Tom Richmond: Testing time for children... and Secretary of State

TO test or not to test? That is the perennial dilemma which faces education secretaries and Nicky Morgan has come under fire for proposing a more rigorous national assessment of seven-year-old pupils.

Even though this represents a volte-face – such tests previously existed before being scrapped by the Blair government just over a decade ago – the Minister should be commended for her foresight.

She is the first Education Secretary for years to acknowledge that pupils will not make the grade at GCSE level unless they have a solid command of the basics when they leave primary school.

This is particularly pertinent here in Yorkshire, where the respected IPPR North think-tank produced some academic research last month which revealed the extent to which under-fives from this region were lagging behind their peers in London.

Although I respect the views of those teachers who say this examination of seven-year-olds will put unnecessary pressure on youngsters, I equally respect Ms Morgan’s appeal for the assessment to be carried out sensitively and that this exercise is vital to identify those pupils who need additional remedial assistance. Just like truancy and delinquent behaviour, early intervention is critical.

Yet schools cannot provide youngsters with one-to-one attention. Ms Morgan’s elaborate answer is the National Teaching Service – a scheme by which 1,500 outstanding staff members will deployed to underperforming schools by the end of the decade. The intention is sound – spreading excellence – but it does mean that some successful schools could lose their best staff and it will not enhance teacher morale.

Instead I would like to see far greater collaboration between clusters of local schools. It works in London. It works in Redcar, which has some of the best primary schools in Britain despite the demise of the town’s steel industry. And it can work elsewhere if Ministers look for local solutions rather than trying to break-up LEAs with academies and so on.

Ms Morgan has made a good start – a B+ – but she still has work cut out if she is to reach the gold standard that the Department for Education and Skills expects.

UNDER-FIRE chief executive of TalkTalk Dido Harding continues to epitomise all that is wrong with the House of Lords. Made a full-time Tory working peer in September 2014, she has spoken in just six debates and was not present for the controversial vote on tax credits because of the hacking scandal engulfing her firm. Proof, if any was needed, that the Upper House needs to be become fully-elected.

I’M pleased that my call (September 19) for party conferences to be staged at weekends, so as not to necessitate the three week adjournment of Parliament immediately after the summer recess, is gathering momentum.

Shipley MP Philip Davies has twice raised the issue in the Commons. Challenging the parties to act, Mr Davies now wants to put the issue to a vote “to work out which MPs believe they should be doing their job in this House and holding the Government to account”.

Bring it on.

There’s just one problem – Commons leader Chris Grayling. Though he acknowledged there are now “slightly fewer Lib Dem MPs than there used to be for their conference week” – the understatement of the year – this is “something that needs to be dealt with quite carefully” because “conference bookings” are made years in advance.

Nonsense. There’s nothing to stop Parliament decreeing now that conferences from 2017 onwards must be held over a long weekend – it’s good enough for the Scottish Nationalists – unless, of course, the Minister simply doesn’t want the hassle of the Government’s legislative programme being scrutinised.

After all, one of the consequences of this move would be the Yorkshire backbencher forgoing his sojourn to Perth races during the Labour conference.

ANOTHER sensible suggestion has come from John Redwood, whose Cabinet resignation 20 years ago caused so much grief for John Major. He says “one of the maddest things” about the road network is the utility companies being allowed to install crucial pipe and cables for water, electricity, gas and telephone services under the actual carriageway.

He says there would be far less inconvenience if they were placed under pavements – it would prevent tonnes of “Tarmac and rubble” having to be dug up when faults occur – and that he’s taking this up with the utility providers.

I hope Mr Redwood succeeds. Not only will it save the utility firms considerable money – closing a road is not cheap – but it will spare drivers from the inconvenience of even longer delays.

SO much for George Osborne’s promise at the National Railway Museum to prioritise improved transPennine road and rail links. The Department for Transport is spending £100,000 on consultants to examine the case for a second railway linking Brighton and London.

Another blow to the Northern Powerhouse’s credibility.

IT’S that time of year when I start receiving telephone calls from acquaintances sympathising about the bad weather because they’ve heard about flights being delayed at Leeds Bradford (International) Airport.

They seem somewhat surprised when I point out that there has been no extreme weather, whether it be thick fog or snow just a mile away – as the crow flies – from Yeadon’s glorified WW2 airfield.

What it does prove, however, is the airport should never have been built on one of the highest points of the city.

I remain surprised that Leeds City Council sanctioned the latest expansion plan without considering the feasibility of building a new airport on low-lying land at RAF Church Fenton, and close to the proposed HS2 high-speed rail line.

It’s just a shame the council lacks the necessary vision and dynamism.

THE inquest into the England rugby union team’s dismal World Cup performance overshadowed a quite brilliant performance by Britain’s gymnasts at the World Championships, with ‘boy wonder’ Nile Wilson, from Leeds, among the medal-winners. This was regrettable – the gymnasts, including the historic gold won by Max Whitlock, know they have to perform to retain lottery funding while the rugby players were trying to fill their boots with money-making deals negotiated by the RFU. With the exception of the BBC (credit where credit is due), it’s just a shame the gymnasts did not receive wider recognition.