Doomed Black Country University Technical College was a risk, says minister

During a debate on the school's impending closure after just four years, skills minister Nick Boles said risks had to be taken when innovating.

But David Winnick, the Walsall North MP who raised the matter in the Commons, said he was 'surprised' to hear a minister talk about secondary school education in that way.

And he has called for an immediate 'pause' on opening new UTCs until the government can learn the lessons from Walsall.

A new, entirely separate, UTC is planned for the derelict Springfield Brewery site in Wolverhampton.

The £9.5 million Black Country UTC, in Vernon Way, Bloxwich, has 158 pupils, 57 of whom are due to complete their studies before the school closes this summer. The rest are to be helped to find alternative education.

It received a withering Ofsted report that called it inadequate.

Mr Boles said: "When we are trying to improve and innovate, we have to take some risks. We have to be willing to set up new kinds of institution that have not been tested within the system and try new ways of doing things. It will always be right for the Government to back certain risks, as long as they are calculated, well monitored and well judged. If, unfortunately, the risk does not pay off, there must be proper investigation so that we understand what went wrong, what failed and what lessons should be learned for future projects."

Mr Winnick replied: "My view is that there is a case for pausing, but clearly that will not happen. Does the minister feel that it would be useful if he visited the college before the closure takes place and spoke to the staff and some of the students? He could also arrange a meeting with the governors, which might be on the same occasion. It would be useful if he went himself to see what is happening and to discuss the situation. Perhaps lessons could be learned that otherwise would not be."

After the debate Mr Winnick said: "It was surprising to hear a minister talk about secondary education in terms of risk. That is not something many people would want for their children.

"The government has been very keen on UTCs and the Prime Minister spoke enthusiastically about them only recently. I think a pause to establish what went wrong and how it can be prevented from happening again is necessary."

Mr Boles has asked for a report from the West Midlands regional school commissioner, Pank Patel.

He said the government was committed to UTCs and said: "It would not have been a surprise to the department or officials that this college was in trouble, but of course it wasn't until that second Ofsted report that the trouble perhaps crystallised."

Ofsted found at the Black Country UTC that 17 per cent of pupils were excluded at least once, teaching was 'weak', students did 'not feel safe' because of others' behaviour and some sixth formers were 'not on appropriate courses'.