Who's in charge?

Released 12/05/2010

Matthew Jane compares Tory and Lib Dem policies as a coalition governement comes to power

For the first time in 70 years, Britain has a coalition government, with Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg being unveiled as the new right hand man of the Tory leader and new Prime Minister David Cameron.

So how will the new shake up of government affect the education sector? While nothing is set in stone and there will still be a lot of groundwork to cover as the new relationship beds in, the promises from the two manifestos should point to some of the trends we can expect.

For starters, it is interesting that while other posts seem to have been confirmed, there is still speculation over who will be the next education minister.

Earlier this morning, papers were reporting that David looked set to beat his Tory counterpart to the post. Laws was part of the Lib Dem negotiating team as the coalition government was thrashed out and has earned plaudits from some Tory sections for his work in the education sector. Tory education spokesperson Michael Gove was tipped to be home sercetary, although this post has now been given to Teresa May, the latest reports suggest.

So we are still in the dark, and this uncertainty could reflect the difficulty of compromising in this area - some commentators cited education funding as a key dispute area during the negotiations.

The main policy that we can expect to see rolled out is the much discussed pupil premium. Both parties included this in their manifesto, although the price may be negotiated with the Lib Dems proposing £2.5bn for this scheme. The other potential sticking point will be where these funds come from, as the Lib Dems want to see this money allocated from new funds.

Another policy which looks a good bet to be included in coalition proposals is more flexibility in teachers pay. The Tories promised to give headteachers more power to reward good teachers with increased pay, while the Lib Dem manifesto declared it would make pay and condition rules more flexible to encourage excellent teachers.

Both parties have vowed to tackle behavioural issues in schools, with the Lib Dems pledging to attack this issue at an early stage and the Tories planning to give teachers more powers.

The Academies programme could be in line for reassessment. The Tory manifesto vowed to extend the programme to include primaries, while the Lib Dems want to establish sponsor managed schools run by parents and other providers, which would have closer links to LAs There will need to be some compromise in this area, as in the other major Tory proposal of having state-funded independent schools, under the Swedish model.

One thing is for certain: there are interesting times ahead for the education sector, and government as a whole. Schools can expect some of the parties more radical plans to be put on the backburner as compromises between the new colleagues are reached. Schools will need to stay on their toes and await further details of possible budget cuts or new sources of funding. It is certainly a good time for schools to be investing in school business managers, who will certainly prove their worth as the new look government re-shapes the education sector over the coming years.

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