Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi has ordered a U-turn on the government’s Schools Bill after a rebellion in the House of Lords ordered a rethink, following accusations of a Whitehall power grab.
Under the plans, all schools must become academies, but a scathing rebellion from the Lords, including from former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s architect of education, warned it would give Whitehall unrestricted control over education.
The British government’s Schools Bill, which is currently in the committee stage in which bills are considered line by line, is a wide-reaching piece of legislation that aims to raise schooling standards across the country by increasing attendance and improving safeguarding….