3.7 The Blair legacy

Tony Blair ended his decade as prime minister by offering the Church of England a multi-million-pound expansion programme which, over a five year period, would see the number of church-run academies increase by a hundred. It was, perhaps, an unsurprising gesture by a man whose enthusiasm for faith schools had become almost an obsession.

Whether or not it was unsurprising, for many people it was certainly unwelcome. National Secular Society president Terry Sanderson commented

The Church of England cannot get children into church, so it is determined to bring church into school, where the children have no choice and no escape. It is Mr Blair's final, self-indulgent gift to the religious establishment.

Blair left 10 Downing Street at the end of June 2007. He was said to have been very concerned about his 'legacy' and worried that he would be remembered for just one thing: the illegal and immoral invasion of Iraq. On that, only time will tell.

In education, the high hopes of many on that spring morning in May 1997 had been sadly dashed. Instead of trying to repair some of the damage done by the Thatcher and Major governments, Blair and his adviser Adonis had actually made the situation worse: they had extended covert selection under the guise of specialism, expanded privatised provision of schools and services, further diminished the role of local education authorities, and hugely increased the role of churches and other faith groups in educational provision.

Сhapter 4

4.1 The new administration

Tony Blair was replaced as prime minister by former chancellor of the exchequer Gordon Brown . His new administration immediately announced that the education department would be split in two: the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) with Ed Balls as secretary of state, and the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) under John Denham.

There was some logic to this division. DCSF brought together all policy relating to children and young people: in addition to overseeing schools, it shared youth justice with the Ministry of Justice, child poverty with the Treasury and the Department for Work and Pensions, children's health with the Department of Health, and youth sport with the Department for Culture. It also took the 'respect' agenda from the Home Office. DIUS took science and innovation from the Department for Trade and Industry and would be responsible for the development, funding and performance of higher education, both teaching and research; together with adult learning, including Train to Gain and basic skills. It would oversee the £4bn adult portion of the Learning and Skills Council budget. One of its main aims was the improvement of graduate skills.

But there were complications in the arrangement. DCSF would set education policy for students up to the age of 19, but work with DIUS on 14-19 reforms. School pupils in the 14 to 19 age group and sixth form college students would come under DCSF, but general further education college students and apprentices aged 16 to 19 were the responsibility of DIUS, though they would be funded via local education authorities. The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) thus had half its budget removed, putting its future in doubt.

In the event, DIUS only lasted two years. In June 2009 it was abolished and its responsibilities subsumed into a new Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), led by Lord (Peter) Mandelson.

In his inaugural statement, the new children's secretary Ed Balls said he would introduce legislation to raise the school leaving age to 18, improve school discipline, remove barriers to further expansion of the academies programme, and give teachers more scope to decide when pupils should be tested. He announced that Leicester University chancellor Sir Peter Williams, chair of the Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education, would conduct a review of maths teaching in primary schools. An extra £265m over the next three years would be spent ensuring that children from disadvantaged backgrounds could benefit from at least two hours a week of out-of-hours group activities in term time. Secondary teachers would be given an extra training day a year, and a scheme to encourage graduates to teach in inner-city schools would be expanded beyond London. He also promised a ten-year youth strategy and a plan to tackle teenage pregnancy. A children's plan for the UK would be prepared and consulted on.

In October 2007 the new chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling announced the three-year settlement for education. A 2.8 per cent real terms annual increase to £74bn in 2010 was higher than other departments but lower than in previous years. Teachers' leaders pointed out that the budget for each pupil would rise from from £5,500 in 2007-8 to £6,600 in 2010-11 but that this was still far short of the cost of a private school education. Darling also promised £250m to fund the Children's Plan scheme to make sure children arrived at school ready to learn and able to benefit from personalised support.

In his first major speech on education, Gordon Brown told an audience of educationists at Greenwich University that 'failing' schools would have five years to improve their pupils' GCSE results or they would face take-over or closure. He set out wide-ranging plans to expand childcare, eradicate illiteracy and introduce more work-based apprenticeships to persuade more 16 year olds to stay on in education. 'This is a determined and systematic agenda to end failure', he said. 'We will see it through. We will not flinch from the task'.