Government ministers should be barred from horse-trading over what schools teach, the shadow education secretary will say in a speech calling for an end to the political interference seen during Michael Gove’s period as education secretary.
Labour’s Lucy Powell will say that “ministerial meddling” has reached new heights since 2010, citing examples including members of the cabinet being given effective veto over details of the national curriculum.
“Under the Tories we’ve seen parts of the curriculum personally drafted by the education secretary and then circulated for sign-off amongst cabinet ministers, each making a case for their own pet project to be included,” Powell will tell her audience at the Education Foundation’s education reform summit in Sheffield.