Speech by David Willetts MP at the public services policy conference- raising standards, respecting professional.

23 February 2007

David Willetts’s speech contains some genuinely refreshing thinking.

As he says teachers need protecting from the fads and fashions of government. I welcome his commitment to basing his initiatives on evidence and to working with teachers on the future of teaching and learning.

The idea of a Chief Education Adviser with the same status as the Chief Medical Officer would certainly cut down on wasteful consultancies. Converting the current GTC to the status of the General Medical Council could give teachers a professional body with teeth.

The next step for David Willetts must be to ditch his party’s shibboleths including its obsession with academies and the enthusiasm of some in his party for vouchers.