Education Committee to question Secretary of State on new Education White Paper

The House of Commons Education Select Committee will hold an oral evidence session with Rt Hon Nicky Morgan MP, Secretary of State for Education, on Wednesday 27 April 2016. Continuing its scrutiny of The responsibilities of the Secretary of State for Education, the Committee will ask the Secretary of State questions on a number of issues, including the Department’s new White Paper Educational Excellence Everywhere, which was launched alongside the Budget earlier in the month.

The White Paper sets out the Government’s plans across seven key areas: 

• The teaching profession
• School leadership
• Academy status
• School improvement
• The national curriculum
• Governance and accountability
• School funding

Neil Carmichael MP, Chair of the Education Committee, said:

“Last week’s Budget and White Paper put education firmly at the heart of the Government’s agenda. As a Committee, we are determined to take a close eye to the Government’s latest proposals education policies and this session provides an early opportunity for us to press the Secretary of State on her plans for all schools become academies by 2022. We will also want to pick up on a number of other significant challenges to the success of our education system today, including issues relating to teacher supply, school leadership, and school funding.”

This session will be the first step in the Committee’s scrutiny of the Government’s plans, several of which are closely linked to the Committee’s current inquiries. There are two petitions standing with over 100,000 signatures each on Parliament’s petitions website on the question of academy conversions.