PSA Annual Conference 2015

Parliaments and Legislatures Specialist Group Panel

“Opposition Members and the Education Select Committee”

J David Morgan (Associate Lecturer, The Open University)

1 Introduction

This Departmental Select Committee was set up in 1979, as the Education, Science and Arts

Committee. It has undergone a number of name changes and variation in responsibilities in

the subsequent thirty-six years, to mirrors changes in the Department itself. The latest change

in name was made on 15th June 2010.1 Rush noted that “the lineage of (the committee) can be

traced back through the Education, Arts and Home Office Sub-Committee of the former

Expenditure Committee to two of the old ‘Crossman committees’ – the Select Committee on

Education and Science, and the much longer-lived Science and Technology Committee.2

It’s responsibilities are governed by Standing Order 152 which states that “Select committees

shall be appointed to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the principal

government departments” (in this case the Department for Education)…and associated

public bodies.”3 The committee has a series of pages on the Parliamentary website.4

During the 2010 Parliament (55th Parliament of the United Kingdom), there have been 19

members who have sat on the 11 member committee.

Member Party Appointed Left Attendance

2010-12 2012-13 2013-14

Graham Stuart Cons

(Chair)

12/07/10 76/76 38/45 41/49

Conor Burns Con 12/07/10 02/11/10 4/9 n/a n/a

Damian Hinds Con 12/07/10 05/11/12 71/76 13/19 n/a

Charlotte Leslie Con 12/07/10 04/11/13 54/76 22/45 4/22

Craig Whittaker Con 12/07/10 59/76 32/45 30/49

Neil Carmichael Con 02/11/10 57/67 36/45 33/49

Chris Skidmore Con 05/11/12 18/03/14 n/a 11/26 14/41

Dominic Raab Con 04/11/13 n/a n/a 17/27

Caroline Nokes Con 18/03/14 n/a n/a 8/8

Tessa Munt LD 12/07/10 11/06/12 64/76 0/3 n/a

1 Standing Orders of the House of Commons: Public Business. 2013 pxvii 2 Rush, Michael ‘The Education, Science and Arts Committee’ in Drewry, Gavin ‘The New Select Committees (2nd Edition) p88 3 Standing Orders of the House of Commons: Public Business. 2013 4 http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/education-committee/

David Ward LD 09/06/12 n/a 39/42 37/49

Nic Dakin Lab 12/07/10 07/11/11 43/51 n/a n/a

Pat Glass Lab 12/07/10 62/76 33/45 34/49

Liz Kendall Lab 12/07/10 02/11/10 6/9 n/a n/a

Ian Mearns Lab 12/07/10 65/76 43/45 34/49

Lisa Nandy Lab 12/07/10 10/09/12 46/76 0/11 n/a

Bill Esterson Lab 02/11/10 25/67 23/45 32/49

Alex Cunningham Lab 07/11/11 17/25 36/45 37/49

Siobhain McDonagh Lab 10/09/12 n/a 26/34 31/49 Table 1 – Membership of Education Select Committee, first three sessions of 2010 Parliament5

During the 2010 Parliament 30 reports were published and 159 oral evidence sessions were

undertaken. Some inquiries lasted many months, whilst some involved only a single hearing.

The committee reported that it had heard from 727 witnesses and received more than 2,300

written submissions. 6

The committee has introduced a number of innovations. It has experimented with Twitter,

with questions tweeted in and then put to the witness.7 In the last session the committee,

“conducted an ‘evidence check’ process where we asked the DfE to set out the evidence base

for a number of its policies and then invited members of the public to comment on this

evidence using a forum which we hosted on the Parliament website. Following these

discussions we focused our attention on two policies, on the National College of Teaching

and Leadership and those relating to school starting age, and held two one-off evidence

sections further to explore the Department's evidence base for its policies.”

2 Purpose of this Study

This study sought to consider how members of the main opposition party carry out their tasks

on the Education Select Committee. In the current context that means the work of the five

current Labour members – Alex Cunningham; Bill Esterson; Pat Glass; Siobhain McDonagh

and Ian Mearns. These five have served together since September 2012.

The research has sought to explain how the backgrounds; networks; and information flows

impact upon the practices and performance of these members.

3 Methodology

Committee meetings take place on a frequent basis. Most commonly the committee will hold

evidence sessions which are open to the public on Wednesday mornings when the House is in

session. There have been additional hearings on other days, and some weeks have not had

5 Sessional Returns 2010-12; 2012-13; 2013-14 6 Closing the gap: the work of the Education Committee in the 2010-15 Parliament. 8th Report of Session 2014-15 HC 1120 (16 Mar 2015) p3 7 See Closing the gap: the work of the Education Committee in the 2010-15 Parliament. 8th Report of Session 2014-15 HC 1120 (16 Mar 2015) p3-4

any hearings. These are frequently preceded by a brief private meeting of the committee.

Other private meetings and seminars have been held.

As part of this research the public meetings of the committee were attended by the author on

15th, 21st , 22nd October; 4th, 5th, 19th November; 10th December[2014] ; 28th January; 11th

February; 11th & 18th March [2015]. Notes were taken and observations made.

Interviews were conducted with three members of the group.

Transcripts of all meetings during the period from 15th October 2014 to 18th March 2015

were acquired.8 Other transcripts outside this period; Final Reports; and Sessional Returns for

the first three sessions (2010-12; 2012-13 and 2013-14) were also acquired and used for

background detail and cross-checking evidence.

For this study the transcripts of the following hearings were analysed. All involved evidence

given to the committee by Department for Education ministers. Analysis of other evidence

sessions is being undertaken for future papers.

Date Witness Inquiry Questions

15/10/14 Nicky Morgan (Secretary of State)

Extremism in Schools (HC 473) 308-471

22/10/14 Nicky Morgan Academies and free schools (HC 258) 1143-1356

3/12/14 Nicky Morgan Examinations for 15-19 year olds in

England: Follow-up (HC 143)

85-233

17/12/14 Nick Gibb Minister of State (Schools

Reform)

Personal, Social, Health & Economic

Education in Schools (HC 145)

389-517

14/01/15 Nick Boles Minister of State (Skills and

Equalities)

Apprenticeships and traineeships for 16-19

year olds (HC 597)

384-484

04/03/15 Nick Gibb Evidence Check: Starting school (HC1039) 80-157

11/03/15 Sam Gyimah Parliamentary Under Secretary

of State (Childcare &

Education)

Foundation Years: Sure Start children’s

centres: follow up (HC 1017)

1-141

Table 2 – Transcripts Analysed

Biographical information was obtained from publicly available information and the members

themselves.

Consideration was given to other related parliamentary activity. The contributions made by

the five opposition members in Chamber debates; Westminster Hall debates; adjournment

debates; and Oral Parliamentary Questions was considered. Hansard was used for this

research.

8 Education Committee website - http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/education-committee/

4 Opposition Members on the Education Select Committee 2014-20159

Alex Cunningham:

First elected in 2010, Alex Cunningham was appointed to the Work and Pensions committee

in his first year. He joined the Education committee in November 2011, replacing Nic Dakin.

He represents the North-eastern seat of Stockton North. Since 2011 he has been PPS to Sadiq

Khan.

Bill Esterson:

Born in 1966, Bill Esterson entered Parliament in 2010 for the Merseyside seat of Sefton

Central. After gaining a degree in Mathematics and Philosophy, he became an accountant. He

was a director of the ‘Leaps and Bounds training consultancy’. Esterson served for fifteen

years on Medway Council before election to Parliament. In addition to his position on the

Education select committee (2nd November 2010 – date) he has served on the Environment,

Food and Rural Affairs committee (12th July 2010 – 27th June 2011) and the Communities

and Local Government select committee (7th November 2011 - 25th February 2013). The

Times Guide to the House of Commons 2010 describes him as “passionate about education

and children’s services.”

Pat Glass:

After a career in education, Pat Glass was elected to the House of Commons in 2010 for the

North-eastern seat of Durham North West. There are less than 20 miles between her

constituency and that of Alex Cunningham, whereas her constituency is barely five miles

from Ian Mearns’. Her experience in education is described later in this paper.

Siobhain McDonagh:

Elder sister of Margaret McDonagh, a former General Secretary of the Labour Party and now

a working peer. Siobhain McDonagh gained a degree in politics before working for the

DHSS then Wandsworth Council. She specialised in Housing before being elected to

Parliament in 1997. She is the only Labour member of the Education Select Committee not in

her first parliamentary term. She was an Assistant Government Whip from 2007-08.

Ian Mearns:

Elected to Parliament for Gateshead in 2010, after 27 years as a local councillor. He was a

member of the North East Assembly. An experienced school governor (Chair of governors at

9 Biographical data from Who’s Who: The Times Guide to the House of Commons 2010; UK Parliament website: websites of the MPs; and interviews with the MPs.

a comprehensive school for 10 years; a primary school for 2 years and 10 years at a special

school for children with moderate learning difficulties.) He was awarded a distinction as

runner-up in the National DFES Teaching awards “Governor of the Year” category for the

North East & Cumbria 2007.

5 Main Findings

(1) Attendance and Questions Asked

At these seven hearings, the attendance record lists members who was present for all, or

some, of each hearing.

The number of questions asked has a weakness, in that the question numbers recorded in the

transcripts do not distinguish between true questions and comments, and so this might be

better worded as interventions. However no distinction is made between a brief pleasantry

and an involved question. Furthermore a question number in the transcript can include one or

more other interventions. Finally, this is purely quantitative and does not indicate the relative

quality of each intervention.

Name Party Attendance Questions

Alex Cunningham Lab 7 128

Pat Glass Lab 7 211

David Ward LD 7 99

Graham Stuart Con 6 201

Siobhain McDonagh Lab 6 38

Bill Esterson Lab 5 93

Caroline Nokes Con 5 40

Neil Carmichael Con 3 35

Ian Mearns Lab 3 46

Dominic Raab Con 3 42

Craig Whittaker Con 3 34 Table 3 - Attendance and Questions Asked

(2) Sources

Transcripts of the seven hearings were analysed and eleven categories were identified. In

most cases it was clear what source was used. In others it was less clear. An attempt was

made to identify the original source when there was a possibility it might have been earlier

written or oral evidence given to the committee. This was not always possible, and it may be

that some information contained in this analysis as “G – Reference to material the Member

has seen” may actually be better reallocated to categories B, F, or H.

Cat Cu

nn

ing

ham

Esterso

n

Glass

McD

on

agh

Mearn

s

To

tal

%

A – Personal Experience 14 14 10.29

B – Issue raised with the MP 1 2 3 1 7 5.15

C – Local information 2 1 1 4 2.94

D – Visit by the MP 1 2 3 2.21

E – Media article 1 1 2 1.47

F – Earlier evidence taken by the

Committee

10 8 32 4 7 61 44.85

G – Material seen by the MP 1 3 4 8 5.88

H – Earlier Report by Committee or

observations made during an earlier

hearing

7 7 5.15

I – Issue raised within the House of

Commons

3 2 5 3.68

J – Ministerial Communication with MP 1 1 3 2 1.47

K – “Other people have said” 5 5 10 23 16.91 Table 4 – Use of sources in questions

A Personal experience

Previous professional experience can inform an MP’s understanding of an issue and impact

upon the questions asked. On the Education Committee Pat Glass has had a 25 year career in

“Education”10, and was Assistant Director of Education in both Sunderland (2004-06) and

Greenwich (2006-08). She became a Government Adviser on Special Educational Needs for

the Yorkshire and Humber region (2009-10).11 Her experience is frequently brought to bear

on her work on the committee, and fourteen specific examples of reference to her experience

were found. Expressing her concern to the Secretary of State about an apparent lack of

urgency she stated, “Part of my role before I was a Member of Parliament was as that person

who went into a local authority or a school that was failing, and I was expected to have a plan

in place very quickly. Some places I went were so dangerous that I had a plan to say, ‘This

will happen by the end of today.’ There just does not seem to be that kind of urgency around

this at all.”12 She stated in an exchange over an issue which the committee raised a number of

times in its hearings that “As a person who has been through these things, I know that unless

you go into the heart of the organisation and you see the people who are there and you see

how it is run you and you open up the books and you see the whole thing, Ofsted have no

idea what is happening”13 Her contacts in education have also been cited in her questions.14

Her experience with mathematics informed her comment about why some pupils do not go on

10 Website of Pat Glass MP: http://www.patglassmp.org.uk/ 11 Who’s Who: http://www.ukwhoswho.com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U251543 12 Q364 Oral evidence: Extremism in schools, HC 473 15th October 2014 13 Q415 Oral evidence: Extremism in schools, HC 473 15th October 2014 14 See Q445 Oral evidence: Extremism in schools, HC 473 15th October 2014; Q1187 Oral evidence: Academies and free schools, HC 258 22nd October 2014

to study the subject at A-level.15 She advised the Minister of State for School Reform, after it

transpired that the vast majority of schools had failed to open a specific DfE email, “Perhaps

you should put either ‘Ofsted’ or ‘funding’ in the title, because my experience is that head

teachers will always open those emails”16

No other members mentioned their experience in questions, but Cunningham, Esterson, and

Mearns have 60 years of experience between them on local authorities.17 Cunningham spent

10 years as vice-chair of the Education Committee of the Stockton on Tees (Unitary)

Borough Council.18 Cunningham’s professional background was a journalist, which he has

said helped him to develop the essential skill of posing forensic questions.19

Members also have their own experiences as pupils; students and parents.

B Issue raised with an MP

The study confirmed the frequently made assertion that MPs use their “Constituency Service”

to inform their parliamentary activities. Glass told the Secretary of State that “parents came to

see me quite a lot” about concerns or complaints they had relating to academies.20 Glass also

mentioned conversations with Headteachers.21 Mearns made a point that on one subject he

had never had any correspondence on the issue.22

This category includes matters raised by constituents, and by others who have raised the issue

with the member because of their expertise and membership of the Education committee.

Cunningham posed a specific question which the British Heart Foundation had asked him to

put to the Minister.23

C Local Information

Related to the previous category is information from the local area of the MP’s constituency.

Five examples were found in the seven hearings covered. They related to schools or the local

council.

15 Q191 Oral evidence: Examinations for 15-19 year olds in England: follow-up, HC 143 3rd December 2014 16 Q408 Oral evidence: Personal, Social, Health & Economic Education and Sex & Relationships Education in Schools, HC 145 17th December 2014 17 Who’s Who: http://www.ukwhoswho.com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U251497; http://www.ukwhoswho.com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U251540; http://www.ukwhoswho.com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U251592 18 Interview with Alex Cunningham 19 Interview with Alex Cunningham 20 Q396 Oral evidence: Extremism in schools, HC 473 15th October 2014 21 Q415 Oral evidence: Evidence Check: Starting school, HC 1039 4th March 2015 22 Q473 Oral evidence: PSHE and SRE in Schools, HC 145 17th December 2014 23 Q508 Oral evidence: PSHE and SRE in Schools, HC 145 17th December 2014

D Visit by an MP

Inquiries covered by this study have included committee visits to the United States (Boston,

New Orleans)24, Bristol,25 and Hull.26 The committee in its review of the 2010 Parliament

noted “Our international visits…have enabled us to learn from some of the best schools

systems around the world, and helped us to evaluate the validity of the Department’s frequent

use of international comparisons. We were conscious of the danger of becoming

Westminster-centric and have visited or taken evidence around the country as much as

possible.”27

That evidence though properly belongs in Category F (Earlier evidence taken by the

committee). This category covers visits by single MPs on visits not undertaken on behalf of

the committee. The three instances found were to the Rachel Keeling Nursery School,

Bethnal Green28; a village school (unspecified)29 and to Germany30.

One member stated that they spent a lot of time in schools talking to Heads; teachers and they

were also in regular contact with a local youth forum.31

E Media Article

Articles in newspapers and journals were an occasional source quoted in a question. Two

examples were found in these hearings, but they have also been noted in other hearings held

by the committee.

F Earlier evidence taken by the committee

The largest number of references related to evidence from other witnesses in earlier hearings,

both in the same inquiry and in other inquiries. This was not unexpected, as one of the key

functions of a hearing is for members to compare and test the different evidence which is

presented to them. Questions which relate to written evidence submitted by the witness (or

their organisation) have not been included.

It would be expected that the volume of questions involving earlier evidence would be higher

for Ministerial sessions. Five of the hearings were the final hearing of the relevant inquiry,

whilst the other two were one-off sessions. Ministers were invited to comment upon specific

evidence presented, or respond to concerns expressed.

24 Academies and free schools. 4th Report of Session 2014-15 HC 258 (27 Jan 2015) pp72-73 25 Life lessons: PSHE and SRE in schools 5th Report of Session 2014-15 HC 145 (17 Feb 2015) p58 26 Academies and free schools. 4th Report of Session 2014-15 HC 258 (27 January 2015) p74 27 Closing the gap: the work of the Education Committee in the 2010-15 Parliament. 8th Report of Session 2014-15 HC 1120 (16 Mar 2015) p4 28 Q108 Oral evidence: Foundation Years: Sure Start children’s centres: follow-up, HC 1017 11th March 2015 29 Q129 Oral evidence: Foundation Years: Sure Start children’s centres: follow-up, HC 1017 11th March 2015 30 Q418 Oral Evidence: Apprenticeships and traineeships for 16-19 year olds, HC 597 14th January 2015 31 Interview with member of the committee (October 2014)

G Reference to material the Member has seen

Material for questions which did not relate to evidence presented to the committee directly

came from a number of sources. Ofsted and DfE documents and website materials could

provide a significant sub-category.32

Other sources included reports about the closure of a specific failing school and its re-

opening with the same head and pupils in the same location, which would not need to be re-

inspected for four years33, an exchange of letters between the Secretary of State and Ofqual.34

Two members of the group confirmed that they received a regular supply of articles from

constituents; interest groups and others.35

H Earlier Reports of the committee; or observations during earlier hearings

This category only appears at two hearings. Both were follow ups to earlier reports so the

presence of this category is unsurprising.

I Issue raised in another forum within the House of Commons

A later section of this report will consider how committee activity informs other work in the

House of Commons. It is however a two way process, and Ministerial statements provided

the source for two questions36; Oral Parliamentary questions provided one37; there was

reference to the passage of the Education Bill in 201038 and a Public Account Committee

report provided the other one39.

J Ministerial Correspondence with member

Two instances were found of reference to correspondence between the MP questioning and a

Minister. This should be distinguished from ministerial correspondence to the committee.

32 See Oral Evidence (Op Cit) Qs 1272, 1326 22nd October; Q 104 3rd December; Q429 17th December. 33 Q1227 Oral evidence: Academies and free schools, HC 258 22nd October 2014 34 Q91 Oral evidence: Examinations for 15-19 year olds in England: follow-up, HC 143 3rd December 2014 35 Interviews with Members of the committee 36 Q332 Oral evidence: Extremism in schools, HC 473 15th October 2014 : Q1205 Oral evidence: Academies and free schools, HC 258 22nd October 2014 37 Q420 Oral evidence: Extremism in schools, HC 473 15th October 2014 38 Q509 Oral evidence: PSHE and SRE in Schools, HC 145 17th December 2014 39 Q1351 Oral evidence: Academies and free schools, HC 258 22nd October 2014

K Other people have said

This category covers attributed and non-attributed comments by third parties. It includes

some comments which arose in oral, and particularly written evidence. As noted above, it

might include material which should be classified as Earlier evidence to the committee.

The committee uses specialist advisers. They can seen at committee hearings, but advise the

committee only in private sessions. Lists of advisers can be found in the sessional returns,

and in individual committee reports.

(3) Involvement in other parliamentary activities

The House of Commons offers a number of opportunities outside the committee to discuss

education matters. Members of the committee make frequent use of these – which include –

(Oral) Parliamentary Questions - Education (Oral) Parliamentary Questions – Other

departments and Prime Ministers Questions

Legislative Debates Opposition debates

Backbench Debates Adjournment Debates

Estimates Debates Ministerial Statements

10 Minute Rule Bills

Table 5 – Other fora for raising education issues.

Oral Parliamentary Questions (PQs) are held at the start of business on Mondays, Tuesdays,

Wednesdays and Thursdays40 when Parliament is sitting, with the exception of the first days

of a session. Questions to the Secretary of State for Education are currently taken on

Mondays, every five parliamentary weeks. Of the four Education PQs in the period of this

study – (27th October; 1st December; 19th January; and 2nd March) there were three

interventions by Labour members of the Education committee. On both 1st December and 2nd

March Esterson was able to ask a supplementary41; while on 1st December Cunningham

asked a ‘topical question’42. Cunningham was able to ask a question at Prime Minister’s

Questions on 10th October.43 He also asked a question on youth unemployment in Northern

Ireland at PQs for Northern Ireland.44 Esterson has asked a question in Health PQs related to

a point he made about an Education Select Committee inquiry a few days previously.45 He

has also put a question about online child abuse at Home Office PQs.46

40 Standing Orders of the House of Commons: Public Business. 2013 Standing Order 21 41 1st December 2014 HANSARD HC DEB 1 DEC 2014 Series 6. Vol 589. No. 71 Col 10. 2nd March 2015 HANSARD HC DEB 2

MAR 2015 Series 6. Vol 593. No. 116 Col 663. 42 1st December 2014 HANSARD HC DEB 1 DEC 2014 Series 6. Vol 589. No. 71 Col 19. 43 10th September 2014 HANSARD HC DEB 10 SEP 2014 Series 6. Vol 585. No. 36 Col 907. 44 28th January 2015 HANSARD HC DEB 28 JAN 2015 Series 6. Vol 591. No. 101 Col 847 45 21st October 2014 HANSARD HC DEB 21 OCT 2014 Series 6. Vol 586. No. 46 Col 752. 46 17th November 2014 HANSARD HC DEB 17 NOV 2014 Series 6. Vol 588. No. 61 Col 9.

Legislative debates, in which a bill passes through the various stages in the House of

Commons, do present an opportunity for select committee members to make a contribution in

the Chamber at various stages (or if selected to sit on the Public Bill Committee) in

committee. There has been no Education bill before the House of Commons in the period of

this study.

The Opposition parties are allocated “Opposition Day debates” in accordance with Standing

Order 1447. The House of Commons Library occasionally issues standard notes listing the

subject of these debates.48 Glass and Esterson participated in the debate on Infant class

sizes.49 Esterson intervened in the opposition debate on Apprenticeships.50

Backbench debates have given backbenchers (which select committee members traditionally

are), an opportunity to discuss matters of concern to them. The Backbench Committee

website states “The House of Commons Backbench Business Committee has a limited

allocation of time outside Government control in which it can schedule subjects for debate

suggested by backbench Members of Parliament.

The Committee can consider any subject for debate. This includes subjects raised in national

or local campaigns, reports by select committees and other groups and issues suggested by

constituents, including by people who have signed an e-petition or a traditional paper

petition (there is no restriction on the number of signatures required).” 51

The debate on “Young People in care” was requested by the committee and the motion which

stood in the name of the Chairman and other members of the committee said “That this

House notes the Second Report from the Education Committee, Into independence, not out of

care: 16 plus care options, HC 259, and the Government’s response, HC 647; welcomes the

progress made and the commitment to improve the care provided to these vulnerable young

people shown in the Government’s response; regrets that the Government has not gone

further by exploring with local authorities how to ban the use of bed-and-breakfast

accommodation for this age group and by moving to inspect and regulate all accommodation

provided to children in care; and calls on the Government to do all it can to improve the

accommodation and care given to these young people.” Esterson, Cunningham and Glass all

made speeches and further interventions.52

Adjournment debates offer individual MPs an opportunity to raise an issue of concern. The

most well-known are the half hour debates at the end of the parliamentary day. These are

47 Standing Orders of the House of Commons: Public Business. 2013 Standing Order 14 48 House of Commons Library: Opposition Day debates: 2010-present. HoC Standard Note SN/PC/06315 (2nd December 2014) 49 3rd September 2014 HANSARD HC DEB 3 SEP 2014 Series 6. Vol 585. No. 31 Cols 352, 357, 361, 392. 50 4th February 2015 HANSARD HC DEB 4 FEB 2015 Series 6. Vol 592. No. 105 Cols 315, 322, 331, 51 http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/backbench-business-committee/how-the-backbench-business-committee-works/ 52 27th January 2015 HANSARD HC DEB 27 JAN 2015 Series 6. Vol 591. No. 10 Cols 799- 829 (speeches by Esterson Cols 802-805; Cunningham Cols 808-812; Glass Cols 812-814)

described in Dod’s Handbook of House of Commons Procedure.53 The debate on Durham

Free School on 27th January 2015 involved contributions from Glass and Cunningham.54

A particular form of adjournment debates are those debates normally held in a room adjacent

to Westminster Hall. These have become known as “Westminster Hall debates”. Labour

members have contributed to the debates on Adult Learning55; Nursery Schools56; Foetal

Alcohol Syndrome57; Education for young people with disabilities58; Youth Service

Provision59; Ofsted60; and Homeless young people61.

“The House of Commons sets aside three days during each year to consider the estimates of

public spending by government departments. In practice the topic of debate on these

'estimates days' is chosen by the Liaison Committee who nominate a recent report by a

departmental select committee that in turn relates to a particular estimate.”62 Ian Mearns

intervened in an Estimates debate on Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services63 to

highlight an issue that Glass had raised in a Ministerial Statement where she had mentioned

relevant work done by the Education Committee64.

After question time Ministerial Statements may be made. These can be initiated by the

Government or are a response to an urgent question65. A period of time for questions in

response is allowed. While this is often dominated by the main spokespersons and senior

MPs, select committee members may also be called. During the period studied Labour

members of the Education select committee intervened in ministerial statements on Child Sex

Abuse (Rotherham)66; Preparing Young People for Work67; Birmingham Schools (The Trojan

53 Evans, Paul (2009) Dod’s Handbook of House of Commons Procedure 7th Edition. London: Dods. 7.12 p76-77 54 27th January 2015 HANSARD HC DEB 27 JAN 2015 Series 6. Vol 591. No. 10 Cols 830-838 55 3rd September 2014 HANSARD HC DEB 3 SEP 2014 Series 6. Vol 585. No. 31 Cols 111WH-135WH (Glass Cols 118WH-120WH, 131WH) 56 9th September 2014 HANSARD HC DEB 9 SEP 2014 Series 6. Vol 585. No. 35 Cols 215WH-234WH (Glass Cols 215WH-221; 231WH; 234WH; Cunningham Cols 215WH-216WH; 225WH; 228WH; 230WH; Esterson Cols 217WH; 222WH; 224WH; 230WH; 57 14th October 2014 HANSARD HC DEB 14 OCT 2014 Series 6. Vol 586. No. 41 Cols 24WH-48WH (Esterson Cols 24WH-29WH; 34WH; 46WH; 47WH) 58 28th October 2014 HANSARD HC DEB 28 OCT 2014 Series 6. Vol 587. No. 51 Cols 22WH-37WH (Glass Cols 27WH-29WH) 59 3rd December 2014 HANSARD HC DEB 3 DEC 2014 Series 6. Vol 589. No. 73 Cols 149WH-173WH (Cunningham Cols 149WH-155WH; 156WH; 159WH; 162WH-163WH; 164WH; 166WH; 173WH; Esterson Cols 150WH; 153WH; 160WH; 165WH) 60 10th December 2014 HANSARD HC DEB 10 DEC 2014 Series 6. Vol 589. No. 78 Cols 323WH-343WH (Esterson Cols 325WH-326WH) 61 21st January 2015 HANSARD HC DEB 21 JAN 2015 Series 6. Vol 591. No. 96 Cols 108WH-130WH (Cunningham Cols 109WH) 62 http://www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/estimates-day/ 63 3rd March 2015 HANSARD HC DEB 3 MAR 2015 Series 6. Vol 593. No. 117 Col 913 64 2nd February 2015 HANSARD HC DEB 2 FEB 2015 Series 6. Vol 592. No. 103 Col 34 65 Standing Orders of the House of Commons: Public Business. 2013 Standing Order 21(2) 66 2nd September 2014 HANSARD HC DEB 2 SEP 2014 Series 6. Vol 585. No. 30 Col 183 67 10th December 2014 HANSARD HC DEB 10 DEC 2014 Series 6. Vol 589. No. 78 Col 895

Horse affair)68; Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services69; Child Sexual Exploitation

(Oxfordshire)70

Other opportunities could be given by “Ten Minute Rule Bills”. “Bills introduced under the

ten-minute rule are one of the ways in which backbench MPs (private Members) can

introduce legislation. However, the process is used more as a means of making a point on the

need to change the law on a particular subject as there is little parliamentary time

available. They mainly provide the opportunity for MPs to test Parliament's opinion on a

particular subject. The ten minute rule allows a brief introductory speech of no more than ten

minutes and one of the same length opposing the motion to be made in the House of

Commons after question time on Tuesdays and Wednesdays when the House is likely to be

full ”71 No instances were found of use by committee members in the study period.

The following table sets out a list of occasions when the committee and its work were

specifically mentioned by Labour members of the committee.

Date Speaker(s) Forum

02/09/14 Esterson Ministerial Statement

03/09/14 Esterson; Glass Opposition Debate

09/09/14 Esterson; Glass WH Debate

14/10/14 Esterson WH Debate

28/10/14 Glass WH Debate

17/11/14 Esterson Home Office PQs

03/12/14 Cunningham WH Debate

10/12/14 Esterson Ministerial Statement

27/01/15 Cunningham; Esterson; Glass Backbench Debate

27/01/15 Cunningham; Glass Adjournment Debate

29/01/15 Glass Ministerial Statement

02/02/15 Glass Ministerial Statement

03/03/15 Esterson Ministerial Statement Table 6 – specific mentions of Education Select Committee

6 Conclusions

In an interview with one of the Labour members of the committee, the role of members was

described as “challenging..holding the government to account”…in areas that “nobody else

was looking at.”72 The analysis in this report found that 53.4% of questions come from the

opposition members.

While ideological differences exist, the committee works together across party lines. Some of

the more dramatic moments have come when Conservative members have clashed with

Ministers of their own party.

68 29th January 2015 HANSARD HC DEB 29 JAN 2015 Series 6. Vol 591. No. 102 Col 1023 69 2nd February 2015 HANSARD HC DEB 2 FEB 2015 Series 6. Vol 592. No. 103 Col 34 70 3rd March 2015 HANSARD HC DEB 3 MAR 2015 Series 6. Vol 593. No. 117 Col 822 71 http://www.parliament.uk/site-information/glossary/ten-minute-rule-bill/ 72 Interview with member of the committee (October 2014)

It is intended to take this research further, and a similar analysis applied to non-ministerial

hearings.

J David Morgan

jdavidmorgan@googlemail.com