Pupil Premium - Statement from Sarah Teather MP, Minister for Children & Families

I came into politics to make a difference for the most disadvantaged in our society. It is

over three years since I, as Liberal Democrat education spokesperson, championed the

Pupil Premium as our flagship education policy and debated it at Conference. I never

dared imagine a time when I would be unveiling it as Government policy and then actually

implementing it. But this week, the Coalition Government announced that a Pupil

Premium, funded from outside the schools budget, will be introduced next September. It

will mean that from next year, schools taking disadvantaged children will get the

additional money they need to provide them with the extra support they deserve, no

matter where they are in the country. This could mean more individual tuition or catch-up

classes, but it will be for the school to decide, we won't be telling headteachers how to

spend the money.

This is a real Liberal Democrat achievement. It was the centrepiece of our education

policy during the election campaign, and it is now being implemented in Government.

While the Conservatives had a similar policy, it was the Liberal Democrats who pushed

for it to be funded from outside the schools budget, and for it to feature specifically in the

coalition agreement. And it's no secret that it was one of the sticking points of the

negotiations with Labour - they simply refused to agree to it. I find this shocking - a policy

designed to support the most vulnerable in our society and give them the chances that

other children have - rejected by the Labour Party. If any of us ever needed another

example of Labour's complete failure to represent the most poor, and the emptiness of

their rhetoric, this is it. Make no mistake, it is the Liberal Democrats who are now the

party for the most disadvantaged, championing policies like the Pupil Premium in

opposition, placing them at the heart of our manifesto, and making them happen in

government.

Liberal Democrats are committed to the Pupil Premium because we understand that

education can be a key driver of social mobility. But it is shameful that we still have an

education system which too often perpetuates inequality rather than tackles it. The

poorest children are only half as likely to leave school with 5 good GCSEs than their

better-off classmates. The Pupil Premium will help in tackling Labour's failure to break

the link between social background and performance at school, opening up opportunities

for children regardless of where they are born.

The Coalition Government is now consulting on the way in which the premium should be

implemented. The consultation includes options for how deprivation should be calculated

• in relation to children on Free School Meals
• in relation to tax credits
• by using marketing classifications like MOSAIC or ACORN

And it includes questions about other groups who might benefit, such as children in care

or children of those serving in the armed forces, and raises the issue of how it could be

extended to cover children in the early years. We are determined that it has the best

possible impact and I urge you to get involved in the consultation and to give the

Department for Education your views.

This week the Coalition Government's Academies Bill will also become law. In my view

the Liberal Democrats have long been opponents of the "command and control" way that

Labour managed the school system, and in favour of more freedom for schools, a more

strategic role for Local Authorities, reformed pay and conditions and more flexibility for

headteachers to run their schools as they and their communities think best. And, by

working within the Coalition, Liberal Democrat members of the House of Lords have been

able to secure important protections for the most vulnerable, such as children with Special

Educational Needs, that we could not have done from the Opposition benches. This is

what coalition means - the Academies Bill is a flagship Conservative policy and the pupil

premium is a flagship Liberal Democrat policy - and they are both part of our programme

for Government.

Outside the glare of the public spotlight, in my role as Minister for Children and Families, I

am also leading many other changes that the Liberal Democrats have fought for as part of

our pledge to make sure every child gets a fair start in life. In the last few weeks we have

started to review the Early Years Foundation Stage, to plan changes to make the system

for children with Special Educational Needs fairer, extended free childcare and begun to

consider how to tackle the commercialisation of children. I am working with Ministers

across Government to deliver on the Coalition's commitment to end child poverty in the

UK by 2020, and am part of the Prime Minister's Taskforce on Childhood and Families -

focused on removing the barriers to a stable and secure family life for families of all

shapes and sizes.

There is no doubt that these are difficult times to be in Government. The financial legacy

left by Labour means that we will simply not be able to afford to do all the things we would

like to do. But I am clear, by being in Government and working hard, the Liberal

Democrats can make a real difference.

I want Britain to be a fairer, more liberal place. For the first time in generations the Liberal

Democrats are now making real progress towards achieving this goal.