Lord Storey (LD)

I thank the Minister for her detailed reply and all Members for their contributions. I was particularly taken by the comments from the noble Earl, Lord Effingham, who said that no child should be left behind—he is absolutely right. It was a very measured response to the amendments. It was good to receive a contribution from the noble Lord, Lord Gove. As a coalition partner, he did work on education. I was a bit surprised that he thought the idea of a tutoring programme was a Lib Dem publicity stunt. During his time as Secretary of State for Education, he focused on the attainment gap, particularly for those with special educational needs, but that dial hardly shifted—for all the work he did in that cataclysmic period, the attainment gap hardly shifted. The noble Lord asked how poorer pupils could catch up with wealthier pupils. Sadly, if a wealthier pupil is behind—guess what?—someone might hire a tutor to help them catch up. That is what the national tutoring guarantee scheme would have done. Despite some of the comments, I still believe that it is an area that we need closely to look at—not for all children and not for ever, but as a catch-up programme for young people and children from disadvantaged backgrounds. With that, I beg leave to withdraw my amendment.