(5) After section 7A (withdrawal of notices under section 7), insert— ‘7B New schools to allocate no more than half of pupil places on basis of faith A new school for whi…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Christopher. I will begin by asking a question up front, so that the Minister has time to confer with officials if she needs to in order to reply. We learned during the debate on clause 50 that, as well as existing schools, local authorities will be able to go to t…”

“If I can put it in my words, there is nothing in the Bill to stop the local authority applying to the adjudicator to stop the first year PAN of a new school. If I say, “I want to open my new school and the PAN is going to be X,” the local authority could say, “No, I think it should be half of X.” There is nothing to st…”

“I rise to speak only to clause 56, which is a big old Henry VIII power. I am sure that their lordships will want to explore it in detail. In the interests of time, I have not tabled an amendment to it at this stage and I will not go into lots of detail, but it is always important to note such things. It is no small thi…”

“I beg to move amendment 85, in clause 51, page 111, line 7, after “authorities” insert “, including academy trusts,”.”