NLT policy

Literacy in the Liberal Conservative Coalition

12 May 2010

Following the general election on May 6 there has been a period of uncertainty and intense discussion about the shape of the next UK government. After a number of possibilities being considered, the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties have now entered into a formal coalition agreement. This deal will have profound implications on the literacy policy landscape, and while there is still uncertainty over the specifics of these policies, there are certain assumptions that can be made.

No resurrection of Labour’s schools plans

The first impact will be the end of the education reforms set out in the recent Children, Schools and Families Bill, which were originally lost as the Bill passed through parliament. This means that school report cards, primary curriculum reform and a register of home school pupils will not come into force so schools and education professionals will have to plan for a markedly different education landscape.

Ed Balls had pledged to push these reforms through parliament in the first legislative session if Labour were returned to power, but both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have consistently opposed the ideas and are almost certain to drop them.

Some shared ideas

There are significant ideological and policy differences between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats across many policy areas, including education and literacy. However, there are also some areas from which a consensus can be built. In education these include policies on the Early Years Foundation Stage, extended parental leave and a commitment to end child poverty.

Both parties favour a pupil premium system, whereby education funding would be allocated per pupil rather than to each school. Schools would then be free to spend the money allocated to each pupil in areas that are best suited to the individual. Both parties have declared that pupils from poorer backgrounds would be allocated more money, in order to help improve social mobility.

All three parties are committed to ending child poverty by 2020 and both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats plan to use the education system, and the pupil premium, as a way of improving social mobility. The most likely stumbling block in this area is the amount of funding dedicated to this area. The Liberal Democrats promised £2.5bn in their manifesto, a significant percentage of which would be from tax increases on the highest earners.

While schools policy is more likely to be used for headline shows of unity, the parties also have some agreement on early years policy. Both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats favour a slimmed down version of the Early Years Foundation Stage, although there are no details on this yet, and both parties favour more flexible parental leave. Again both parties had different specific proposals in their manifestos, but the agreement in principle means some sort of flexible leave is likely.

Education is actually one of the areas on which agreement can easily be found between the two parties, which means that it may be a policy area used to show unity. Conservative leader David Cameron has already cited the pupil premium as a policy area which appeared in both parties’ manifestos.

Good relationship between the parties’ education teams

In stark contrast to their relationship with Labour’s Ed Balls, Conservative Michael Gove and Liberal Democrat David Laws, who held the shadow Children, Schools and Families role for their parties while in opposition, have publicly spoken of their admiration and respect for each other.

In a March interview with Children and Young People Now, David Laws described Michael Gove as "the most charming, courteous member of the Tory shadow cabinet" and "someone who is well-educated, thoughtful and seems to have a passion for some of the education brief."  

Since the election Michael Gove has reciprocated those warm words describing Mr Laws as “someone who's thoughtful, flexible, who wants to improve our education system,” adding "the ideas he's put forward, even though I don't agree with all of them, have been motivated by idealism.”

Mr Gove even went as far to suggest that he might be willing to step aside from his cabinet post in order for Mr Laws to become Secretary of State. In the final agreement this idea was not used and Mr Gove has become Schools Secretary. Mr Laws has moved into a position in the Treasury, but the personal link between the two men is indicative of similarities between the two parties’ approaches to education.

Troublesome areas – Conservative policy to lead the way?

Before literacy and education policy can move forward there needs to be agreement on many more key issues. One of these is school structure and governance.

The Conservative’s flagship education policy is the creation of ‘free schools’ which could be set up by parent groups and other organisations. These would sit outside of local authority control, similar to Labour’s academies policy, and would have much greater degree of freedom than schools are currently afforded. However, the Liberal Democrats have a long-standing commitment to give local authorities more power including more power over the running of schools. The appointment of Michael Gove makes the free schools idea extremely likely to happen, although this remains to be confirmed.

Even within areas on which there is broad agreement, obstacles will have to be overcome. In the early years the two parties agree on the principle of Sure Start centres, but while the Conservatives want to redirect funding away from outreach services and into health visitors, the Liberal Democrats are in favour of outreach workers and the current Sure Start model. Again, the appointment of Michael Gove and the presumed appointment of his junior ministers indicates that in areas such as Sure Start, it may be Conservative policy that is enacted.

The future

As with every policy area there is currently a large degree of uncertainty surrounding education and literacy. Indeed, in a statement on May 10, David Laws announced that pupil premiums was one of the areas which the Liberal Democrats had asked for ‘clarification’ on before agreeing to any deal.

Both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have said that reducing the budget deficit would be the top priority in any deal and issues such as electoral reform and immigration are likely to be the focus of media attention. However, education policy could play a vital role as an area on which the parties could agree. This could ensure it continues to feature prominently in an agenda dominated by economic issues.

The public mention of a Liberal Democrat holding a ministerial post and the repeated references to the ‘pupil premium’, an idea which did not focus in wider discourse before the election, are early indicators of the role that education policy could play. However, the appointment of Michael Gove indicates that it will largely be Conservative policy that is enacted. This will presumably begin with legislation to allow free schools, something which David Cameron mentioned as his one of his top five priorities immediately following the election.

As the new coalition government establishes itself and forms policy it is even more vital that those who work with and care about literacy continue to campaign and pressure their elected representatives about its importance. There is an opportunity to keep literacy and education on an agenda dominated by the economy, one which must not be wasted.

Tags: Early Reading Connects, England, National Young Readers' Programme, Northern Ireland, Partners in Literacy, Policy, Reading Champions, Reading Connects, Reading The Game, Scotland, Talk To Your Baby, Words for Work

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