Robert Halfon | Schools Week

MPs demand action to improve education in the north

An influential group of MPs has written to the education secretary to demand immediate improvement to education in the north of England. The parliamentary education committee wrote to Damian Hinds after a hearing last week with former chancellor George Osborne and other representatives of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership highlighted a “stark educational attainment gap between the […]

George Osborne to be questioned about pupil disadvantage in the north

Former chancellor George Osborne will be questioned by the parliamentary education committee about the state of education and support for disadvantaged pupils in the north of England. MPs will grill Osborne, now editor of the London Evening Standard, in his capacity as chair of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership (NPP) on May 2. He will be […]

Robert Halfon, Chair, Education select committee

Robert Halfon, the new chair of the education select committee, campaigned in the corridors of Parliament for the position using leaflets and badges as if he were in a school election for class representative. Having lost his position as skills minister just weeks before, he wasn’t going to let this chance go. The badges and […]

Excluded pupils must have protective ‘bill of rights’, says education committee chair

Excluded pupils should be protected by a “bill of rights” that would allow proper scrutiny of their school’s decision to kick them out, the influential chair of the education select committee has said. Robert Halfon is concerned about the lack of protection for pupils and their parents in situations where schools may have wrongly excluded […]

MPs to hold inquiry into school mental health support plans

The government’s proposals for additional mental health support for school pupils are to be scrutinised in an inquiry by MPs. The parliamentary education and health committees will hold a joint inquiry into the plans set out in the government’s green paper earlier this month. The committee will begin holding hearings in January. Under proposals set […]

Poor careers advice due to spending decisions by school leaders, skills minister claims

The skills and apprenticeships minster has warned there is “clearly something wrong” with schools where “not enough” good careers advice is delivered as he launched the government’s ‘comprehensive careers strategy’. But Robert Halfon dismissed that funding was the sole issue, claiming instead it was due to the way a “school chooses to spend” their money. […]