Prime Minister Theresa May has appointed a new Education Secretary who is supportive of faith schools after a Cabinet reshuffle led to the removal of his predecessor Justine Greening.
The appointment of Damian Hinds comes at a crucial time for the Catholic Church, which has been calling on the Government to fulfil its election pledge and lift the 50 per cent faith admissions cap on free schools.
The cap effectively forces oversubscribed Catholic schools to turn away Catholic children once the threshold is reached and is therefore contrary to Canon Law, the Church argues.
The person holding the post of Education Secretary has the power to remove the cap without a parliamentary vote.
Mr Hinds, who is the Member of Parliament for East Hampshire, and who was educated at the Catholic grammar, St Ambrose College, has previously spoken out in support of faith schools. In a Parliamentary debate in 2014 he said “a half-Catholic school is not the same as a Catholic school”, and that the “well-intentioned” cap was inhibiting the creation of new quality schools to provide for the Catholic community.
In November last year the bishops urged the Catholic community to petition Justine Greening to lift the “unfair” cap, after the Government stalled on making a decision concerning its withdrawal.
There are 2142 Catholic schools in England, which accounts for about 10 per cent of the national total of maintained schools. Over 823,000 pupils are educated in Catholic schools; 68 per cent of students are Catholic and 36 per cent are from ethnic minority backgrounds, according to the Catholic Education Service.
The Bishop of East Anglia was particularly vocal, asking Catholics to write to their local MP as well as the Education Secretary. East Anglia has some of the most severe shortages of places in Catholics schools in the country and has been prevented from opening eight new Catholic schools due to the current admissions restrictions.
Speaking to The Tablet this morning, the Deputy Director of Schools in the Diocese of East Anglia, Flavio Vettese, said: “We welcome the appointment of Damian Hinds as the new education secretary. We trust that his appointment means that the government will keep to its election manifesto pledge to lift the faith schools admissions cap which has prevented us from opening much needed new schools across our diocese. We hope we will now be able to continue to develop our current plans to open up to eight new schools across East Anglia.”
Following the news of his appointment, Mr Hinds said on Twitter that he was “delighted to be appointed Education Secretary”. “[I’m] looking forward to working with the great teachers & lecturers in our schools, colleges & universities giving people the opportunities to make the most of their lives”, he added.
Mr Hinds’ website lists among his areas of interest “tackling social disadvantage and widening opportunity”. He has served on the Education Select Committee and chaired the All Party Parliamentary Group for Social Mobility and for Credit Unions.
Justine Greening leaves the Cabinet after turning down a job as Work and Pensions Secretary.
PICTURE: Education Secretary Damian Hinds arriving in Downing Street, London, as the Prime Minister chairs her first Cabinet meeting following yesterdays reshuffle ©PA
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