3.4 Privatisation

One of the earliest indications of the enthusiasm of New Labour for privatisation of the education service was the setting up of Education Action Zones (EAZs). These consisted of clusters of schools in deprived areas working together, with government grants and sponsorship from local businesses, and assuming some of the functions of the LEA. Schools in EAZs were allowed to dispense with the National Curriculum and were encouraged to innovate.

Blunkett announced the first 25 EAZs in June 1998 and the first twelve of these started work in September 1998 with sponsorship from Blackburn Rovers, Cadbury Schweppes, Nissan, Rolls Royce, Kelloggs, British Aerospace, Tate and Lyle, American Express and Brittany Ferries.

But the government's enthusiasm for EAZs was short-lived. In March 1999 it began the much larger Excellence in Cities (EiC) initiative, a three year programme to improve the education of inner city children. The aim was to drive up standards to match those found in the best schools - now to be designated 'beacon schools'. Unlike the EAZs, EiC operated through the traditional channels of Whitehall, LEA and school.

3.5 The Education Acts 1998- 2000

1998 Education (Student Loans) Act

The Education (Student Loans) Act (27 January 1988) transferred student loans to the private sector.

1998 Teaching and Higher Education Act

The Teaching and Higher Education Act (16 July 1988) established the General Teaching Council (GTC) and a similar body for Wales , allowed the secretary of state to make regulations concerning the induction period for teachers , extended the duties of HM Chief Inspector to include teacher training and in-service courses, and provided for new rules relating to student maintenance grants and loans.

2000 Learning and Skills Act

The Learning and Skills Act (28 July 2000) established the Learning and Skills Council for England and the National Council for Education and Training for Wales . It set up the Adult Learning Inspectorate and extended the powers of HM Chief Inspector to include further education for 16-19 year olds . It allowed city technology colleges to be renamed city academies and made other provisions about education and training.

3.6 Diversity and faith

With the Tories still in meltdown mode, New Labour won another landslide victory in the general election in June 2001. A Commons majority of 166 - only slightly less than in 1997 - meant that Tony Blair could push further his right-wing educational agenda without worrying too much about the views of his left-wing backbenchers.

The two main themes of his first term - an increase in selection under the guise of specialisation, and the promotion of privatisation - would be taken further in his second term and would be joined by a third theme - a determination to increase the involvement of the churches and other religious groups in educational provision.

Following the election, Estelle Morris took over from David Blunkett as Secretary of State and the DfEE (Department for Education and Employment) was renamed the DfES (Department for Education and Skills).

2001 White Paper Schools - achieving success

In September 2001 the white paper Schools - achieving success proposed:

• giving schools more freedom to manage their own affairs, with 85 per cent of a school's budget directly controlled by the head teacher, and a lesser role for LEAs;

• more involvement of the private sector in state provision;

• 'Standards Contracts' to enable private, religious and voluntary organisations to support the management of both failing and successful schools;

• greater diversity in secondary education, with more specialist schools and city academies attracting private sponsorship;

• 'advanced specialist schools' to train teachers and lead curriculum innovation;

• compulsory use of Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) where schools or local authorities were failing, and encouragement of the use of PPPs by successful schools;

• allowing successful primary schools to opt out of the National Curriculum and develop curriculum innovations;

• improving the quality of teaching and raising standards in the first three years of secondary school;

• developing a more diverse 14-19 curriculum with more early entries for GCSE and much greater choice of vocational and work-based courses;

• narrowing the gaps in achievement between ethnic groups, geographical areas and genders, improving educational opportunities for Caribbean, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and other minority groups

2004 Children Act

• In 2003, the government published its green paper Every Child Matters, following the death of Victoria Climbié, the young girl who was horrifically abused, tortured and eventually killed by her great aunt and the man with whom they lived.

• In November 2004 The Children Act established a Children's Commissioner to champion the views and interests of children and young people, and required local authorities to make arrangements to promote co-operation between agencies and other appropriate bodies (such as voluntary and community organisations) in order to improve children's well-being.

• To go with the Act, the government published Every Child Matters: change for children (December 2004) which set out the radical changes needed across the whole system of children's services, including schools.

2004 Higher Education Act

• In January 2004 the government just managed to get this controversial Act (1 July 2004) through the Commons. It allowed universities to charge variable top-up fees.

2005 Education Act

• The 2005 Education Act (7 April 2005) was wide-ranging but relatively uncontroversial.

• Its provisions related to the inspection of schools, child minding, day care, nursery education and careers services, the training of school staff and 'other persons who teach', the supply of personal information 'for purposes related to education' and about the attendance of children at educational provision outside schools.

2006 Education and Inspections Act

The 2006 Act was based on the 2005 white paper Higher Standards, Better Schools for All which clearly demonstrated that the longer a party remains in power, the more extreme its policies become.

It proposed that:

• all primary and secondary schools would be encouraged to become independent state schools ('trust schools') backed by private sponsors - businesses, charities, faith groups, universities or parent and community organisations. Like the academies, they would determine their own curriculum and ethos, would appoint the governing body, own their own assets, employ their own staff and set their own admissions policy. They would be required to have parents' councils which would have a say in the day to day running of the school and on issues such as school meals, uniform and discipline;

• schools would be required to 'take note of' guidelines on admissions and there would be a pupil banding scheme to ensure a mix of abilities;

• a school deemed to be failing would be given a year to improve before a 'competition for new providers' was held. It would then be reopened as an academy or a trust school with a private sponsor;

• parents would be given the right to set up new schools, to close 'failing' ones and to sack head teachers;

• good schools would be encouraged to expand or link up with neighbouring schools in federations, and successful schools would be able to apply for new responsibilities such as teacher training;

• local education authorities would lose most of their powers and would become 'parents' champions' rather than education providers;

• teachers would be given the legal right to discipline pupils;

• parenting contracts and orders would be extended and parents who failed to fulfil their contractual duties would face fines;

• schools would be encouraged to tailor lessons to individual pupils and there would be more support for struggling pupils; and

• pupils from low income families would get subsidised transport to any of the nearest three schools within a six-mile radius.

The 2005 white paper's proposal to allow religious organisations to control more schools was widely criticised. A Guardian/ICM poll revealed that two thirds of the public agreed with the statement that 'the government should not be funding faith schools of any kind'.

There was mounting concern about the teaching of creationism as science in some of the academies. Organisations representing scientists in 67 countries - including the UK's Royal Society - warned that scientific evidence about the origins of life was being 'concealed, denied, or confused' by schools teaching creationism. It urged parents as well as teachers to provide children with the facts about the origins and evolution of life on Earth.

Faced with the growing tide of hostility to religious schools, the new education secretary Alan Johnson announced that the government would require new faith schools to admit up to a quarter of their pupils from families of other faiths or none. The Roman Catholic Church and the Board of Deputies of British Jews expressed outright opposition and the suggestion was dropped.

Schools minister Andrew Adonis proposed that faith schools should be allowed to favour members of their own religion when appointing support staff. The GMB union and the National Secular Society said the change would extend discrimination.