Following the commotion of the recent cabinet reshuffle, Ed Balls is to remain as the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families.

Ed Ball's long term position as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families has largely come under question recently, as he had been tipped to replace as Chancellor. However, the reshuffle reaffirmed Darling as Chancellor. These plans were hindered by the resignation of James Purnell, the Work and Pensions Secretary who had been linked to replacing Ed Balls as Children's Secretary.

Gordon Brown was forced to rapidly adapt his planned cabinet reshuffle in order to compensate for the resignations within the cabinet.

Building a 21st Century Schools System

The Children's Secretary Ed Balls, has also revealed his latest strategy for England's education system. The White Paper proposes a wide range of changes, covering a five year period.

One of the main outcomes from the proposal is the establishment of a “license to teach” system in state schools, set to be implemented from September 2010. This will involve continuous assessment by head teachers in order to dismiss those who fail to perform to the required standards.

The Children's Secretary also focuses on a list of guarantees to parents, as well as further progress on those policies already established.

These included a new report card judging schools on six different factors, one-to-one catch-up tuition, personal tutoring for pastoral support, extra support for gifted students, redirection of money to the most deprived schools and guaranteed places in education or training up to the age of 18.

There will also be a shift from central control to more independence for head teachers and for parents who are dissatisfied with a school's education there will be additional levels for complaints. As a last resort, schools could potentially be challenged in the courts. There will also be new guidelines encouraging parents to continuously support their child at school, failure to do so could result in court action.