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POLITICAL BRIEF


The political brief


The Public Bodies (Reform) Bill

The Public Bodies (Reform) Bill aims to cut the overall number of public bodies and make year-on-year savings of £1bn by reducing the cost of bureaucracy. This is in line with the Coalition Government’s aims to reduce the deficit by spending cuts, rather than tax rises.

The Bill was introduced to the Lords on 28 October 2010 and is currently undergoing detailed scrutiny by peers. It has yet to be debated by the House of Commons. The NASUWT has already been actively lobbying and briefing members of the House of Lords and will exert similar pressure on MPs at the appropriate stage.

This Bill extends to England and Wales and to parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Main points of the Bill:

• It will reduce the number and cost of public bodies.
• It will give Ministers the powers to abolish, merge or transfer quangos back to departments.
• It will provide for a review of the functions of all public bodies every three years, as opposed to the current practice of every five years.

As with many pieces of legislation introduced by the current Government, this Bill concentrates enormous powers in the hands of Ministers, taking them away from Parliament and the public.

The Bill will make it possible for Ministers to merge or abolish a substantial number of bodies that currently protect or enhance education and the rights of school staff. The list of bodies covered by the Bill includes:

• Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS);
• Charity Commission for England and Wales;
• Children’s Commissioner;
• Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC);
• General Teaching Council for England (GTCE);
• Health and Safety Executive (HSE);
• Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills;
• Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted);
• Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual);
• Pensions Regulator;
• School Support Staff Negotiating Body (SSSNB);
• School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB);
• Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA);
• Young People’s Learning Agency for England (YPLA).


Localism Bill

The majority of the Localism Bill relates to council tax, housing, regional planning, conduct of councillors, etc., though there are a number of clauses of direct interest to the NASUWT.

The Bill will enable people to trigger referendums on any local issue. The results will not be binding, but local authorities will have to consider them when making decisions.

Finally, the establishment of a ‘community right to challenge’ is designed to help different groups run local services. Voluntary groups, social enterprises, parish councils and others will be able to express an interest in taking over council-run services and the local authority will have to consider it. This could prompt a bidding exercise in which the group could then compete. Services could include running children’s centres, social care services or improving transport links.

These objectives, while branded as localism, are clearly part of a wider agenda to break up public services and facilitate privatisation.

In terms of the territorial extent of the Bill, the vast majority of the Act extends only to England and Wales. There are, however, clauses relating to Scotland concerning nationally significant infrastructure projects.


EMA scrapped

The NASUWT has played an active role in the Save EMA campaign. The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is a means-tested allowance of between £10 and £30 paid to 16 to 19 year olds from low income families who stay on in education.

Rolled out nationally in September 2004, EMA is intended to help with the cost of books, travel, equipment or anything useful to the continuation of learning. It is paid straight into the pupil’s bank account, not to their parents or their college, giving them independence and forcing them to take charge of a small weekly budget. The payments are made under the condition that they attend classes regularly.

As part of the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) in October 2010, the Government announced plans to scrap EMA by removing 90% of its funding.

There was not going to be a vote on the abolition of the EMA scheme because it is classed as departmental spending. However, the Labour Party used an Opposition Day Debate to ensure that there was a vote on 19 January 2011. Although the vote to save EMAs was not won, the campaign continues by other methods.

More success was seen in Wales where Leighton Andrews AM, Minister for Children, Education and Lifelong Learning, confirmed that he would be protecting the EMA.



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