Jayne Dowle: No Minister, you shouldn't carry the burden of two jobs

It sounds like she is well-qualified for both, but that doesn’t make it right. Ms Greening, who was born in Rotherham, is the first Secretary of State for Education to have been wholly state-educated. At 47, she is part of the generation who still saw education in aspirational terms; after leaving school, she studied at the University of Southampton and the London Business School.

It’s too early to say what she might bring to the job, but I can’t think of a better person to be in charge of my own children’s education here in Barnsley, just a few miles from where she grew up.

Education needs her serious and immediate attention. Ms Greening’s predecessor, Nicky Morgan, was already under pressure to resign following the catastrophic primary school Sats results a few weeks ago. Tackling the fact that half of the children in England are entering secondary education without a proper grasp of the basics in literacy and maths is just one of urgent must-do jobs on her agenda. The funding crisis in higher education, teacher recruitment and retention, and the Government’s ongoing battle with teachers over pay and school funding which resulted in the recent NUT day of action all require serious attention.

For too long now, the Department of Education has lurched from crisis to crisis, and it shows, not just through lacklustre results but the genuine concerns which parents, teachers, pupils and students constantly make clear. It demands the attention of at least one full-time Minister, not an individual with two overflowing red boxes on her desk.

What education needs is a senior politician entirely dedicated to the task, who is allowed the liberty (and time) to develop not just a vision but a series of systems which will work effectively across all our nurseries, schools, colleges and universities. Whatever you might think about Michael Gove’s record in post, at least he had four years at the job. I don’t recall him being compelled to take on any other senior Ministerial responsibility whilst he was setting about his business. So why should Ms Greening have to? She is hardly going to say no to Cabinet promotion, is she? But frankly, I don’t see why Jeremy Hunt should be allowed continued free rein to reform the NHS unencumbered while education has to be compromised.

Let’s turn now to the other half of her portfolio, women and equalities. I know that Ms Greening will be ably assisted here by junior Ministers. And as a woman and the first-ever openly gay Cabinet Minister in the United Kingdom, she is uniquely-placed to bring understanding to her agenda. However, given that women make up more than half of the UK population, and “equality” has never been a bigger issue, why should this all come under the same umbrella as education?

Ms Greening, although she is the Honourable Member for leafy Putney, in south-west London, speaks with first-hand experience of her commitment to improving social mobility – growing up in South Yorkshire has prepared her well.

She of all people will understand that giving individuals, whatever their gender, social background or ethnicity, an equal chance at life is key towards the creation of a better, more positive society. The devastating terrorist attack in Nice reminds us what happens when individuals feel alienated from the society they live in.

Of course, this all feeds into education, so you can see the logic of bringing it all together. However, bolting on the concerns of millions of individuals to a brief which already presents massive challenges in its own right does us all a dis-service.

Theresa May is deeply committed to improving the representation of women in senior roles, especially at Westminster, as evidenced by the appointments she made last week. I hope, then, that she can see the logic in allowing the Education Secretary to focus entirely on education, and devise a new post for an able Minister who can look after solely the interests of women and equalities.

Indeed, as Home Secretary, Ms May herself benefited from a Cabinet-level reorganisation inaugurated in 2005, when the Ministry of Justice was created. This took the responsibility for prisons and probation away from the 
Home Office, allowing the Home Secretary to concentrate on matters of national security, immigration and citizenship.

It might be argued that her own generally admirable record at dealing with the challenges this brief brought might not have been as impressive had she had to spread herself too thinly.

I’d urge Mrs May to look again at what she is asking Ms Greening to do. And then we might be in better position to judge how she goes about it.